Big Run in the Cold
Today I revisited a run I did last year in the cold. It was 1 degree warmer this time (at 28 degrees). At 7 miles, over quite hilly terrain, this was pretty big for me. But, it went better than last year when I had intense knee pain - this time none. I am also really appreciating now that I could go back and look at my prior blog entry, and see what I wore last time in those temps. I'm still figuring out clothing on runs, as I tend to start off really cold, but then of course get quite warm after about 20 mins.
This time was almost the same on clothes:
- Icebreaker GT 220 top
- Pearl Izumi running knickers
- Icebreaker medium(?) socks
- Pearli jacket and gloves
- Icebreaker hat
Hmm, there's a pattern there, or some brand loyalty :) Oh, the shoes were Brooks Cascadias as usual.
Trail was crunchy in a few spots, but otherwise excellent, fairly dry. Saw two others out running, and a bunch of hikers. Really quite a nice day. I did have to walk a fair bit of the return section between Fox Hollow/Raptor Center and where it tops out back to the main Spencer Butte trail. Man, that section is just brutal -- very steep, and at that point in the run, just tough for me. That point is further in that any of runs total mileage I've done this season (longest so far since resuming running this fall was 4.8 miles, and this section starts probably at about 5-ish miles in).
But, all in all, very happy. Looking forward to exploring some of the other trail combos in the Spencer Butte area.
