justrundan
4.4 slow miles on the Riverwalk this morning. -2 degrees, 'felt like' -16. Even though I had gloves on under mittens it took 2 miles for my hands to thaw out! The rest of me was fine.
Dan
Happy New Year Dan... nice workout in the cold!
I was happy this morning to see the local snowmobile club had groomed the railtrail. They groom for snowmobiles, but it's nice and flat when they get done and perfect for XC skiing as well. Soooo... today I grabbed the skate skis and did 6 miles. If you're not familiar with skate skiing, it looks like this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swO2wGrtz4s It takes a minute for her to get underway, but once she does, you can see how good of a workout it is.
Of the two types of XC skiing, I much prefer to skate...
NH Runner Maybe it's the coconut rum, but I don't understand the difference between the 2 types of skiing, even though I watched some more of the videos... the way you push off?
justrundan it is pretty cold when 2 pairs of mitts aren't enough..
5 miles on the track.
"dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,
you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"
Sonata Arctica
Crazy Diamond
Chantilly- 5 miles, nice way to begin the new year.
Rich-Over the last 3 years, skate skiing is gaining popularity on the public trails I frequent. Still using my "vintage" 1974 wooden wax skis with pin bindings!
Dan-Yesterday during the race I used hand warmers I received from DS2. Made for a much more enjoyable experience.
3.36 miles at the indoor track today.
Quo Vadis?
Chantilly...Classic xc skiing like Gito is referring to is the original form, Skate is the newer version. In Classic, or "kick & glide", you use 2 different waxes on the skis. A kick wax under the foot that's sticky and a glide wax that's applied to the front and back of the ski. In a nutshell, you plant one foot to push off and glide onto the opposite ski. It looks like this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Vue10ItXg Your skis travel in a straight line as you ski and your skis have to match your weight, the flex of the ski being such that all your weight on one ski will press the kick wax down onto the snow and make the ski stick, while if your weight is on both skis, the kick wax is kept up out of the snow so that you can glide.
With skate skiing, the poles are a little longer, the skis a little shorter and stiffer and the only wax applied to the bottom of the ski is glide wax. The action of skiing is very similar to the type of skating you see hockey players use, where their feet move out to the side to push off and drive them forward..
Either way of skiing is a great workout, using the poles to help drive you forward gives you a complete body workout...
Chantilly- cold hands are a chronic problem with me; had mild case of frostbite as a teen and the little arteries going to the fingers tend to clamp down in the cold so the digits don't get good blood flow. I think after my body gets warmed up and going the arteries open up and I was fine the last 2 miles. I even took the mittens off the last half mile!
Debra- I was thinking about those handwarmers that hunters use during the first 2 miles!
Great start to the new year folks.
6.55 miles around town this evening. Took it slow & easy ... first run this season with my yaktrax spikes (yaktrax specifically made for running). 10 degrees with the wind chill.
Dan: way to get out there & get a run in despite the crazy temperature!!
We have waxless x-country skis ... we don't use them often enough to get the waxable skis. We probably do more snow shoeing than x-country skiing ... many of the trails or bushwacks that we take in winter aren't really amenable to skis. Snowshoeing is quite a workout too!!!
5 miles New Years day to start the year off. Sunny and cool weather. Then spent the afternoon with family.
Decided on a bike ride today for a change of pace. Thinking of a lot of you with my additional "wind chill".
When I lived in Illinois I went downhill skiing with friends. It was fun but I never liked the cold. I'll take 100 degree days over cold every time. Did I say I wasn't a cold weather person.
Reading the end of the December runs I see a bunch of us missed our goal of 1200 miles for the year. Same here. I finished with 1005. So starts a new year and goal.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
12 miles on the track. A marathon training group was there.
Fletch
Chantilly – nice track runs. Good start to the new year.
Art in Az – good 5 miles, then a bike ride the next day. Way to mix it up. And I’m with you on the “not being a cold weather person!”
