Posted by Kit Barker | Posted in Fitness progress | Posted on 22-02-2010
Well, yesterday saw my first 13 mile run. In the snow.
We’d been planning the route for a while but to wake on Sunday morning to about 6 inches of snow was a shock. The run would be off, or so I thought. We were all up for cancelling the run but JP kept strong. He was going to go out anyway… That made me feel like a wimp and so reluctantly I said I’d go. Boy, am I glad I did.
I couldn’t wear my FiveFingers as they had less than no grip in the snow, so it was back on with my trail shoes.
When I met Smack and JP (Rich decided against joining us) I felt way under dressed. I’d forgotten my hat, my gloves and I was in shorts. But I’d remembered the important things: lots of homemade peanut butter and honey flapjacks and a jam jar full of homemade sloe gin!
Off we set to the park. The route was through Endcliffe Park as usual, up to Fulwood Lane. Nothing out of the ordinary here, except for feeling the extra strain of carrying a 30 litre rucksack. It wasn’t over packed and on the run we’ll need more stuff, but it was much heavier than the pack I’d been taking out previously. Smack and JP were carrying hydration packs too – the first time they’d taken a pack at all. I think they were shocked at how much extra effort that required.
Once at Fulwood Lane we started across fields and open countryside. Did I mention that it was snowy?! After a windy and exposed mile, I think the cold got to us. We took a wrong turn and ran back to path across knee deep snow and stopped to have a snow ball throwing competition and then carried on laughing hysterically. Writing it down, it doesn’t seem funny at all, but somehow out there, it was the funnies thing in the world!
The route only got harder, the ground got boggier and snow got deeper. Running across frozen bogs was really disconcerting. Hearing the crack of the ice underfoot and waiting for the time when it gives way and you go up to your ankles in freezing bog water… we all took a tumble or two and had at least a shoe-full of bog!
We missed the path and had to scramble across some rocks to get to Redmires Reservoir. We got to the reservoir, 7 miles, in about 2 hours! A quick stop for more flap jacks and a glug of sloe gin and we were off on the homeward leg. It was good to pick up some speed and get out of the snow because at this point I couldn’t feel my fingers at all and my feet were freezing.
The route was dull in comparison on the way home, along a path by a stream (which I was convinced I was going to fall into!) and then back through the parks. We covered the final 6 miles in just under an hour which is pretty good going. Running on snow is like running twice as far in terms of effort.
The last 2 miles were hard. Really hard. My legs were tired. My feet were aching and it was a real effort to keep going.
At the end we were all exhausted but very pleased we’d done it. Thanks JP for keeping us strong!
Surprisingly, today I feel good. My legs are tired but not stiff or sore. I tried running and it doesn’t hurt at all but my legs feel empty. No power there at all.
I’m going to go for a 2-3 mile walk to loosen up and tomorrow I’ll try a 4 mile run.