Thursday, May 26, 2011

Another freezing May-vember Run...with better gear!

I am lucky, so very lucky, to have a job where I can pretty much make a lot of my own schedule.  I am a researcher who sees patients but I also do a hell of a lot of paperwork...it's research after all and I have to document EVERYTHING.  That being said, if I am not seeing patients, then I am at my desk, on the computer, typing away----entering information---making phone calls---- you know, the fun stuff.  However, because of this type of work, I have been able to get to work early and then leave early and hit the trails mid-week!  2 weeks ago, Owen and I went to Tiger for a 2-1/2 hour trail run with the dogs.  We figured, well-it is raining but it's spring time, how cold can it get?  We had on arms warmers, shirts, hat and gloves, that should be enough for mid May.....NOT!  We were FREEZING.  When I say FREEZING, I mean we were not even talking, we had our heads down making it down the trail as fast as we could to get to the car.  There was no sense in talking about how we had no dexterity in our hands because they were numb.  Or to talk about how cold and wet our feet were, the fact that we were no even TRYING to dodge the puddles and instead running right through them was a testament that we could no longer feel our feet.  I was a prune when we finally got back to the car.  The dogs even looked a little out of sorts, especially the brown dog.  The brown dog, Ella, is short haired.  I call her a muscle with some fur.  She is a lean mean sprinter who gets cold easily.  She looked miserable.  The black dog, Struth, can pretty much handle anything.  He does not seem to be effected by it being too hot or too cold, he just likes to be outside.  But even he was looking at my with dismay.  Usually I have to make big efforts to round them up and get them in the car but this day, they were waiting for me to open the back so they could get in a curl up in a wet ball and stink the car up.  It took Owen and I about twice the time to get changed because we had no dexterity to unclasp backpacks, untie shoes or make the quick change.  it was almost humorous at the time. 
The next week, we went back and what a different story, a beautiful day.  The dogs were hardly muddy and neither were our shoes. 
Yesterday was a different story.  However, we had different gear.  I did a little research for Big Horn.  After Pine to Palm 100, I learnt my lesson.  Waterproofing is important.  Owen and I bought the Northface Leonidas jacket. It's breathable, lightweight AND waterproof.  It has a hood with some elastic in it to make it stay in place and the sleeves are long enough and they too have elastic to keep them from letting water seep in.  This jacket gets the thumbs up.  It was hailing, raining, windy, muddy and generally...just rather unpleasant and uncalled for in the month of May.  I had to thank my lucky stars that my house or the house of a friend or family member had not been taken out due to flooding or a tornado in order to not feel like I had done something terrible in order to deserve this constant cold rainy sunless weather we've been having.  I also thanked my lucky stars that I was better prepared for the weather this time with the Leonidas.  We were so happy to have the jackets and they worked wonders.  I was not wet at all under the jacket.  I wished Struth had one, he was so stinky, muddy and wet.  I was still brushing dirt clots out of him this morning. 
Now....I just need to find some pants that I can run in at night time at Big Horn...it's gonna be cold, wet, snowy and muddy.  GEAR GEAR GEAR!

3 comments:

Olga said...

You look downright freezing! I can't believe it's on Tiger!

Sara said...

Wow. The weather was a little better in Maui. ;) That jacket looks great! And glad to see the Montrails are working out. Did you come up with a song yet? :)

Olga said...

Saw you finished Bighorn 100, hope you're doing well after that!