Running with Jack

Yesterday afternoon we had some light snow flurries, enough to whiten our dreary landscape. It was a cool 2C/36F, with a biting wind that chilled one to the bone as I headed out for my 14K/8.7M run. I was about 20 minutes late getting started due to some errands that I had to do before I got home, so it was almost dark as I left.

The first 3K were across an open field, the wind cut through my thin running tights and whipped against my unprotected face. Brrrr, I was glad when I finally reached the woodline and entered the forest. I turned on my blinking armband as I started to run through the forest, its hunting season in Germany and I didn’t want anyone mistaking me for a deer in the darkness. As I ran through the forest I was waiting for the game warden or a hunter to approach me and accuse me of “scaring the animals”. If you read my post from last week you will understand what that is all about.

I felt pretty good as I whipped through the darkness. It was just light enough to make out the outline of the logging road through the forest, basically it was just a matter of staying between the two lines of trees on either side ;-)

As I completed my loop around the forest and left the tree line behind me I headed directly into the chilling wind. I about froze my tiny-hiny off by the time I reached to house, the wind can sure make a difference. I ended up running a bit faster than I planned, I averaged 5:39/K (9:06/M) - I guess I couldn't wait to get back inside :-)

My legs ache a bit this morning, I think my run took a lot more effort than normal due to the wind and cold. Tonight I am stopping at the pool on my way home from work for some laps. I hope my swimming teacher isn’t there, she always makes me nervous. For those of you who have been following my swimming, my first swim course is finished and I am now trying to get into a freestyle course. The first class for next year is full, I hope I can get into the next one. In any case I have included swimming in my training schedule for next year.