Cool and Dry

Clear cold morning Santa Monica

This past Sat. it was definitely a cold morning, but it was dry down at the beach.  We had 28 runners, and we opted to do a full 9 miler, instead of the recommended 8, since next week, we'll be jumping up to 12miles.  The group stayed tight and finished with a very tight 14:59 mile pace. The group started South, turned at Washington and back up all the way to the Totem Pole, and then back. Both Mary and I missed the run, Mary was out of town with family, and I was working the first water station as part of the plan for all the PLs to do at least one shift during the training.

Looking North to the SM Pier

It was great to take care of the water, and to see all the groups come by, and this includes the Leggers who also run the same course.  I've helped out at water stations at other races and there is such satisfaction when you feel you're really helping these folks along.  I would recommend it if you ever have the chance, just to see the types of people out there running, and having been on both sides of the table, you realize how much more a small cup of water can mean during a race, especially when there are people out there handing them out.

300 cups filled and ready

RW5 heading North

 As we get into the winter months, I know how cold those mornings can get and how even more difficult it is to get out for your weekday runs.  But as we start building up that mileage, we all need to get out and do our runs.  If it's really miserable and wet, yes, that may not be worth it to chance getting a cold, so see if you can come up with some back up plan now to at least use a treadmill, or some other kind of aerobic exercise, such as a stationary bike, or swimming.  I too have that problem, and I know how hard it is to leave a warm bed and get out into the cold.  I can't run with too many layers, so I sometimes will put on light gloves, and I always run with a hat, and that at least keep the extremities warm.  I find that as soon as I get going, I warm up pretty well, and what's worse is to have too many layers, work up a sweat and then do the cool down and really get cold because I'm wet and it's cold out there.  So the best thing is to keep running till you get back to the house, or the car and have a dry warm sweatshirt to put on.  It's important to stay healthy as we get into these winter months.

Keep up the good work, and see you on Sat.

Walt

RW5 heading home