This morning was an absolutely gorgeous morning. It was a bit cool (zero)
but there was little wind and with the bright moon and the snow on the
ground it was almost as bright as day. Still, I'm having a hard time
appreciating all the beauty of winter. I think I've just had to get out of
a warm bed and into sub-zero weather too many mornings, so winter is
beginning to wear on me.

On a whim, I decided to see if one of my summer loops was passable.
Although we've had plenty of sub-zero days, we have had little snow so I was
hoping that a particular 10-11 mile loop was still clear. It was, mostly.
The road was mostly plowed, although hard-packed snow still covered the road
in most places. The snow was cold enough to give good traction. In one
place, where the road passes near the lake, the road was not plowed and was
covered with ice. That was easily bypassed, but as I slowed down to get
around the ice, I heard an eerie tinkling coming from the lake. I stopped
to listen and looked out over the lake. The first 50 feet was frozen, but
after that the lake was open. Even with the bright moonlight I could see
nothing that far out, but I quickly realized that the freezing small sheets
of ice must be clicking against each other like so many pieces of broken
crystal being gently stirred in a crystal goblet. I didn't stay long, being
in no mood to appreciate this odd beauty.

Tomorrow I'll return to this route and run the 2 mile loop near the lake
three times to get to 14-15 miles I have planned for tomorrow.

On to the run...

I set out to run 11 miles and did so at an easy 7:45 pace with a HR of 145.
The knee pain of Sunday and yesterday was mostly gone. I massaged my quads
a lot yesterday and before my run this morning and that seemed to do the
trick. I also ran in the Brooks Radius '05 again. My initial impression of
these shoes continues to strengthen. These are great shoes. They are
flexible, well cushioned in both the heel and in the forefoot, and fit well.
Neutral runners with medium to wide forefeet should seriously consider this
shoe. I do find, however, that they are a bit cold. These are hot weather
shoes with great forefoot ventilation, but I notice the breeze on my toes
when I run in sub-zero weather.

I also used the S625X HRM again this AM, although without the footpod. The
manual says to not use the footpod at temperatures below 14 degrees. We
haven't had too many of those mornings lately. The HRM is great. The
Wearlink HRM transmitter is incredibly comfortable and light and the wrist
receiver is well constructed and precise. Anyone who is at all familiar
with Polar HRM operation will quickly figure out the S625X.

Victor

Cross-training: 0.0 miles
Running: 11.0 miles
Shoes: Brooks Radius 2005
WTD running: 19.0 miles
WTD total: 19.0 miles

posted by Not So Competitive Runner at 8:47 PM