Saturday, December 04, 2010

(S)Now I'm Running!

I'm now ready to deem my 2 weeks sans running a success.  I eased back into running this week making sure I didn't do any speedwork.  I was a little scared the first few runs thinking that any weird feeling in my knee was the return of Runner's Knee.  On Thursday morning, I did a run in some pretty cold temps on one of my extra hilly routes.  It was good.  I was planning a 40-50 minute run for Friday, put with the impending snowstorm, I moved that run to Thursday evening so I could return to one of my favorite winter running events…

Dome Running!*

I ran two laps, then ran into Steve and Pharmie.  I did two laps with Steve, then ran the rest of the time with Pharmie and we were joined later by Steve Q.  Even though I had planned to run for 40 minutes, we were having a wonderful conversation and next thing I know, it's been and hour.  And I'm ok with that because I ran for an hour on the hard surface with no knee pain!  Victory!

Then winter came.  Again.

Last night it snowed, and my normal 20 minute commute took 1.5 hours in part because my bus was 40 minutes late.  This morning, I awoke and it was sunny with 4-5 inches of fresh, fluffy snow—perfect time for a run.  So I strapped on my Yaktrax and grabbed my camera and off I went.

My foot with Yaktrax.

The first few block were pretty treacherous, but once I got to the golf course near the river, the paths were cleared:

The sidewalk you see in this photo is new.  It used to be a wonderful tree lined, grassy, trail-like path heading down to the river.  Then the city decided that no one was allowed to have fun anymore and they took out a bunch of trees and put this concrete in.

The path was already cleared along the river in St. Paul...

…and in Minneapolis

A magnificent view from the Franklin Ave bridge 

Me, afterwards.  It looks like there is a spear going through my head.

So, take that, winter!  Between Yaktrax and Dome Running, there's no reason to forego running in the winter.

*Every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8pm, the Metrodome is open for runners on the upper concourse.  It only costs $1, and parking is free in the lot on the east side of the Dome.  Go here for more details.

8 comments:

Johann said...

Thanks for the snow pics. Here in South Afrika snow and Yaktrax are not part of running life.

SteveQ said...

Good meeting you on Thursday! Today's the first day I'm really struggling to get outside to run; I'm tempted to say something that'd get filed under "not on my blog."

chris mcpeake said...

Hello winter. We are just starting to get it here canada as well.

Andrew Opala said...

do the yaktrax seem to put any cuts into your shoe (damage it in anyway)?

I'm thinking of buying them and a tougher pair of cross trainers for winter.

Matt said...

@Andrew

I haven't noticed any damage on my shoes from the Yaktrax. The design is such that there aren't any big pressure points from the coils on the shoes, so if they cause any issues, it wouldn't be much different than just putting regular miles on the shoes.

Detroit Runner(Jeff) said...

Matt - great run. I did my first indoor run on the treadmill yesterday. I want to be back outside but it's dark(don't mind) and icy(do mind). Still thinking about an outdoor run tomorrow.

1k4tribike said...

I can't imagine how difficult it is to run outdoors under freezing weather. And I take for granted the humidity and heat in my own town. More power to your running legs for this winter, Matt! Cheers!

Matt said...

@Detroit Runner: Ice is usually the biggest obstacle to getting outside, and I've discovered it is the biggest problem in Metro Detroit right now. Back in MN, we've had so much snow that either the trails are clear, or they're perfect for Yaktrax.

@Johann and 1k4tribike: I'm jealous of your year-round warm weather. Wanna trade?

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