Training Log Archive: iansmith

A snow run: I departed my apartment and ran up Cambridge St. to meet Lori at her apartment to run in the snow. Snow fell gradually throughout the day on New England, totally about 10 inches (25.4 cm) - exceeding Boston's 7.8 inch average for the entire month of December. Given the few opportunities to run while it is snowing, Lori and I elected to go for a run.

Our path was from her apartment, to the Weeks footbridge, and along the Weeks-Eliot bridge loop. Along most of the river route, the sidewalks had not been plowed or salted, so we tredged through about 8-12 inches of snow.

A la Brendan, my apparel commentary: because I lack pants appropriate for running, I ran in athletic shorts, an undershirt, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, my MIT hoodie, gloves, and a hat. While along our route, my clothing elicited some amusing remarks from other pedestrians (e.g. "He dressed poorly"), I was warmer than I planned to be and periodically took off my hat to vent excess heat. My legs were comfortable and not significantly numb; the only unpleasant moments came when Lori and I made snow angels. Even when we would pause, e.g. to cross streets, my body temperature was stable. Nevertheless, I should acquire appropriate cold weather running gear.

I didn't time our trek, which was broken into our actual loop and my run from my apartment to Lori's; the timing is an estimate. We ran much more slowly than normally simply because of the snow obstacle. Each step kicked up a non-trivial quantity of snow, fatiguing us.

Overall, I highly recommend running in falling snow to anyone who gets the opportunity. Wear pants unless you want to be the target of much commenting.

C • nice 1

Earlier this week, I asked Brendan if I could run with him to improve the quality of my training. Brendan is a faster, more experienced runner (and orienteer) from whom I can learn much. I speculated that running with him while he set the pace would help me run faster, and meeting for running would encourage consistency in my running schedule.

I rendezvoused with Brendan at the Science Museum and ran along the north bank of the Charles River up to Harvard. Conditions were very pleasant; there was a small amount of snow on the ground from a flurry last week. The temperature was 36 F, and the sky was cloudy.

This is my first training run in about two months - hopefully the first of many. I recently purchased new running shoes from the New Balance factory store, and I'm eager to put them to use. Running along with Brendan today went well; I did not struggle with the pace, and as I expected, running with a buddy made the exercise more pleasant.

Event: Blue Hills Traverse
 

Traverse - Splits