A Lean and Hungry Look

We finally got a weak excuse for some snow this morning, so the air was slightly improved.  Unfortunately, there was just enough to cover up all the icy spots, which resulted in one fall, about a dozen near-misses, and a cautious pace.  I'll take slippery over disgusting any day, though.

Jake was planning to run with me, but I think he thought better of it when the alarm went off and the fact that he had the day off finally sunk in.  I worked all day anyway, so it was good to get out early.

I don't remember the last time I went outside into a stiff wind and got excited about it, but I was thrilled this morning to go running right into the storm front.  I headed down to Jake's and waited a bit, but it looked pretty dark so I went back home to get Maja.  She hadn't been out for a couple of weeks and was going a little stir crazy, so I was glad to be able to take her.  (I like to run on the sidewalk due to a history of ITB problems when I run on the road, and when I have Maja Jake has to run on the road, and it's pretty tough to hear him and keep a conversation going.)

For some reason, I felt pretty sluggish today.  I was running into the wind on the way to Sugarhouse, then ended up battling a combination of ice, slush, mud, and puddles in the dark all the way around the park, and by the time I emerged at the southeast corner, I was tired.  Hopefully this storm system will keep the gunk out of the air for a couple of weeks and I'll be able to reestablish a 6-day-per-week habit.

I blew off my alarm this morning and fell back asleep, so I brought my gear to work, thinking I would run at lunch.  The day got busy, though, so that wasn't in the cards.  When it started to taper off near the end of the day, I decided to run home and leave my car at work, then run back in the morning.

The run was a little frustrating, since it was in rush-hour traffic, but I felt great and was able to turn on a little speed in the final mile.  The overall pace wasn't fast, but that was largely because the entire way home is uphill.  No aches or pains anywhere.

Since my car was at work and Kaela had violin this morning, I had to be up at 5 in order to make it out to the office and back in time for Brooke to take Kaela.  After a few months of low and inconsistent mileage, it felt a little tiring to get back on the legs only 12 hours after last night's run.  However, it was great to be out on the same route in nonexistent traffic after battling cars and exhaust all the way home last night.  I listened to a great This American Life episode called "Mind Games," and the miles clicked away pretty quickly.

I made it back by 6:40, just in time for Brooke and Kaela to leave, so it worked out just right.

The VFFs finally arrived (they were a Christmas gift, but were the wrong size, so I took them back, but they were on backorder) on Wednesday, so I decided to give them a shot this morning.  In an effort to avoid damaging myself too severely, I stayed inside and did an easy, short jaunt on the treadmill.  Other than the fact that the little toe on each of my feet seems convinced that it has no identity separate and apart from its next-door toe neighbor (which makes the process of putting the VFFs on a little tricky and slightly painful), I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience on these new-fangled things.  Perhaps the best part of owning a pair is the fact that a woman at work now refers to me as a "hippie-freak" after I told her how excited I was to try them out.  For a guy with my background, that's downright awesome.  I look forward to cashing in on the street-cred the new identity provides.

We'll see how much I like the sensation of running barefoot after I wake up tomorrow for a semi-long run.  I expect my calves to be screaming in protest at Christopher McDougal and his "hippie-freak" ways.  For the record, I have no plans at the moment to become the next Caballo Blanco or Barefoot Ted, but I do look forward to using the VFFs as a way of strengthening muscles and tendons that are underutilized in my regular trainers (and hopefully providing a little insurance against injury in the process), slowly working up to a point that I can do some trail running in them.