Another saturday morning, another run. This morning, 4 minute sections. Two minutes out, two minutes back, maintaining pace. Six times.
Well, it was an experience. And not just because of the toughness of the repetitions, but because of the external environmental conditions negatively impacting my athletic performance. Or, to put it another way, because I was freezing my ass off.
Visually, it was an incredible morning to be running. The winter sun had just crested the horizon, the tide was out showing the shimmering sands and belts of rock that make up our coastline, and there was not a cloud in the sky. If ever eyes could misjudge the pleasantness of a situation, this was it.
Mike (think Terminator fitness levels) told me his watch currently showed minus 3 degrees. A 7mph wind blowing towards us. My face was aching, each breath chilled my chest, and between each set I was placing the backs of my hands on any part of my flesh (this was usually my armpits, but not always...) just to warm them. And I was wearing thermal leggings. Otto, our group leader, simply chose a pair of indecently short running shorts. He may as well have been running in Speedos.
Anyway, we left our water bottles at the sailing club as we did our six four-minute sets. 24 minutes later, we returned to find that the bottles of water had begun to freeze over in that short space of time. Truly remarkable, really. I do owe my wife Philippa a debt of gratitude for virtually kicking me out of bed rather than stay in it that morning, or else I would never have experienced the extreme nature of the run. Or the complete sense of utter self satisfaction that one gets from digging in and pushing through something really tough to come out the other side.
I have never enjoyed a cup of tea so much in my life....
Well, it was an experience. And not just because of the toughness of the repetitions, but because of the external environmental conditions negatively impacting my athletic performance. Or, to put it another way, because I was freezing my ass off.
Visually, it was an incredible morning to be running. The winter sun had just crested the horizon, the tide was out showing the shimmering sands and belts of rock that make up our coastline, and there was not a cloud in the sky. If ever eyes could misjudge the pleasantness of a situation, this was it.
Mike (think Terminator fitness levels) told me his watch currently showed minus 3 degrees. A 7mph wind blowing towards us. My face was aching, each breath chilled my chest, and between each set I was placing the backs of my hands on any part of my flesh (this was usually my armpits, but not always...) just to warm them. And I was wearing thermal leggings. Otto, our group leader, simply chose a pair of indecently short running shorts. He may as well have been running in Speedos.
Anyway, we left our water bottles at the sailing club as we did our six four-minute sets. 24 minutes later, we returned to find that the bottles of water had begun to freeze over in that short space of time. Truly remarkable, really. I do owe my wife Philippa a debt of gratitude for virtually kicking me out of bed rather than stay in it that morning, or else I would never have experienced the extreme nature of the run. Or the complete sense of utter self satisfaction that one gets from digging in and pushing through something really tough to come out the other side.
I have never enjoyed a cup of tea so much in my life....
She just wanted the bed to herself.....
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