First Freezing Run

Time: 134:09
Distance: 30.58k
Pace: 4:23/k
Map

Today we woke up to the first truly cold day of the year. If yesterday were frigid, today was freezing! When Meagan , John and I left the house it was a balmy 20 degrees with a windchill making it about 10 degrees colder. Oh the joy of running in New England in the winter.

I shouldn't be complaining too much because the sun was at least shining and we have exceptional gear to keep us warm. I broke out some Craft Siberian Gloves that I believe are suitable if you were to ever run an ultra in a Russian winter. Meagan was in charge of leading the crew down the trail and just into Swampscott. I was content to run with Meagan and her father for about an hour, but long runs already take a significant amount of time. I didn't want to prolong the misery of running in cold windy conditions. This often happened when I was in college which I would end up just hammering long runs with whoever wanted to sniff the front. My thought was always to get it over with as quickly as possible, right?

We showed John a significant portion of Marblehead to the point of knowing where the Dunkin' Donuts was located. I parted ways with the Nedlos along the trail and headed out to Salem for the remainder of my run. I picked up the pace gradually into the wind and kept it honest all the way into town. My face was numb, but I tried to remain positive as there will be many tougher runs to come. My Salem route took me to some familiar places that I walked when I dad came to visit and then I wound up at Washington Square.

The square is more like a triangle and is about 700m around. I made 4 or 5 loops before thinking it was time to venture back to Marblehead. My final 9 kilometers were all under 4:00/k as the wind was at my back on sections. I learned from living in Oklahoma that you always plan a route into the wind first. There's nothing more miserable than to be tired, sweaty and having to run back into a stiff breeze.

Once back at the house I was able to do some light stretching and mull over the bag of donuts in my kitchen. John treated everyone to some gluttonous/gluten-ous treats which were consumed under the rule #1 principle.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:14:08.5	30.58	4:23
1	5:20.2	1.00	5:20
2	5:02.9	1.00	5:03
3	5:00.0	1.00	5:00
4	4:58.1	1.00	4:58
5	4:58.5	1.00	4:58
6	5:09.7	1.00	5:10
7	4:56.2	1.00	4:56
8	4:53.9	1.00	4:54
9	5:09.6	1.00	5:10
10	4:59.5	1.00	4:59
11	4:57.5	1.00	4:58
12	4:30.2	1.00	4:30
13	4:17.5	1.00	4:18
14	4:18.6	1.00	4:19
15	4:14.5	1.00	4:14
16	4:16.4	1.00	4:16
17	4:09.7	1.00	4:10
18	3:59.9	1.00	4:00
19	4:08.2	1.00	4:08
20	4:04.8	1.00	4:05
21	4:00.8	1.00	4:01
22	3:54.5	1.00	3:55
23	3:57.2	1.00	3:57
24	3:47.8	1.00	3:48
25	3:56.6	1.00	3:57
26	3:53.9	1.00	3:54
27	3:49.6	1.00	3:50
28	3:50.2	1.00	3:50
29	3:39.5	1.00	3:39
30	3:44.4	1.00	3:44
31	2:08.0	0.58	3:40