Snow-Pocalypse 2021

 "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."  -Albert Camus

So unless you've been under a rock the last few weeks, you know that Texas was crippled by some historically low temps, snow & ice.  It delayed everything.  Restaurants & businesses closed for days.  Factories & were shut down for days.  People experienced rolling blackouts, low water pressure, and tens of thousands didn't have any power or water at all.

That sure makes an old running blog pretty insignificant.  But just a short week later & we are back to 80 degree days!  God bless Texas!

This installment will be more or less a photo album.  Hell, I can barely remember 1 week ago, much less 2, but I'll try...

SNOW-POCALYPSE IS COMING

I ran with the 5am speedsters on Monday.  They super fast sub-7 milers easy, but sometimes they slow it down.  I was invited to tag along.

The temps really started dropping by mid-week, but nothing stops a turtle.  Leo & I met for some 5k loops.  He is training for a marathon that is a multiple loops course.  So he's been working on his loop enduring skills.  We did 4 loops.  Each loop was a 5k.  It actually wasn't that bad.  It cut the run up in bite-sized pieces.  I found myself zoning out a few times.  8 loops may have been a different story.

Saturday it was even colder.  The wind chill was subzero, but as you know, we just keep running.  So out we went for 10 frigid miles.  I picked up a Camelbak to try and move away from the waist belt bottles.  This wasn't the day to try that.  Newbie mistake.  By mile 3 the straw was completely froze up.  As best as I can tell when we finished the entire bladder was froze.

SNOW-POCALYPSE HAS ARRIVED

Sunday I ventured out for little run in the snow in Texas.  I figured it was probably one of my only chances to do so while in Texas.  Just a quick mile.  At 9am it was 4 degrees & felt like -16!

After a 6 day hiatus due to the weather & utility rationing, we were out again.  Probably a little too soon.  A lot of the main roads were good.  The sidewalks were still very treacherous, as we found out.  Not even quarter mile from the store & 2 turtles go down.  We were concerned that Don might have to go into concussion protocol, but luckily he was okay.  We finished up the 11 miles really slow & safe.

And just like that, one day later, there's not even a trace of any snow whatsoever.  Being low on miles for the month I went out and grabbed few. It ended up being 72 degrees that day!  That was pretty quick rundown of the last 2 weeks.  See you next time!

SNOW-POCALYPSE BE GONE!

Sometimes you have to change it up

If we don't change, we don't grow.  If we don't grow, we aren't really living. - Gail Sheehy

A very thought provoking quote.  Living things grow that's what they do.  If something is not growing most often it's dead or at least unproductive.

As you know, I have been back & forth about where to go next with my training.  Sometimes options open up that help with your decision.  It did for me.

Some friends of mine invited me to go with them to run Pike's Peak.  Being the psychopath that I am, I said yes.  There are several of us planning to go, rent a house, stay the week and run the 14,115ft mountain race.  Being my first trip, I'll just do the Ascent.  That's a half marathon to the top.  Some of the others are doing the full marathon which includes the Decent back to the bottom.  Registration opens on March 1st.  I just have to hope that I can get a spot.

Now I need to start looking for some hills & trails.  And trails with hills.  It has been suggested that I run with a weighted vest.  Let's make sure that I get in first.

MONDAY means it’s a new week!  I took a nice little out and back. I didn’t intend to run negative splits, but I’ll take it. 9:16, 9:09, 8:49. 

It seems like a lot of my Monday runs end up being negative splits. 

THURSDAY and it's XT day again.  I've taken a few extra days off this week.  I've been having some pain in the arch of my right foot.  I've been rolling it with the touchpoint ball & hitting it with the impact massager.  This morning it feels better.  So, I guess I have no excuse not to do the workout this week.  I mean I did win another prize last week.  I could recuse myself to let someone else have a chance.  That wouldn't be any fun.  Besides its just a little 3 mile run. Oh and 20 burpees every half mile!  I'm going to feel real empowered after this one.

