Nothing that basketball and an ice bath can't make better!

Paul, spring break 2009, humoring his mom with a game of basketball

The start of this morning's run: 8 degrees, ice/snow-glazed streets. The running so crappy that 20 minutes into the run, spent dodging ice and traffic, I said screw it and walked the rest of the way to the Rec Center where my exercise class was to be held. I got there early since I didn't do my full run and as I approached the door was wondering what the heck I was going to do to kill the time before class (assuming all the aerobic equipment would be in use). Opened the door and said "Aha! Basketball!"

I checked in, got a basketball, and spent the 30 minutes before class running/dribbling a circuit around the court, shooting at each of the 6 baskets until my shot dropped then running/dribbling to the next basket. Great fun and a most effective mood enhancer. All the gloom from the traffic-dodging icy run had disappeared and I was in fine fettle for the exercise class.

After class, I shot a few hoops with a friend then headed out for part 2 of the run. As per yesterday's post, I had hill drills scheduled for today. The temps had risen substantially and the ice had melted from the unshaded bits of the asphalt roads so the going was much easier. However, since I had so many frigging layers of clothes on due to the early single digit temps, I felt like an overdressed hippopotamus trying to high-knee, skip and bound up the quarter-mile of hill. After the second rep I decided to bag the hill drills and just run hills. So up and down I went sticking to the west-bound (steep) hills since those were the most ice-free surfaces, and managed to zig zag my way to 7+ miles of hill running. Not bad.

Once home, I did what I should have started doing many miles ago: got in an ice bath. It was the most effective sore/tired leg therapy I used when preparing for my Michigan run and I was long overdue in this training cycle. It was tough getting in, but I sure had some happy legs when I got out!