Today’s weather starting off was
pretty cold. The first touches of winter. You knew the sun was going to break
through but until it did it would stay cold. It took me probably 5 kilometres
to warm-up. Until that time, the fingers were so cold it was probably good I
wasn’t operating machinery. Despite it being painful enough that a few of us in
our bunch were considering pretending coming over the line together so we could
practice holding hands it was a long way off the coldest weather I have ever
ran in. That was for Sevilla. The winter of 2012.
It was a particularly cold
winter, 2012, but training 4 to 5 times a week in November, December and
January was always going to expose me to some bitter ones and the worst of
these coinciding with perhaps my longest runs.
I was joined by some of Trim A.C.’s
strongest stalwarts and between us we had under-armour top to bottom, hats and
gloves. But boy was I still freezing. It was one of those days where I could
have worn a Duffle coat and scarf and I probably wouldn’t have been much
warmer. It was the type of day that had just been below freezing you could have
gotten by but it was worse than that, it was just a Celsius or so above with
snow, sleet, wind and rain. It was a cold hell and after spending near 10
kilometres trying to generate a bit of heat I immediately spent the next 20
feeling it ebb away as the wetness of my clothes conduited it all back out
again. The toes were freezing, my fingers were freezing and I could no longer
feel my face. The only thing that brought me relief was that my beard was
offered at least some line of protection.
If at the end of the run I was
almost in a state of hypothermia, I think my girlfriend Frances was in the
first stages of it! Having started running only a few months previously first
with a 3 k and then a 5, and then a 10 and then and then and then she was also
doing the Sevilla marathon and also completing her longest run, except on her
own. I can’t imagine how she must have felt for those 2 and a half – 3 hours in
much the same way Red can’t imagine what Andy Dufresne must have felt crawling
through a mile and a half of sewerage to freedom. However from the foetal
position she had adopted on the bed unable to get her shoes off so frozen were
her fingers I will guess it was pure horror.
Thankfully we eventually
recovered, perhaps 3-4 hot showers later but we recovered. And as a result,
walking around Sevilla city centre right beside our Air B’n’B architect owned
and inspired apartment we could feel proud of our efforts and ready to give it
our all the next day. Whatever happened we could at least be certain it wasn’t
going to be cold.
Yesterday’s training
On somewhat tired legs a 14 k slow run to
bring the miles up ahead of tomorrow’s longest run.
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