I put on my USA ASICS.  They’re a little more stiff in the arch. No issues during the workout. Maybe these shoes aren’t so bad after all. 

The workout was tough, but I felt stronger than I thought I would. I’m sure the people passing by though that I was insane. I did manage to keep all of the running sections under 10min/mile. I can remember last year not being able to do 5 burpees without being completely out of breath. If it’s hard just keep doing what you can & eventually you’ll get better & stronger. 

SATURDAY it's time for something a little different. Trail running.  I wanted to spend some time on the Squircle this year. That begins today.  What's a Squircle?  It's a squared loop. Not a square & not a circle.  A Squircle.

So I arrive at Erwin Park & there are tons of mountain bikers everywhere.  I quickly find a parking spot & head out toward the park entrance to begin the Squircle.  It's about a half mile to the gate.  Going left out of the park, it's a short run to the first turn onto gravel.  After another mile starts a pretty decent uphill.  Honestly, I can't remember a whole lot about the course except that there were several rolling hills.  I was trying to make sure I didn't miss a turn.  It was my first time & I was alone.  One section had some new homes & land being developed.  The rest was just like being out on Miller Creek Road in Arkansas.  It felt almost like being back home, passing farms & livestock..  The last thing I remember is the gradual uphill back to the park entrance.  I make the final left turn & finish the half mile back to the car.  There was definitely an added degree of difficulty.  The Nike Pegasus Trail 2 made for a nice run as well.  Ended up with just over 5 miles on my first trip around the Squircle.

It's SUNDAY and I'm back at Erwin Park for more.  I haven't ran a long run this week.  So I decide on a double Squircle.  One loop to the left like yesterday & one loop in the opposite direction.  I won't bore you with too much repeating the course report from yesterday, but I'll tell you this.  The Right Squircle is definitely tougher than the Left Squircle.  About 2 miles after starting the Right Squircle there is a massive hill.  In the opposite direction obviously it's a nice downhill. So I didn't notice it.  Yesterday I saw once person.  Today there were probably 8-10 other people on on the Squircle.  Looking at my final pace, I could tell that it was tougher today.  Nonetheless, I got it done.  Final tally was 9.5 miles.

Running for fun? Are you sure?

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford

I saw this quote a few weeks ago and saved it.  It's hitting home with me lately.  I kind feel like I'm wandering.  The races that I was training for are done.  The FRC plan is pretty much done.  Mentally, I told myself that I would rest after these races.  Honestly, I'm not sure that I can. I thought about working some weights into my routine, but then I wonder, am I getting to greedy?  Am I looking for the next thing?  What I am doing is working & it's not making me too miserable. If it ain't broke don't fix it, right?

I was talking to someone recently that was saying that they had tried running.  They decided that it sucked & it was painful. I tried to explain that I agreed completely.  Running is not like laying by the pool.  It takes physical exertion.  Even when it's an easy run there is an element of uncomfortableness.  At least I know it is that way for me.  So why do I run?  I run for the feeling of accomplishment.  When I finish running I feel good about what I have done.  When I finish one of our tough XT workouts & I can say I just did 80 or 100 burpees, I feel like a badass, like I can accomplish anything.

Back to the topic at hand, without a goal, what's next?  I'm going to stay the course.  Keep running with by friends.  Throw in some old track & hill workouts like last year.  A couple of the guys have marathons coming up very soon so I'll have plenty of miles to log.  And just like that I have another goal!  In the FRC XT challenge I won a free entry to the Texas Big Star Half Marathon in April.  Now I have 3 months to get 34 seconds faster & go sub 2:00

TUESDAY was an attempt at an easy run after resting on Monday.  My legs were still a little tired from the race.  I ran by this tree & I saw a little bird's nest.  So I thought that would be a neat photo for the blog.  Ends up it was not.  So I propped my phone up on a fire hydrant & got this one.  I thought it was perfect for the status of my legs.

Also a friend of mine in KC was having a real good time with my finish line photo from the race.  So, of course, I had to share.

Enjoy!

