A Lean and Hungry Look

I was in such a good rhythm of running early before the holidays crashed the party.  I just didn't get out of bed in time to run today, so I brought my gear and did a quick run after work.  I changed into my running clothes at the office, then drove to Popperton Park and ran along 11th Ave to the mouth of City Creek and beyond toward the Capitol, then turned around.  It was pretty dark by the time I hit the end of 11th on the way out, so the portion of the return route without sidewalks was a little sketchy.  Aside from the fact that my fingers froze (I thought it was supposed to be warmer yesterday, so I left my cold-weather gloves at home), the run felt great.

Pace: 7:21

AHR: 154

My alarm clock lost the battle again this morning, so I once again brought my gear to work.  Fortunately, the end of the year was so hectic that things are a light enough to allow me to take a little longer lunch than usual to run and shower.  Unfortunately, it's another Disgusting Air Day out there, and by the time I sat back down at my desk, I felt like I'd been sucking on the tailpipe of a semi for an hour instead of doing something healthy.  Maybe it's like this every year, but the inversion seems to be coming back every few days or so, and it's bumming me out.

Pace: 7:14

AHR: 162

The past two days have been red air quality days, so I've been wary of filling my lungs with more junk, especially with my asthma.  I skipped yesterday and this morning, but I found an excuse to go to Wasatch County this afternoon and stopped at the Rail Trail (Promontory trailhead) on the way and did 6 miles.  The trail is groomed like a ski trail, presumably for snowshoeing and nordic skiing, so I figured it would be perfect for running.  Unfortunately, though, the layer of crust on the top was not very thick and broke through with probably 50% of my footfalls, resulting in my foot sinking from 2-6 inches at a time.  The softer areas were patchy enough that I could go a few hundred yards at a time without sinking too far, so I managed to continue for 6 miles.  I don't know what the temperature was, but my fingers lost feeling within about 5 minutes (with two pairs of light gloves on).  My right hand recovered about halfway through, but my left got worse and worse, to the point that I was a little nervous about frostbite by about the 4-mile mark.  The trail was incredibly beautiful, though, and the air tasted clean.  I saw a fox in one of the pastures and several spots where largish burrowing creatures had emerged from (or entered) their underground tunnels and sprayed dirt all over the otherwise perfectly white snow.

By the time I hit the 4-mile mark, the sun had gone down and the temperature had dropped considerably.  That wasn't good for my fingers, but it did leave the upper crust much more firm, so my last two miles were much faster than the first 4.  All in all, this was a fantastic run, one that I hope to repeat a few times this winter.