6 mile run ~ in the snow, thanks to YakTrax!

Apparently Mother Nature knew what I needed to do this morning, because after a week of mostly dry weather, we had a storm last night that brought about conditions ideal for me to do my 6 mile run this morning and try out the YakTrax and Little Hotties hand warmers I was given to review!  Normally, if I'd woken up and seen the roads looking like this, I would have headed right for the treadmill, but today I got to run in it!

I don't know how I haven't gotten my hands (or feet into) some of these sooner!  I used the YakTrax Pro, heavy duty traction devices for running on packed snow and ice.  Basically, the rubber part stretches over your running shoes, with a secure fit and a velcro strap that goes across the top of the foot, these things didn't budge!  The metal coils on the bottom criss-cross and (at least on my shoes) fit slightly into the traction grooves on the the soles of the shoes.  I ran 6 miles, and didn't even feel them on me.  I was easily able to run without the worry of slipping, and without any discomfort or pinching.  They were easy to put on, and they actually do work like they say they do: they gave me a great amount of traction in the snow and ice, and with the road conditions as slick as they were, I was seriously impressed with how well they work!

 I would definitely have to give YakTrax a thumbs-up!  I can't even tell you how happy I am to know that I can go running, no matter what the weather, and not sacrifice my training or running gait, etc. or have to worry about slipping and getting injured.  Now I want to get a pair for my husband...hmmm...Valentine's Day is coming up!

Since it was also very cold this morning, I decided to give my Little Hotties hand warmers a try as well.

I am one of those people who always has cold hands, even after running several miles.  I was concerned that these would get too hot, especially once I got into my run, but they were actually great!  They fit right into the palm of the hand and you can tuck them into a pocket, pouch or into your gloves, which is what I did.  I will definitely be using these when I go on my long runs on cold, windy days.  For some reason, just having warmth in your hands makes your whole body feel warmer.

Anyway, these are a couple of things to make life better for those of us living in cold climates who don't want to sacrifice outdoor runs in the winter!  Happy running!

Weekend update.

If I really wanted to be a stickler to my schedule, I would have gotten up (early) this morning and run 4 miles before we had to head out of town to take Sophie to her mini-cheerleading camp, and then go to Noah's basketball game.  Today I didn't feel up to being much of a stickler; my legs are still sore and achy from Thursday's long run.  Instead, when we came home from the game, I did 45 minutes on the treadmill.  Tomorrow is a rest day, thank goodness, and then on Monday I have plans to do my 6 mile run in a new location...

You can't see it well from this picture, but there is a road up on this hill, and I plan to run on it so I can try out my YakTrax!  That is, of course, unless we should happen to have a snowstorm between now and Monday morning that leaves a covering of snow on the roads down here in the valley, which is always entirely possible.  In that case, I will run from home and do one of my usual 6 mile routes.  Right now, even though we still have a lot of snow on the ground, the roads are all clear...I just have to go a couple of miles up the mountain, though, and it's a different story...

Long run.

And I do mean long run!  My schedule had me doing a 14 miler today, but somehow my Garmin got messed up and I didn't noticed that the GPS was turned off until I had already gone almost a mile.  Once I got it running properly, it was fine, but by then my distance and time were not accurate for what I had done.  I did an out and back run, turning around at the halfway point, but since I wasn't too sure of the distance, I just estimated and in the end of my run I had actually done just under 15 miles.  It wasn't my intention to extend my run, trust me, but I wanted to be sure to get in at least the 14 miles.  I'm actually just content that I finished the run.  My legs were hurting starting in the first couple of miles.  I was in pain the whole time and had to take frequent walking breaks.  I just tried to minimize the amount of time that I walked, but allowed myself to slow to a walk whenever I felt the need.  I surprised myself with my mental fortitude on this run, because my body definitely did NOT want to run today.  It was rebelling in every way, but I just kept talking to myself, saying any positive thing I could think of to just get me through the run.  Besides my legs aching and my hip hurting, I also have 3 toenails on my left foot that are all on the verge of falling off, and they are giving me a little grief right now.  Oh well, it is done now.  I did 10 minutes of Yoga and I can relax for the rest of the day.

In some fun and exciting news, I was contacted through this here blog by a marketing company to try out some YakTrax products, and I got them today!!  I'm so excited to give them a go on my next run (if the snow and ice are still covering the roads), and I'll be posting my review right here, so check back, friends!  :)

6 miles midweek.

