On & Offs

I glanced out the window and saw a steady rain coming down. Great, more rain during a workout. By the time I got to my car the rain had slowed and the drops appeared bigger. Snow? No, it couldn't be. By the time I turned on my engine and pulled out of my parking lot the sky turned white. I met Murphy, Huge, Towpath, Marren, Charlie and Karl for a cross country workout at a 1.2 mile grass loop just a couple miles from my place. By now, the snow had turned the green ocean before us into a white wonderland. After warming up for 2 loops, we ditched trainers and pants and donned spikes and shorts. At first the going was tough; it was cold and wet and my spikes were weighted down by caked muck and snow. I got into a groove. My front two spikes (3/8") dug into the soft earth like Saber Tooth Tiger fangs on flesh. I felt totally at ease gliding over the slushy mix of snow and mud. I stalked my prey (the "on" leader) during each interval and I tried to push the inclines and tested my sharpness on the slick turns. The workout was such: one runner would lead the other 6 and run "on" for 1-4 minutes (only the one leading knew how long he would run). We'd rest for a minute or so...then start again. We got in about 22-23 minutes of "on" before heading into a cooldown. It was one of the best workouts I've had in awhile and I felt great doing it. It'd be nice to get one more of these in before heading to Kan-tuck-ee, but time is short. 10 today...I think.

Later on, just as it got dark, I headed out for a 27 minute shake out run. It felt good to run on hard surface and ease out the calf pain.