Boston Marathon Week 9- Winter Wonderland

" Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can,"- unknown

The long easy run is the bread and butter of a marathon training program. It teaches your body to run for long mileage and in my case long times.  It really helps if I can get outside to do my long run.  Treadmill work is tedious.

This week my long run was only 12 miles which takes me about 2 hours and 10 minutes.  We had a fresh layer of snow on Friday morning and I was all set to do my long run after work Friday night. It was 32 F and there was just a slight breeze. A perfect afternoon for a run.  When I first started running in the winter I was surprise how comfortable I stayed.

 I like to do my long run on Friday so it's done and I don't have to worry about it.  The picture at the top of the page is the park right across the street from my house. It was so beautiful.  The trees and everything really was coated with a fresh snow. We got 8 inches.  No problem for us.  This was the same storm system that dumped over 30 inches on Boston and 40 inches in other parts of the east coast.

  This is the kids playground. I am sure the sledding hill was busy, but the playground was deserted. I run in the park often and like see all the families enjoying the playground. Milwaukee was designed so every neighborhood had its own park. It is one of the great parts about living here. My park is called Humboldt park and was being built in 1925 when my house was built.  Here is the WW I war memorial.  There is also a fishing pond, a concert venue and park pavilion available for rent.  The concert venue is built on a hill that is perfect for sledding in the winter.

This is the war memorial. When my two nephews were little and I would take them to the park they would pretend it was Mc Donald's. They were the customers and I was the fast food worker. They were pretty demanding customers too.

So I had some beautiful scenery to look at. The pictures do not do it justice. There is nothing more fun for me then running on new snow.  Most of the sidewalks had not been shoveled yet. Running on 8 inches of snow is like running on a sandy beach. Lots of fun. It does not feel like work at all.

The city of Milwaukee workers are really efficient about removing snow.  A storm of 8 inches is easy for them. Between plowing and salting the streets are down to wet pavement in 24 hours.  That does create a challenge of its own.  The city plows leave big piles of snow at each corner and it can be a challenge sometimes to climb over them.

Here is just a little pile. Sometimes water pools in these spots and you can get your feet pretty wet.

There was a bit of ice at the start of the storm, so sometimes I ran in the street on the quiet side streets. You can see how clean the street is. We had 8 inches of snow on the ground only hours before this picture was taken. The icy sidewalks can be a bit of a hazard so if I run on the snowy sidewalk I really have to watch my footing to keep from falling.

I used my run to mail my fundraising letters so I had a purpose.  The post office is about a 2 mile round trip, so those 12 miles went by fast.  A few trips and I was done.

When it is snowy and cold during training season it can be easy to find excuses not to complete runs.  I am glad I didn't let that be an excuse. It was so much fun. Runs like this help me to remember why I am a long distance runner.  Days like this give me the why to get out the door the next time I have to do a run.

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Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have almost 116 members in 25 states. If you wish to join us visit our web site.

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.