Nice nearly spring day

What a nice day it was on Sunday.  I went out for my long run.  16 km, for a weekly total of 36 km, plus 200 km on the bike trainer.  Swimming begins in May.  I remember last year going out this early, and my hands went numb, and I felt completely miserable.  This time, with the right equipment to wear, and barely above freezing I was warm and had a great time.  Signing up for the midwinter race has paid off well.  I feel strong, like last year just before the big pre-marathon ramp-up of high mileage that left me sore and needing time off.  

Spring-like day

At my age, working out isn't about how hard I can train, or how far and fast I go, but about what I can manage without injuring myself.  My right knee is beginning to remind me that it doesn't like the mileage.  It's still just an occasional ache, so it's just enough to remind me to be sure to do my body-pump workout.  Planks, weights, leg lifts, lunges.  Gotta keep the supports strong to save the knee.  Last week's workouts on the treadmill felt odd.  The deck seems to be a lot more springy than I remember, with a noticeable bow running up the middle.  I need to investigate that.  and add some lube.  I haven't lubed the deck in months.

I rehydrated after the run with hot chocolate.  The kettle is on the fritz, so I mixed it then burned it in the microwave.  I didn't know you burn hot chocolate.  

Burning the hot chocolate

During the run today, a girl passed me wearing a Mont Tremblant Equip shirt in orange.  Mine is white for working as a course pointer is village.  I need to look up in my pictures to see what orange volunteers were doing.  I will be wearing mine during runs later when the weather is warmer.

Winter carries on

Finally in February we got some real Canadian snow around here.  

Ready for more

Snow on the bridge

The winter tires on the bike are good for up to an inch of snow.  More than that and they bog down in it.  Generally, the roads are clear enough.  The traction of the knobby tires has been helpful in this.  

With March, came a few days of cold weather, but my parka is thick with down and fends it off without any difficulty.  My gloves not so much.  I get home with fingers so numb I can't get off the helmet.  They are like pieces of rubber at the ends of my arms, and I bite them to see that they are mine, but there's no sensation.  they aren't my hands anymore, just dead things.  I can move them, but without any sense of touch, it's much more difficult to do things.  If I can't see to command them, there's no use.  The clasp under my chin will have to wait until life is back.  With renewed sensation, comes a firey sting, as the zombified nerve endings awaken and let known the displeasure of my digits at being treated so.