My wife and I are to the point where we buy our own Christmas presents and give them to the other person to wrap. One of the things Amy bought for herself was a new watch. Then she talked me into letting her wear it before Christmas. So with the recent snowfall, I thought it was only fair that she allow me to wear these before Christmas. I’ve never worn Yaktrax before but have heard good things about them. I was not disappointed.
I didn’t think we really had enough snow on the roads, so I just carried them when I started running. I headed to the golf course and continued to carry them. Once I got to my favorite trails I put them on and was immediately impressed. I was able to “zip” up and down snowy, leaf-covered hills with confidence. On the way back home I kept them on and tried to find every icy patch I could and didn’t slip at all. So if you do any of your winter running on packed snow or slippery roads, add the Yaktrax to your Christmas list.
While on the golf course, I noticed a bunch of cross-country ski tracks in the fairways. Even though we only have about 2 inches of snow, people had been out skiing. That got me thinking about taking my skis over there tomorrow. I’ve had a nice pair of skate skis for about 4 years, but haven’t used them much because I’m “too busy” running. I haven’t been able to convince myself that cross-country skiing is a good running substitute, even though everything I’ve read says it’s just as good, if not better. One of the problems I have is that I’m not very good with those technical sports, like skiing, swimming or golf. I rather just go out and exercise without having to think about the technical aspects.
Today’s run was 10 miles in 85 minutes. That gave me 246 miles for the month of November. For the 30 days in the month, I ran 28 days, biked 1 day and took 1 day completely off. Not spectacular, but definitely a step in the right direction.
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5 comments:
Wow, how do you do all that training!! My body screams for a day off at least 1 time a week!! And snow, I am totally jealous!! We don't get much of the white stuff here in Texas!! BOO!!
Zeke - Nice to know about the YakTrax. I've tried those studded 'Ice Grippers' but found that a) they simply collected snow and ice and became useless and unconfortable, and b)I got blisters and sore spots i=under each stud.
As far as xc skiing, I have been told that paddlers (conoeists and kayakers) make the best xc skiers becoause of their upper body strength. I was told this after thinking that, as a runner, I would have a good chance of being competitive in a local xc ski race. I ended up not competeing, and the winner ended up being one of the top local paddlers.
Marathena, I try to build my mileage gradually for 2-3 weeks and then cut back a week. But I don't set rigid goals. For example, 2 weeks ago I had a cold, so I cut my mileage that week.
At this point in my training all my runs are easy to moderate and I don't have any dramatic flucuations in my daily mileage. That way I'm not really tired one day more than the next.
Susan, but it wasn't even a sports watch. :-)
Marc, to tell you the truth I couldn't even tell I had the Yaktrax on - except when cross the paved roads.
Also, I just got back from x-c skiing (I'll post about it today). If nothing else my tris got a huge workout. While canoeists and kayakers may have the upper body strength, they still gotta have the technique down too - and have the "engine."
Nice to see the consistency Zeke, your hard work will definitely pay off come Grandma's time.
Nice month Zeke. We got an inch or two of snow today as well, but I had to settle for walking to the kids school to pick them up instead of running. I love the snow.
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