Crossing The Line

Monday’s pub run started out like most of the previous ones I had gone on in December. The temperature was -4°C, winds were calm and a few cm’s of snow left over from the weekend was on the roads and sidewalks. I was planning on only running the 7k, but figured I would follow everyone else since I had done the 10k route in December without problems. The packed snow wasn’t a problem, but I found the loose grey snow on the roads that contained salt to be extra cold especially as it contacted the edges and arches of my feet. Once we reached Little Lake Cemetery I knew I had pushed too far. My feet were feeling colder and more painful than my other winter runs. At that point I decided to pick up the pace to generate more heat. Once my feet started to warm up back at the store, I was getting the burning sensation that was more painful and lasted longer than before. The other difference was that this time my foot arches were more affected. I was able to continue on as usual until the next day when I discovered some blisters on my feet and some pain when walking. By Tuesday night I had a huge blister on the arch of my left foot and some smaller ones on my right. This made it impossible to walk, but I knew enough not to break the blisters so as not to increase the chance of infection.

I said earlier “The trick is not to cross the line that results in injury”. Unfortunately that is what I did. So once I recover, the rest of my running this winter will be done at temperatures above freezing.