SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 6)

We have a chilly 73 degrees with tornado warnings here in Houston!

Merry Christmas to everyone and great job on the Jingle Bell workouts!!!

25 mile bike/ 2.7 mile run brick today.

I got to ride with my husband, which is rare... Love having my parents visit. :=)

Asalzwed - 2012-12-25 2:13 PM

bzgl40 - 2012-12-24 2:52 PM

Two things, snowboarding is not crazy, and let me know if you want any tips regarding Rainer.  One thing I can confidently say about climbing Rainer is - Do not unclip from your rope team to wander off and go to the bathroom.  The odds of falling into a crevasse increase greatly apparently...  The next year my team wouldn't let me unclip, like I was even going to think of it.  Once in a crevasse is enough thank you very much

I said weird, not crazy Did you climb Rainier while training for SBR? Glad your crevasse story ended differently than a lot of them do!

Yup, I was doing a few races at the time, as well as marathons.  Same with my climbing partners.  The seasons slightly offset each other and the running and biking actually really assist in the climbing.  I've done a few attempts at Rainer and I must say the best was the winter cause only the crazy were there.  lol 

Some of you are winter weather tough. I'm not. I managed a 1.3 mile run with 18F and 20-29 mph winds. Felt like 3F out there. I told myself when I went out that I would do at least a mile and see how it felt. It didn't feel that great, so I didn't do much more than one. If I had brought my phone, I would have run a few miles with the wind at my back and then called hubby to come and get me. But that would feel like cheating. lol

I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas and staying warm and safe. We are getting all of the cold and the wind of the blizzard, but no snow.

ETA: Just looked outside. There's a little bit of snow coming down now. Hooray!

27 mile ride.  Hazy and gloomy today...I guess you could say it's a below average day for December in Hawaii. 

(Makapuu 12.25.12 2.jpg)

I agree that once you warm up a little, the cold isn't so bad. (Although -7 is nuts). What do you do about your breathing? I have a neck gaiter I wear, but I can't breath well with it, so I end up pulling it down, then freezing, so I pull it back up. Repeat the cycle every two-three minutes. I feel like if I could figure out the face/mouth/nose issue, I would be good to go for the rest of this winter.

Asalzwed - 2012-12-25 3:27 PM

bzgl40 - 2012-12-25 3:32 PM

Asalzwed - 2012-12-25 2:13 PM

bzgl40 - 2012-12-24 2:52 PM

Two things, snowboarding is not crazy, and let me know if you want any tips regarding Rainer.  One thing I can confidently say about climbing Rainer is - Do not unclip from your rope team to wander off and go to the bathroom.  The odds of falling into a crevasse increase greatly apparently...  The next year my team wouldn't let me unclip, like I was even going to think of it.  Once in a crevasse is enough thank you very much

I said weird, not crazy Did you climb Rainier while training for SBR? Glad your crevasse story ended differently than a lot of them do!

Yup, I was doing a few races at the time, as well as marathons.  Same with my climbing partners.  The seasons slightly offset each other and the running and biking actually really assist in the climbing.  I've done a few attempts at Rainer and I must say the best was the winter cause only the crazy were there.  lol 

It makes me incredibly happy to read that. In addition to the SBR what else were you doing if you dont mind me asking? I'm trying to gauge what kind of a commitment I'm making. Not that I have an issue doing so but I am a planner. Also, badazz climbing in winter. I'm not that tough! I'll bet the crevasses aren't as wide though

That was the time I feel in the crevasse.  lol  In the summer they are exposed but in the winter they can have a layer of snow over them, hiding them.  Conditioning wise you will be totally fine.  It is probably a bigger impact to your running so you'll want to plan were you can have an easy week after the fact.  You'll be doing a mountaineer summit, so you'll just plum be exhausted if nothing else from getting up at midnight and climbing all day.  Coming down is the worse.  Your typically going from 10,000ft to the summit and all the way down in the same day.  EXHAUSTING.  And it feels like the mountain will just never end.  And a lack of oxygen to boot.  Are you thinking of doing it guided or with experienced climbers?  I climbed a lot back then, many a trip up Mt Hood and other mountains around but I'd say my running is what got me into shape.  The other big thing is the weight on your back but how much depends on if your guided or not.  We had tents and all our gear so we had a lot.  So you'll want to make sure your lower back and shoulders are ok with that.  I actually did strength training specific to that.  Personally I would spend some time taking some self arrest classes and practicing.  We always practiced when we were out climbing.  An avalanche safety class wouldn't hurt either.  Best that you can make solid decisions for yourself and not have to trust anyone else.  Rainer is serious stuff but totally doable with some common sense and no summit fever. 

hate.  j/k

Hey, at least you started and gave it a good go.

First of all, a belated Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates!  Hope your day was as joyous as ours was.

It is very obvious that many of you are used to cold and seriously nasty weather, so I am going to show how much of a 'run newbie' I really am - OK, on week four of Couch to 5K program - enough said?.  We are recently transplanted from California to Central Indiana (first winter).  A really cold day in CA was like 45.  Here in Indiana on the other hand, they just issued a blizzard warning.  Expecting 12+ inches of snow in the next 24 hours, 40+ MPH wind, wind chill at +/- 10 degrees.  I think I am OK with staying warm; I have been running in 20 degree temps, 30 MPH wind; I have absolutely no idea how to deal with the snow and ice.

