I spoke the other day about how disgruntled I was with the 15+ inches of snow we got, but knew that I had to get out this weekend for my first 20 miler since last summer. I intended to do it yesterday, but decided today would be better since it would allow for another day of ‘thaw’. I can give some advice for anybody out there who needs to run in the snow:

1. shorten your stride, I found that it slowed down my overall time, but since it was a long run anyway, it really didn’t matter. This is important so that you don’t overextend your leg and slip on ice (or snow for that matter).

2. wear your sunglasses. You don’t realize how blinding the snow can be when the sun shines.

3. take your time and don’t expect to EVER get in a decent pace. I found that throughout the 20 miles, I never got into my groove, which bothered me somewhat. Just the fact that I had to continually stop and start and find ways around things, just didn’t allow for a good experience.

Basically, it felt like I was doing a 20 mile trail run. I was up on hills, through snow, in puddles, on the road in slush … you name it, I did it. I’m happy to report that I did get through it, and for the first time, I can say that many drivers today were very considerate in letting me go through. I’m not sure if its because they felt sorry for me or what, but they certainly were nice in comparison.

I am really sore today compared to the 17.5 miles i ran last week, and I’m really surprised by that. There are two things that could’ve helped cause this, first, I did 5 miles Friday, 8 miles Saturday and then the 20 miler today. I had no rest, but again, this was due to my workouts getting screwed up because of the snow storm. The second thing that helped cause my pain was the fact that this was like a trail run.

Anyway, I’m feeling more confident about the Ocean Drive marathon. Thats two long, cold and one snowy runs, down. I have a step-back week next week, but realize that I have to keep the intensity up during this period. I only have 1 more 20+ miler left before I start to taper for the marathon. I may consider doing another week of longer miles before I taper, because I really don’t think I did a hard enough workout plan (due to my back injury) to deserver an adequate taper.

I do think that training for both Steamtown and my hopeful appearance in the NYC marathon will not seem as difficult as what I am going through right now. i didn’t realize how difficult it would be training in the wintertime. In case I didn’t mention, i intend on doing Steamtown, and applying to run NYC Marathon in November. Its a lottery system, so we’ll see if I get accepted. If not, oh well.

Well, enough for now, I hope to get back on track more with my training as it comes to an end. I haven’t been eating great, or writing down my workouts, or staying consistent with my runs and am following really NO training plan, so I have to work on that for next time. My goal is to get through Ocean Drive and get to the Runners World half at the end of April … onward from there!