18 Mile Long Run Friday, Step and Tone Class Saturday

18 long, slow miles in the books on Friday afternoon. Hubby and I managed to find enough clear paths to run through the Englischer Garten, but they weren't totally clear. They had been cleared of snow, so we weren't trying to run through a foot of snow, but there was still packed snow underfoot, and it was icy in a few places. The paths had sand/gravel over them, so the footing was okay, but I still had to alter my stride because of the uneven surface and to step carefully around the icy parts. So I was much slower than normal, even for a long run.

For the first 9 miles, I was about 30 seconds to a minute slower than normal, because of the footing, and then for the last 9 miles, I was 1-2 minutes slower, because my legs became fatigued a lot quicker, due to the change in stride and the uneven surface. Because winter arrived so suddenly, I hadn't run outside on a snowy surface at all this year - my last long run I was running in shorts and a t-shirt! I did have two short breaks in the middle of the run to strip off my soaking wet shirt and put on a new one. I sweat so much, even when properly dressed for the weather, that I needed those changes! Wicking/technical fabrics also can't keep up with the volume that I sweat!

The weather was fairly nice. It was overcast, with temperatures between -8 and -5°C, but there was very little wind, only about 4-5 km/hr. So nice enough weather for a long run.

I had a hard time keeping my heart rate in the right zone, probably because I was working so hard to keep my footing on the uneven surface. So not the best long run I've done, but I got the miles in, and that's the main thing.

Saturday, I taught my normal Step and Tone class at the gym. It went quite well. The class wasn't packed, but it wasn't small either, so that was okay. I didn't do any leg work for the sculpting portion (my legs were too sore from running 18 miles the previous day) but did a lot of upper body work and abdominals and lower back.