Fall Running

We are now heading into cooler weather here in the midwest, and I feel unprepared for running in colder weather.

Having just completed my first 5k race, and with two more on the horizon this month, I've started training for a 10k race in the Spring (most likely the St. Patrick's Day run, but we'll see...). Since I raced Saturday and took Sunday off (a mistake, I think, and definitely the subject of a future post), I felt obligated to get back out this morning and run, if for no other reason than to get out and run with Zeus, whom I hadn't run with since Friday morning.

Goofy hat from
Tulsa Zoo Run

Checked the weather before bed, and our local station was predicting a drop as low as 33, so I set out extra clothes - thermals, a sweat jacket, the goofy hat I wore at the Zoo Run - frankly, it was going to be colder weather than I'd ever run in, and I didn't know quite what to expect.

When I got up and had the first of three cups of coffee in my hand this morning, I tuned to The Weather Channel - 39 degrees, very little wind to speak of. I decided to go ahead with the extra garments, anyway...

Zeus and I arrived at the park and got out to stretch in the empty parking lot like we do every time we race. I could see my breath and was feeling good about my wardrobe decision. Once I fired up my tracking app and hit the trail, my neck started to get cold, I pulled down my hat over my ears to save them from frostbite, and we pressed on.

Well, at about the two kilometer mark of my 5k run this morning, I realized I had overdressed. As sweat began to soak my collar and waistband, I kicked myself for wearing so many clothes. However, with Zeus' leash wrapped around my left arm and my phone case around my right, I wasn't really in a position to doff anything, so we just kept running.

Post run nap on the
way back home...

As we hit the four kilometer mark, I was ready to slow it down to a walk, but my intention this week is to start working up to 10k so I'd be prepared to run a 10k race in the Spring, so we kept putting one foot (or paw) in front of the other.

Ended up going just over 5 1/4 kilometers and called it quits. I couldn't wait to get back to the car and take off my sweat jacket.

So, lesson learned - less is better! We're due for a warm up this week, but when the weather turns in a few weeks (or days - this is Oklahoma, afterall), I'll be better prepared to make the right call.


-Steve
October 8, 2012