Frigid Hills

Weather is always a hot topic of conversation here in Calgary. For the last couple of days everyone has been talking about how cold it was going to get on Wednesday. I tried to tune them all out because I really didn't want to know. I needed to run hills on Wednesday and there was no way that I was going to wuss out and run on a treadmill. A treadmill is painful enough with no incline, never mind throwing a hill workout in!

I had something going on over lunch today so I knew my best course of action would be to get the run done first thing in the morning. I was up around 5 am and wandered downstairs to take care of something important first. The Melissa's Road Race registration was up and running and I wanted to make sure I got into the 10K. I pulled together the stuff I needed for work, then bundled up. I didn't check the temperature, I just knew I'd need to dress as warmly as possible. So I layered up in:

• Under Armour shorts
• Long johns
• The warmest pair of Sugoi tights I own
• The thickest pair of Smartwool socks I own
• Long sleeve tech top
• Midweight half zip top
• Sugoi Firewall jacket
• Gloves
• Two hats
• Fleece scarf

It looked perfect outside. We had gotten a light dusting of snow overnight so it was great for throwing the Yak Trax on. I got started just before 6 am with a 15 minute warm up, followed by a few short accelerations. After that it was into my 4 x 2:00 hill repeats. My pace wasn't anything to write home about, but the repeats went not too badly. They were over and done with before I knew it, then it was time for a 10 minute cool down run back home.

I felt pretty well bundled up against the elements and I was pretty comfortable out there. The worst part was probably that my eyes were watering a fair bit...and well...extreme cold...watery eyes...you get frozen lashes. Talk about a weird sensation! Once I got back home I checked the weather. It was -21C, or -31C with the windchill. That's -6F/-24F for all of you Imperial folks. I would say I redeemed myself after bailing on an outdoor run on Monday in -7C. (Although really, if I wouldn't have run at the Y on Monday then there would have been no great Leana versus the Weightlifter on the treadmill story...)

In the evening I ran through a quick strength workout, followed by some abs and some stretching. Alright folks, I'd better head off to bed. Tomorrow is another swim/spin combo!