Adkkev – I’d never heard of yaktrax (which shouldn’t be surprising, considering I just started running, grew up in Georgia, and now live in North Carolina). So I googled it…to me, it makes your 6.55 miles even more impressive.
Rich – Thanks for the lesson on xc skiing. As I mentioned, I’m not a cold weather person, but it looks like fun…except for the snow…and the cold. Props to you, though, for getting in a good six mile ski!
Debra – Thanks for the race report. Hats off to the organizers for getting the event in, and to you and the other die-hards for running/slipping around the track. Posts like yours keep me motivated…I’m still at that “head shakes in disbelief” stage when I think about 1,000 miles in a year.
Dan –nice run on the Riverwalk. Be careful…that’s COLD.
Az2mntrail – nice New Year’s Day run…but same to you – be careful in the cold.
Ray – Glad you were able to get a workout in on the treadmill. Hope the health issues sort themselves out soon. Take care of yourself.
Family commitments kept me from getting in a run on New Years Day, as I had planned. And to make matters worse, I ate WAY too much of that traditional southern New Years meal, pork roast, collard greens and black eyed peas. So I was determined to get a run in today (Thursday).
I said in an earlier post that I was determined to enjoy running more, without worrying so much about pace or time or distance. So today, I took what I’m calling a “Gump Run,” as in Forrest Gump. To quote (somewhat liberally) from the movie,
“That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County… For no particular reason I just kept on going.”
So I set out this evening, with no planned route, no gps, no stopwatch, no music…just me running to enjoy the run. Figured I would walk when I got tired, then just run some more, until I made my way back home. Despite the 40 degree rain (I know, sounds like a heat wave to some of you), I thoroughly enjoyed the run! I have no idea how far I ran, or what my pace was. I was gone for about 45 minutes, and whatever the distance, I covered it all without a walk break. And it felt great! I think I’ll make “Gump Runs” a regular part of my schedule.
Many thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement to this beginning runner. Happy New Year, run safe, and stay warm.
Skipped my run tonight ... -11 windchill, snowy streets, unshoveled sidewalks would make for a very uncomfortable & possibly treacherous run. Doesn't sound much better for tomorrow.
Fletch- I like the 'Gump run' idea!
adkkev- yeah, the cold plus late work kept me off the streets today. I was ahead of my projected run total for 1 day at least!
Chantilly- 12 miles, nice!
Dan-Take care out in the cold. The BIG freeze is blowing in on Sunday, the high is predicted to be -9!
adkkev-Did you like the new Yak Traxs spikes?
fletch-You are a quick learner! A "Gump" run is what it's all about.
Chantilly-You are amazing! What's your secret to getting through a 12-miler at the track?
Art-Enjoy biking on your non-run days. Oh, how I miss my bike in the winter.
5 miles at the indoor track tonight. Some foot discomfort post run today and yesterday - I've never experienced it before. It may have been due to running in the Yaktrax on Tuesday. Good, old-fashioned epsom salt soak may help.
Fletch_NC I like your "Gump" run idea!
adkkev enjoy the day off, better to be safe...
justrundan those hand warmers are good. I used them outside in my mitts before.
gito57 hope your foot feels better. Alas, there is no secret to running on the track. Mind over matter.
I used to be unable to last beyond 45 minutes, then one winter I told myself I have to stay an hour, then it was an hour and a half, and after that it seemed to be easier every winter.
One trick is to run more than once a day, if you live near the track and don't mind driving back and forth.
4 miles at 7:00 AM by myself and 3 miles at 10 AM with family on the track. Walked one mile.
Fletch - I like the 'Gump run" also. Those are the runs we all like to have.
To everyone in the nasty cold, snowy weather be careful and safe out there.
Was going to go for a run this morning but thought since I had to go to the bank later...decided to ride my bike and not use the car. So I got in a 12 mile bike ride this morning. Sort of like multi-tasking, right?