Sunday Long Run: Watching the Loppet

Winter running: Weather today was 40* and 20mph winds.  The wind was no joke.  I ran in light pants and a wind breaker.  Wind breaker and sunglasses turned out to be the most crucial pieces of equipment I had.  We've hit the part of the year were 20mph winds are no problem becuase it's 40* which is so freaking warm.

Goals for the run: Keep my heart rate under 153.  Keep my heart rate managed for a while, then just run even and have fun.  Jumping over snow banks utterly effed my heart rate.  Plus I was a bit of a piss pot for the beginning of the run and that didn't do me any favors either.

Route: I went down the 40th Street Greenway Road was mostly plowed.  Sidewalks: not so much.  I was grumpy.  Then around parts of Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun, then took the Greenway east and headed south around Park Ave.  I've done this run before, mostly in the summer when sidewalk shoveling is irrelevant.

Execution: As mentioned, the sidewalk situation totally blew up my heart rate.  Jumping over snow banks and massive puddles is a bigger deal than you'd think.  I tried to keep calm and was telling myself "this will get better the minute you get out of the wind".  The 20+ mph winds were straight out of the west and in my face for the first 4 miles.  The minute I turned north on Lake Calhoun, the wind stopped howling around me and mood improved immensely.  My heart rate got a bit higher than I would've liked.  Once I saw it in the 160s, I decided to just run by feel and enjoy myself.  Ignoring the heart rate.

Post workout: I did a foam roller video after the run.  I do not do the crazy foam rolling of the lats and arms that he does at the end.  But the "turn your toes in" and "turn your toes out" business for the calves and quads is legit.  And slightly painful in a good way.

Bonus: I caught the tail end of the 2016 Loppet.  There were skiers all over Lake Calhoun.  I was happy for the skiers but could've done without all the spectators and other people because the path was packed.