I have been eating less the last couple days in an effort to shed another pound or two before my marathon in March. Well yesterday I only consumed about 400-500 calories throughout the day before I ran. As I started out at 4:30 p.m. it was -3C/27F, slightly windy and there was a thick wet fog. I also made the mistake of replacing my breathable fleece running shirt with a thicker cotton hooded sweatshirt right before I left the house.
So anyway as I headed out on my run I quickly dropped into an easy 5:45/K (9:15/M) pace and started heading out over the fields. The wind/fog combination quickly chilled any exposed skin (e.g. face). After a half hour of running or so, I also started to realize that my thick hood sweatshirt was retaining all the moisture that my inner CoolMax layers were wicking out. I was getting cold! Worse yet, I was running out of energy, I was starting to feel like I was going to "hit the wall". I kept getting colder and colder, but I was already close to the halfway point, so there was nothing to do but keep running. As I eventually headed over the last 12-15 minutes of the run, which were over open fields, it was pure misery - it felt like the wind had picked up, it was almost dark, and my upper body was soaked with sweat. I was freezing!
I was relieved when I finally made it home and elected to skip my cooldown walk and headed straight inside. I quickly shed my wet clothes and then did a cooldown and stretching. After a warm bath and some hot food I was good to go, but this experience shook me up a little. My average pace of 5:47/K (9:18/M) kind of surprised me it felt like I had been running much slower I guess I was in a hurry to get in the warm house.
This evening I am running the route again at marathon pace (6:00/K = 9:39/M), but I am going to enjoy a warm lunch in our company cafeteria I don’t want a repeat of last night’s experience. Oh, and I already have all my 'breathable' running clothes laid out for tonight don’t underestimate the importance of wicking moisture away from your skin in cold weather!
DATE: 6:40 PM
It takes so little to make mistakes, doesn't it?? Glad you survived!! Hot tea, hot bath, hot food. You're good to go!
DATE: 7:09 PM
woah! careful out there, we don't want you getting weiner bite, let alone any other part of your body!