Having fun and not being foolish: My #Winterman Recap

Posted In: ChiRunning | Running February 18th, 2013 divider 2 Comments »

So I went for a run with my buddy Rob yesterday. We were both registered for the Winterman marathon. I was doing it as a training run for my upcoming ultra and Rob was just doing it to brag it seems.

As the day got closer, the roller coaster of emotions that includes raceday weather was in full swing. Will it be warm? Snowy? Cloudy? You guessed it, -30 with the windchill at gun time. As you can see from my face on the main picture, it didn’t take long for your face to freeze. But I did get a great dose of vitamin D and more than my weekly allowance of cold wind.

Rob and I had done a few long runs together over the past months so we were more than ready. And when I say a few, I mean two. But I digress…

The run involved eight laps of just over five kilometres  After the second lap, I could see Rob limping a bit from time to time. So I knew I had to start looking for it since his pride probably wouldn’t let him stop. After some more starts and stops, we agreed to let him tough it out for one more lap. And it got worse and worse so we called it a day after five laps and 26 or so kilometres.

Rob’s been having some issues with his knee and IT band for a few months. Although the ChiRunning is helping, there is a deeper issue he must fix in order to get back to pain-free long distance running.

All and all, another great experience. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t do the whole thing but having a good friend in one piece and not in excruciating pain is well worth it. Plus I still got to work on my mental fortitude and I’m confident I could have finished it in those conditions.

Also had the pleasure of sharing this experience with my Mom. She ran the half and she smiled through it all. Such an inspiration to see her doing her thing after all she’s been through. Isn’t she cute? You make me very proud Mom!

So now the good thing is that I feel pretty great after yesterday so another long run attempt will happen this week/weekend. Anyone want to join me?