Yep, the conditions today were horrible. Lots of snow and ice, the single-track, hard-packed, icy trail with divets that were perfect for rolling your ankle, the sidewalks had "brown sugar" snow which made it feel like running in sand.... yeah, not a lot of positives there. In fact, my feet are killing me.
The temperature was good - at least, I dressed for it. The thermometer read -4C when I left the house, and while the snow continued to come down, the sun did break thru just as I crested the top of the Weaselhead hill.
My point about the weather report? It could have been worse, no one was out there running for a PB (certainly not me!), and if you walked away without falling down, it was a good day.
And my day got even better!
Richelle and I tossed around a number of potential paces for me to run. Then the weather forecast kicked in (see above), so we revamped it to be a run for heart rate. We agreed on some HR zones for various stretches of the race. I pointed out that those HRs would make me slow; but keeping my HR under control helps me on two fronts: 1) it helps me avoid detours into the bushes (sorry, too much info?), and 2) it is good practice for IMC.
Here's the good news about my race today: I stayed close to or within all the HR zones that Richelle gave me, my goal of "consistent and persistent" during my intervals was bang on target, I had no tummy troubles, and I gained a huge measure of confidence for running at both Great White and IMC. The final 4km I kicked it up a notch, as per Richelle's directions, and felt spent at the line. Another plus: I recovered quickly, ready to keep going.
My training has been going well over the winter and early spring - although I've lost my speed. I feel like a tortoise (or a tank, depending on my mood!): slow and steady gets you across the line. I know that I'll need the endurance element, but I miss a bit of the speed.... oh well, today wasn't about speed anyhow!
Today's race was about consistency, pacing, HR zones. Does it matter that this is the slowest half Mary that I've ever done? Nope. Was it good prep for IMC? Absolutely.
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