Running for the joy of it in 2025

A chilly -19C/-2F this morning.  It took a while to thaw out after my run.  Very little traffic today.  9:37 pace.

Planned on running a bit further today, but the legs just didn't have it.  Sluggish.  Not nearly as cold as previous days:  -20C/-4F.  9:45 pace.

Really nasty out there.  A heavy snow fall and a stiff East wind.  Lots of accumulation on the roads.  Tough running.  An ultra slow 10:21 pace.

A very slow 9:52 pace. Heavy legs the last few days. Am going to get out for my first x-country ski of the season this afternoon.

Tough conditions today.  School busses cancelled due to poor road conditions.  It rained all night, and that continues all day today.  The roads are pretty slick.  10:06 pace.

I took 2 days off running to see if I could get some life back into my heavy legs.  Hard to tell if it made a difference, given today's run was mostly struggling with the footing, and then running the last mile and a bit into a very stiff 36mph wind.

It rained quite a bit yesterday - was even some lightening around Noon - and then the cold returned.  The main roads, however, are clear; running them was good this morning.  Legs felt much better until just after mile 3; then, it was like someone pulled a plug and I was back to heavy legs.  

Snowed all night and no plows out, so tried to run in the tire ruts.  Like running in mashed potatoes.  Kept it slow and even at a 9:59 pace.  

Mild temps and slushy roads; 9:38 pace.  Finally got out on the trails for my 1st ski of the season yesterday.  Will go again later this morning.

Tough conditions today.  Lots of fresh snow and a strong North wind.  No plows out.  School busses cancelled.  9:44 pace.

Miserable morning here, so I took to the treadmill.  Kept it at an even 10:00 pace, for one hour of running.

Outside, it was -22C/-8F, but the stiff North wind made it feel like -35C/-31F.  When the Celcius and the Farenheit measurements get that close together, you know it's never good to be running out there.

Wow, that was a cold run!  The wind was not an issue, so it was just the icy -28C/-18F temperature to deal with.  My face mask was pretty frosted up when I was done.  9:28 pace.  Roads are hard packed snow/ice.

Tough conditions for running.  Lots of snow on the ground and still falling.  Very poor visibility.  Very little traffic too, so there were places with no tire tracks to follow.  Planned on running longer, but an hour in this was enough.  10:15 pace.

Same routine - lots of fresh snow over night, no snow plows out, like running through mashed potatoes.  A bit more mild, however, and virtually no wind.  9:16 pace.  Will hit the ski trails again this afternoon.

-26C/-15F with a bit of wind to make it feel colder.  6 miles was enough in that.  9:27 pace.

Not quite as cold as yesterday, but still...  9:33 pace.

Ran just a quarter mile outside before I changed my mind and took it to the treadmill.   Nasty road conditions, and I didn't have the legs to fight through it.  10:00/mile easy pace.

Icy cold, with a stiff North wind thrown in for an extra bit of challenge; 9:54 pace.

Painfully COLD today at -33C/-28F, so decided to hit the treadmill.  10:00/mile pace.

Didn't get out yesterday.  I was on the road out of town for a few hours, and then had to visit the hospital, so the first chance I had to run was in the afternoon.  By then, it was a choice between running and skiing, so I chose to hit the trails.  Today, an early morning run; 9:14 pace.

Early start to get the run done before a busy day began; 9:22 pace.

Took it to the treadmill - very cold out!  10:00/mile pace.

Cold morning for running, especially with that North wind.  But I finally had a bit of spring in my legs which has been lacking the last few weeks.  9:10 pace.

Treadmill.  Just didn't want to face the cold, North wind this morning.  10:00/mile pace.

Heavy freezing fog this morning.  At times, visibility was near zero.  9:13 pace.  Skied the 10km trail yesterday.  The conditions were absolutely perfect.

Heavy, blowing snow, but at least it was fluffy.  Was not too bad running in the tire tracks.  9:38 pace.

Another frigid morning, at around -24C/-11F.  Snowed all day yesterday, so the roads were packed snow from the traffic.  Snowplough passed me twice, so had to switch sides to let him go.  9:11 pace.

Had a massage yesterday - first time in over 3 months.  I really needed it; worked out a lot of aches.  Will get back to doing those monthly.

Warmed up quite a bit to -12C/10F.  9:10 pace.

9:24 pace for this early morning run.  Lots of snow coming down, so tried to run in the tire tracks.

Cold, especially with the North wind.  -23C/-10F with a wind chill of -34C/-29F.  6 miles was plenty enough in that.  9:27 pace.

Last day of cold, as a warming trend is coming today.  It looks like more 'normal' temperatures for at least the next 2 weeks.  A friend of mine is training for a May marathon here in Sudbury and ran 9 miles yesterday in that arctic freeze.  When the Celcius scale and the Fahrenheit scale match at -40, you just KNOW it's cold.  A zippy 9:03 pace today.

Big storm.  School buses all cancelled.  Lots of snow, but not much wind.  Still, very poor visibility.  Fortunately, a lot warmer than it has been at -10C/14F.  9:34 pace.

Tough running this morning.  It warmed up to -5C/22F, and the roads have not yet been plowed after yesterday's dump of snow.  So it was mushy.  That, and a stiff North wind made it an extra challenge.  9:48 pace.

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Thermometer said -19C/-2F, but for some reason it felt a lot colder than that; 9:34 pace.

Hit the treadmill this morning, as the dump of snow from yesterday has not yet been cleared.  Kept it at a 10:00/mile pace.  

Tough run.  It's mild - just below freezing, and the snow covered road is like running through a combination of soft beach sand and mashed potatoes.  Very tired legs at the end.  9:23 pace.

Freezing fog.  Extremely poor visibility.  I ran in the middle of road as much as possible, as that was the only place where there wasn't mushy snow.  Then I had to really watch for traffic, and step off into the deep mush whenever someone drove by.  Heavy legs yesterday and today.  9:36 pace.

Much better running today.  Yesterday was the warmest day of winter to date, going up to 4C/40F.  That left the side roads mainly clear today.  And, with the morning temperature back down to -11C/13F, the sections that were still snow covered were solid snow/ice and easy to run on.  Much easier on the legs.  9:07 pace.

Treadmill at a 10:00/mile pace.  Went to bed with a bit of a sore throat and inflamed nasal cavity.  Worse this morning.  Yuck.

Treadmill; 10:00 pace.

Back on the treadmill; 10:00 pace.

10:00 pace on the treadmill.  Developed a cold, so my head is stuffed up and I woke up with a bit of a cough.  Blah.

Very cold.  -29C/-21C with a windchill of -38C/-36F.  Treadmill run at 10:00 pace.

Snowed all night.  There is a LOT of snow on the ground this year.  Nasal congestion is better - I slept most of the night.  Back to the treadmill; 10:00 pace.

Treadmill; 10:00 pace.

Treadmill; 10:00 pace.  First night in over a week that I slept straight through.  Felt great.

Tried some speedwork on the treadmill, just to see.  It has been a while.

8 x 400 @ 8:00 pace with 400 recoveries.  I'll aim for this to be a weekly workout, and should be able to increase the pace.  This pace felt easy.

Treadmill at 10:00 pace.

Treadmill at 10:00 pace.