On Saturday morning, my friend Kathleen and I met up for a 10 mile run. The forecast didn’t call for snow until noon or after, so we figured by meeting up at 9:45 we’d have plenty of time to get in the run before the white stuff started falling. Right?
Ummmm, yeah. Wrong!!
The run started out just fine. We met up in Georgetown, planning an out and back on the canal, which changed to the Capital Crescent trail instead since the canal was covered in snow. It was REALLY cold out (single digits with wind chill) but once we were moving we felt fine.
How cool is this – people were playing ice hockey on the canal!
The first time I got an indication that this would be one of our more extreme runs was when both of our hydration packs froze! The tubes were frozen solid. Fail!
We ended up stuffing the tubes into our jackets, which thankfully solved the problem. 🙂 Never had that happen before! (I have the Nathan Intensity Vest hydration pack love it.)
We decided to do an out and back, and around mile 4… the snow started. Yikes. That was earlier than it was supposed to be…
We decided to push on, figuring the snow wouldn’t get too crazy since it wasn’t even supposed to have started yet. At mile 5 we stopped to have a quick snack and some water before turning around. Kathleen brought along these bonk breakers – I had a couple and they were good! By this point the snow was coming down pretty steadily. Eep!
The second 5 miles ended up being totally insane. The wind had shifted so the snow was basically hitting us right in the face, and it was full on blizzard-ing. Not cool, mother nature, not cool at all.
Luckily, while the snow was sticking (there was probably 2 inches on the ground by the time we finished), it wasn’t slippery at all. There were a couple icy patches here and there leftover from the previous snow last week, but the new snow was just soft and fluffy.
So, on we forged! We had no way to get back to our cars but run!
Here we are embracing the hilarity of the situation by getting a snowy selfie. We died laughing when we looked at this photo because of Kathleen’s white hair and eyebrows!
Check out my icicle eyelashes!! We actually weren’t cold thanks to the running, but our eyes/faces weren’t loving the snow – we were both wishing we had ski goggles with us!
Also, I have to give some love to the amazing jacket I’m wearing – it’s one that Brooks gifted me last fall, and while I’ve been wearing it a ton, this was the first time I’d really put it seriously to the test. The hood alone was amazing, but it actually kept me bone dry underneath, too. Life saver! I actually snagged it out of the laundry (gross, I know) last minute before heading out the door, and I’m so glad I did! Not having a hood or wearing a jacket that didn’t wick away water would have been bad news.
WE MADE IT!!!!! 10 miles. I’d say we seriously earned these. Great pace given the snow slowing us down, too!
Kathleen, we are officially hardcore. 🙂 Also, spring: please get here ASAP.
What’s the most extreme weather you’ve ever run in? This definitely takes the cake for me!
p.s. Speaking of running, just a reminder for my local readers that I’ll be at the Whole Foods in Glover Park tonight doing an event to promote my Nutrition for Runners Program. I’ll be talking briefly about some typical nutrition-related mistakes that runners often make, then demo-ing and sharing samples of a couple recipes in the ebook (a homemade sports drink and super easy long run energy bites) and doing Q&A. Come join me! It’s free – just sign up here. UPDATE: we decided to postpone this event until spring, in hopes that more people will come when the weather is not terrible. Stay tuned! 🙂