Any suggestions?  While I have access to a treadmill, treadmills and I get along just about as well as reading in the back seat of a moving car (think Linda Blair in Exorcist).  I MUCH prefer to run outside and I much prefer to NOT miss a day because of weather.  Grateful for any ideas.

This is always what I say to myself - get out there and give it a go.  If I hate myself after 10 minutes then I can turn around and go back home - I've only ever done it once.

I have a neck warmer that I pull up to just below my lower lip but it goes up high on the back of my head so it covers up a good portion of my cheeks as well.  I wear a hat that comes down to my eyebrows and I wear some large riding sunglasses that also protect my eyes and a fair amount of skin around them from the wind.  It works pretty well.  If I happen to be running directly into a nasty wind I pull the neck warmer up higher over my mouth and nose but like you I eventually have to pull it back down.

Scott, I'm right there with you on the anti-treadmill thing.

Snow isn't so bad to run in (unless it's really deep) but ice makes things much tougher.  You can buy things to strap onto your shoes that give you traction - the most popular is probably Yaktrax?  They work well but they kept breaking for me.  I bought another type that has more durable rubber straps and has metal spikes rather than the coils that the Yaktrax have.  I only use them if I know the snow and ice is going to be really bad, otherwise I am just really careful and slow down.

Agreed, snow is generally easy.  I just dress for the weather, usually use my trail running shoes for some extra traction and that's that.  I don't deal with ice.  It'd be treadmill of day off for me. 

That was -7C, so ~20F, or about what you saw. I have done ok just under 0F in the past though. I haven't had much trouble breathing in the cold air. I'll take a few deep breaths right away that may feel it, before going, and then also work my way up to speed gradually once I do start running.

I have a couple things for the coldest weather. One is a fleece hood. It's sort of like a neck gaiter or balaclava, but I don't think it fits as tightly/snugly around as most seem to. Usually I have it up around my chin so my face to forehead is exposed, but no more. When going into the wind I'll pull the lower part up onto my nose. This does affect my breathing (like it does with you), but I used the adjustment cords to make some gaps on the sides of my nose. This helps move the air a little better though still not quite wide open. Can feel the exhale blowing right up there as well.

Another thing that has worked ok in the past is one of the face masks with small holes for the mouth and a bigger cut-out for the nose. Might have some neoprene for the face section? I'd wear it low so the nose was over my mouth. Might look funny, but it worked.

So you're getting the snow! Heard some people up here concerned about it, but couldn't figure out why as nothing more than flurries was called for (north of Chicago here).

When it's snowing or for a day or two after the snowfall, I tend to wear my trail shoes more with the uncertain surface conditions. They have decent treads that can get a grip. Yak-traks can work well, but I never could get used to the feeling. Too much of a control freak, so didn't like how they felt on more firm surfaces.

Have some decent winter socks on. I tend to go with the Smartwool ski socks to get a lot of overlap with the pants too, but a number of other types will work well too.

Plan on it taking a little longer when there is snow to run through. Everything is just heavier and it takes a bit more effort to keep yourself balanced. Don't fight to be making progress. That gets frustrating and old fast. Slow down until you figure it out. I tend to run with a little short, more controlled stride as well.

I'll still use the treadmill when I'm worried about traffic. Like any time after work, or when it's dark out. There are some risky areas which are unavoidable for me, so I go inside. Not worth the risk. Since you're on the C25k, it'll likely be awhile until you do some efforts, but I tend to do those inside as well when the surface is questionable.

This week the sidewalks are covered with ice and the stores are sold out of Yaktrax.

I used a pair of "screw shoes", which is basically sheet metal screws in the sole of an old pair of running shoes. They work really well on pure ice or ice/asphalt mix. Yaktrax are better in snow/slush/ice mix. Really cheap solution.

There are a couple of articles on how to make them. I can post a pic if anyone wants to try it.

Light training day for me, just some strength training.

I've been wondering if I should redo my LTHR testing for the run?  It's been a year since I've done it but in any of the previous tests it never really changes. But I am not sure if being at 5000 ft would change my numbers?  I've kinda been avoiding testing here cause of the hilly environment, I wouldn't be able to easily get into a solid flow.  thoughts?

My never really changes so if I am going to suffer like that I prefer to do it in a race context. I had it measured in lab a few years ago, again in lab this year, kind of got a good idea of it in 10k races and it's always the same. Pace at LTHR has improved (thankfully) but the HR hasn't.

Welcome to all the new folks.

Catching up from Christmas..was alot of fun this year with an (almost) 2yr old.  She had so much fun opening presents and smiled all weekend.

Been fighting a head cold but still able to get my workouts in over the weekend.  Tough bike workout yesterday with 3x15' @95-100%FTP.  That 3rd interval was painful but able to keep it in the middle of the range.  have a run planned at lunch today before we get some snow.

RE: winter training.  I also run all winter outside in Michigan.  As people mentioned...a baclava and yaktrax go a long way.  I often juggle some run workouts around days where nasty weather is coming as best I can.  I have Brooks Utopia pants and coat and they are amazing for blocking the wind.  I literally cannot wear them above 25F or I will roast but great for cold, windy days and fairly affordable.