As I drove the kids to school today, I was mindful of the road conditions, hoping it would be decent enough for a run.  The temperature was about 30 degrees, which feels warm considering how cold it has been, but the roads were still covered in a lot of snow, slush and ice, so I decided to do another indoor workout.  After I did 10 minutes on the elliptical to loosen up my hips and knees, I did 6 miles on the treadmill, with some walking at the beginning and end, for a total of about 75 minutes on the treadmill.  After that, I did 35 minutes of Pilates.  Tomorrow I am doing my long run for the week - 14 miles - and I will be doing it out on the road no matter what.  Wish me luck!  :)

Back to the "dreadmill" for 8 miles.

I'm so glad I at least got to do my 6 miler yesterday outside, because this morning we woke up to about 8+ inches of new snow.  After doing a few stretches to warm up, I did my 8 miles this morning on the treadmill.  I'm not going to lie, it wasn't my favorite run, but I got it done.  After my run, I continued to walk for a bit to cool down, and by the time I got off the treadmill, I had spent nearly two hours on it.  I just did about 10 minutes of Yoga to stretch after I was finished.

6 miles.

Starting off the new week on the right foot.  I bundled up and headed out for my 6 mile run this morning.  It was about 15 degrees, but the sun was shining brightly and reflecting off the snow, adding a little perceived, if not actual, warmth.  Plus, it just felt so good to soak in some vitamin D!  My run went well and took just a little over an hour.  I felt pretty good for most of it, even surprisingly strong coming up a huge hill on the way back.  At around mile 4.5, my hip started to pinch and it was hurting me for the rest of my run, but I just slowed my pace a little, and did 40 minutes of Yoga when I got home.  I took some ibuprofen also, and I'll probably spend some quality time with the ice pack today, but it felt so good to get out and run!

A little of this and that.

Saturdays are busy for us.  I think it's going to become something a bit regular for me to need to put my long run on a different day of the week.  My schedule had me doing a 6 miler today, but I'm trying to "rest" my hip/leg that is bothering me, so I did something a little easier, and I had to fit it into my busy morning before taking the family to the boys' basketball games.  I got up a bit early, and started out with 45 minutes of walking on the treadmill.  Then I did 45 minutes on the elliptical.  When I do the elliptical, my leg doesn't bother me, so it's a good thing for me to do.  This afternoon when we came back from basketball I was feeling a little restless, so I jumped on the treadmill and did 20 minutes of jogging, then 20 minutes again on the elliptical.

Starting next week I will be starting to make some decent mileage increases, so the past few days I've been mentally preparing myself to feel motivated to get outside for all of my runs.  It's going to be important for me psychologically to do all of my runs according to my schedule from here on out if I'm going to feel prepared for the marathon in May.  I've kind of got this Catch 22 thing going on: I've been feeling a little blah lately, with the cold, gloomy weather and the problems I'm having with pain in my hip, etc., which has kept me from consistently running outside, but the dumb thing is that I know I would feel better if I could just get out there and do it.  For some reason, no matter how long or hard I work out indoors, be it using the treadmill, the elliptical or doing Yoga or Pilates, I don't have the same sense of accomplishment when I'm finished as I do when I come home after a good run on the road.  I need some new motivation.  I think tonight or tomorrow I will spend some time finding some new music for my mp3 player, and looking online for some (very) cheap new running clothes.  That should help.

Friday workout.

This morning is a crosstraining/rest day.  I decided to do a little time on the treadmill, mainly because I wasn't feeling too motivated to do much else.  I did a walk/run thing for about 65 minutes, then I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes of Yoga.  I'm glad tomorrow is a new day.

Another 4.

I warned you this week would be a little boring.  This morning I did another 4 miler indoors.  I actually did a total of 75 minutes on the treadmill, running 4 miles of that and walking the rest.  I was working my way through 2 episodes of Lost.  ;)  After my run, I did 45 minutes of Yoga, and now I'm icing the back of my knee on the side of my hurt hip.  I wore my IT band/knee brace while running today, and it seemed to help because my hip was barely bothering me.  I'm icing because I'm trying to encourage healing.

4 miles.

By yesterday afternoon, a lot of the snow on the ground had melted away and the roads were looking very clear.  But....last night a big winter storm moved in and we woke up to a fresh 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground, and still it's coming down.  On my training agenda for this morning was a 4 mile run, which I opted to do on the treadmill.  I did some walking to warm up and cool down.  The run was okay, but my hip pain is back today with a vengeance.  I'm really hoping that the reduction in mileage this week will help, because starting next week I face three tough weeks with major mileage increases.