Icicles Clearly Now

January 18th, 2009 Posted in Training

Icicles clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way.  Gone are the dark clouds that have me blind.  It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shinny day……..well not exactly with apologies to Johnny Nash.

The last week of running has been an Arctic adventure.  I’m beginning to really appreciate why the polar bears hibernate all winter.  Ultra runners should probably take a hint from these intelligent, lovable, Coke drinking beasts.

It has been very cold in Vermont - my home away from home during each week.  How cold?  Well this is what I was greeted with last Thursday morning when entering my car:

It looked like a Dexter blood splatter case.  There was brown splatter literally on every surface in the the car - the steering wheel, dash, windows, seats, shifter, CD player and the ceiling.  I had no idea what had happened.  I thought at first a tree must have collapsed on the car and broken a window and this mess was from the snow and mud splashing up and into the car.  But being the amateur sleuth that I am (lifetime member of the Columbo Junior Investigators Club), I quickly surmised the cause.  I had, the previous evening, made a visit to the local supermarket.  Among the items purchased was a six pack of Diet Coke.  Now being in a hurry to get out of the cold, I neglected to carry the Coke into the cottage and so as the temperature dropped overnight to six below, well…..you can figure out the rest.  Blam! Kaboom!  Scheezam!  Three of the cans combusted and exploded all over the interior of the car.

I had to laugh at both my bonehead move and the fact that it was THAT cold and I had just been for a run!  This was getting ridiculous.  The run was bone chilling, especially when the wind off Lake Champlain blew.  I’m guessing it got to 20 below.  I looked like some kind of swamp creature or a Seven Eleven stalker.

Anyway, I got an hour or so in twice that week in VT followed by another bone chiller on Saturday with JP in Weston.  On that run we had to stop at the Bruegger’s in Town about half-way through our 2 hour run so we could warm up the “boys” which were turning blue.  Now that was a painful run.

Today I ran in the Blue Hills and it was a treat.  Much warmer (24 degrees) and it was a winter wonderland.  I ran in my Katoola Microspikes and they really did the job.  No slipping and I could attack the up and downhills with confidence.  I even exorcised some demons by returning to the scene of my earlier “header” on the ski slope and ran

down the slope alongside the skiers and boarders.  It only got “less fun” when the snow got to be about 6 inches, heavier and the microspikes could no longer get a grip.  It was a 2.5 hour slog but I’m glad I did it to witness Mother Nature at her best.

The highlight of the week however, were the icicles that formed on my eyelashes during Saturday’s run.  It got so bad that I couldn’t see.  As I turned to JP, who sported his own icy stalagtites hanging from his eyebrows, I wiped away my icicles and said, “Icicle clearly now……” - I know, ugh!  (snare drum inserted here).