Pointless Run in the Snow

Time: 128:27
Distance: 18.04 miles
Pace: 7:07
Map

I had my most miserable run of the year this morning when I thought it would be a good idea to run from the house out to McAlpine. The goal was to arrive just as the Queens team was starting their long run from Old Bell. I took most of the main roads out to the parking lot and didn't have the best experience. The roads were plowed just enough for a single car to pass, but that meant I had to jump in and out of the road to the shoulder of snow and ice. Driver's weren't acting too malicious this morning out on the thoroughfares.

It was almost exactly 8 miles from the door to Old Bell, I'll definitely keep this in mind in the coming weeks. However, those 8 miles were split at: 8:30, 7:30, 7:10, 6:51, 6:58, 7:06, 7:04, 6:16. Then I entered the park and it was a disaster. I had yet to experience bad footing on the day's run. McAlpine was awful. The snow wasn't soft enough to provide any cushioning and hard/beat up enough to make it feel like you were running in a riverbed. The next 10 miles were: 7:17, 7:09, 7:13, 7:24, 7:11, 7:08, 7:18, 7:03, 6:40, 6:22. The worst part was the fact that only 3 Queens athletes decided to show up this morning and 2 were females.

As you can see the splits were all over the place. The terrain basically dictated the pace and made every step a calculated placement. The only redeeming bit of fun on the run was my trusty iPhone that kept me company and provided some tunes to zone out. Late in the run I was joined by Benny and that made things a bit easier, but he was somehow ripping through the snow like it was a non-issue. I tried to pick it up to match his pace but that only made the run increasingly frustrating. The final two miles that clocked in under 7:00 minutes felt like they were sub-6:00 effort.

Multiple times I felt like calling it a day because I wasn't getting the true benefit of a long run. Yes, I was out there for over two hours, but nothing about the pace or effort felt natural. I know I'm going to be extra sore tomorrow due to all the little stabilizer muscles having to do extra work. I'm trying to find the positives to this run. I don't see any. Get me outta here.