The photo does NOT depict the tracks I left today, while wearing Yak Trax on my running shoes, for my trail run. But I’m going to talk about them.
They’re quite wonderful, at least for today’s trail conditions on the Jensen Lake loop, at Lebanon Hills Regional Park. Full disclosure: the trail is in great condition. It has a decent amount of hard packed snow, which makes winter running on that particular trail a bit less treacherous on the ankles, as the earth down below has plenty of rocks and roots. I think I may have slid around a little on the small hills, were I not wearing the YT traction devices on each foot. I was very happy with these, which were a holiday gift from hubbie.
I’ll also provide a review of the new running jacket I bought recently, goaded by a great e-mail coupon from Team Estrogen. The jacket is a great weight, and is sufficiently wind-resistant. The fabric, visually loud as hell, is yummy soft and pretty quiet as well. It’s pretty roomy, which I wanted, in order to comfortably layer underneath it if needed (my other thin jacket is pretty snug). I haven’t gotten to test its water resistance, nor really if its visual loudness will provide some modicum of protection from drivers should I go for a run in the dark, but that test will come soon, I’m sure, as I dig into my training for a spring race.
Enough with the gear reviews. My run was fabulous: my plan was to do two loops, about 4.22 miles total. About 10 minutes into the run I decided to shoot for three loops, if I continued to feel as good as I did in the first 10 minutes. At 4.22 miles I was feeling great, so went onward to 6.33. Had a great rhythm going, and surprisingly at my summer usual pace for that loop.
It was about 20 degrees out, not much wind, and I had two layers on my torso, plus a thin wool hat and, as I’d forgotten my usual thin windproof running mittens, my huge and nummy warm sheepskin choppers. They were bound to be overkill within 10 minutes, but lately I’ve been having frozen fingers issues in my non-running outdoor time, so the choppers seemed a far better bet than the backup socks I’d brought. Plus, I knew I’d want to change into the backup socks, after the run, to make sure my feet didn’t chill during the drive home. The mitts were a good call, despite the fact that they are unwashable. Ah well.
There were several other people on the trail, mostly snow-shoers and walkers (and dogs), and just one other runner. A few of the snow-shoers were spending time on the lake, as well. it was very beautiful, in spite of the clouds, which disappeared later today.
I chose to go for a trail run alone today, rather than to go snowboarding alone. Glad I chose the run – and this in spite of the fact that it’s the first time I’ve been sore from a run in a few months!
Helen's Loom 