WEDNESDAY we run long runs.  People think that we're insane, and we may be a little.  Before moving to Texas I had a rule of no more than 5 miles on week day.  Well, we have smashed that many time as you may have noticed.

Anyway, last night was one of those nights where I just couldn't sleep.  I kept waking up.  Finally about 2am it was over.  My workload for the day started running through my head.  I tossed & turned until 3am and finally just got up.  I was setup to run with The Turtles at 5am, I thought well, I'll just get up and go run now since I can't sleep.  It was raining.  Blah.  So I decided to eat some ramen (my pre-long run meal), drink some coffee, & just wait till run time.

The rain had passed by the time I went to meet the guys.  We took off on another 10-miler.  We decided on a nice easy pace.  With 2 of our squad training for full marathons the pace would generally need to be a little slower.  It was a real good time; a lot of talking.  We haven't been able to do that much lately with the intervals & quicker paces. With the exception of nearly being mauled by Chupacabra that was lurching around in the woods along the trail, it was a nice run.  

XT THURSDAY is here again!  Another empowering workout from the mind of our cross training coach!  Not a whole lot to say about it.  4 rounds of the workout listed below.  I did start to dry heave during round 3, but I finished it up in less than 30 minutes.  

It's SATURDAY!  That means we're going long!  There had been talk of 15 miles today. While I wasn't really looking forward to 15, I was down to support my friends.  So I was in.  I've been trying out some new nutrition & I have it all prepped & ready go.  

• Body Glide to prevent chaffing.
• Salt Stick capsules to replace electrolytes during the run.
• Karbolyn Fuel in the Maurten bottle for gradual carb intake during the run.
• Huma energy gels for a boost every now and again.

It was raining again and it was really windy.  I mean really really windy. Like I mentioned earlier, we're a little crazy.  With a little reservation we press on with the plan to meet at the store.  Once on the way I realize that the wind is blowing a lot harder than I thought.  The weather is saying 35-40 mph gusts.  We get out of our cars & can barely stand up to the gusts.  For our safety we decided to postpone until later in the day.  One brave Turtle, Donatello, who had plans for the day actually went out an hour earlier & logged 8 miles. See... crazy...

Being Saturday, I jump back in bed & nap for a bit.  About 9am I get back up & head out for my solo run. It's still windy, but it's died down to about 14mph,  With no particular route in mind, I just wing it.  I think the most I've ever ran in my neighborhood is 7-8 miles.  I feel like I want to do at least 10.  

Off I go!  I try to go to the farthest points in the neighborhood that I can think of.  Out to Hwy 1385 on the East, up around the clubhouse, past the school & up to the stoplight by the DollarGentral on Hwy 380.  I zig zag through a couple of streets & back on a common route around by Rowdy's house.  Instead of going back home now, I keep going down to the roundabout & up past The Kitch.  There apparently having a 5k or something.  A lot of people are stagger starting as I run by the start line I'm just over Mile 4.  I go through the 2nd roundabout by the flagpoles all the way up to the 7-Eleven that's also on Hwy 380. Here I have to turnaround. I take the other side of the street & loop back by The Kitch on the other side, down around the lake & up through the outside loop.  

About Mile 8 or so, I touching Hwy 1385 again, & I start to get tired mentally.  I turn back North toward the house at Mile 9 & I am welcomed by the 14mph headwind.  Yea!  Nonetheless I slog on back to village, around the block & we're done.  10 miles on the money.  Honesty it felt like 13 or more.

Sometimes it's easy to under estimate the power of running in groups.  One of the main things that attracted to running was the relationships.  Runners are one of the most inclusive group of people that I have met.  Whether you're the fastest, the lowest, or somewhere in between you are cheered for & cheered on.  I've seen it in multiple states.  

I'll leave you with this.  You don't have to be lonely.  You don't have to exercise alone.  Whether you run a 6 minute mile or 20 minute mile, reach out to a local running group.  I'll wager dollars to donuts that you'll be welcomed with open arms.