winterrunning – YE(ah) Running

Winter 2022 Training + Boston Marathon Post Mortem

It’s been real, but not real fun.

(As always, all supplements and products I mentioned in this post were not sponsored. Legal…legal…legal. Please proceed with caution. If necessary, talk to your coach before using any of the products. I am, however, sponsored by Fleet Feet New Balance Racing Team.)

This was the first time that I have done a winter full-marathon training block. I will not glamorize it. It was tough with the cold, wind, and limited sunlight. Halfway through the training, I was running with my ski gloves over running gloves and booty shorts under windproof leggings, swearing that I would never do another winter marathon training block again. But now that I am on the other side of it, I am thinking – maybe? But before looking ahead, I want to look back at this training block and the race to reflect and learn.

Here are the things that helped me during this training cycle:

Didn’t go into a training cycle with barely any running

Learning from my mistake of going into my last training cycle with no base training, I wanted to have a solid 20-30 miles weekly before the start of this training cycle. After the Chicago Marathon 2021, I did a short 5k training block to prep for a turkey trot, and maintained 25 miles/week up till this training cycle started. I definitely noticed the difference. My body was not as tired or achy throughout this training block as in previous times.

Aimed for the highest mileage from the start of the training, and ran the easy runs easy

For the 6-9 miles runs, and the 45mins-1hour runs, I aimed to do the highest amount during this training cycle. The mileage of these mid-week medium-long runs add up. Chris McClung from Running Rogue Podcast talked about the benefit of medium-long runs in a recent episode. To make sure that my body could recover from the increased mileage, for the first time ever, I actually ran the easy miles easy (about 1’30 – 2 mins slower than my marathon race pace)!

Stayed at my pace, and be ok with running solo

I am in between pace groups on my running team. For my last training cycle, I was jumping in between the faster and the slower groups. It’s very tempting to go with the faster group. But I knew I would end up falling behind or running at a different threshold pace, which would defeat the purpose of the runs.

With many canceled “organized group runs” due to the terrible winter weather conditions, and my attempt to stay at my targeted pace (instead of joining my training partners for their own organized long runs), I ended up running many lonely miles by myself on the 606 (the 2.7-mile elevated running path on the west side of Chicago). I grew to love them. It’s just my punk rock music playlist, the howling wind, and my heavy breathing. These runs allowed me to clear my mind, and practice for the solo time during the race.

Practiced the race day fueling plan

Since Maurten was what’s available on the course in Boston, I tried their gels during some of my long runs. No negative reactions to the gels, but I just don’t like the texture of them. This helped me to figure out that I wouldn’t mind picking up 1-2 Maurten gels on the course, but I wouldn’t want all of my gels to be Maurten (more on race day fuel plan later).

Besides using every Saturday long run as practice runs for fueling (pre-run food, gel, drink mix), I also used the last long run to do a practice trial for Boston’s early wake-up and late-start. It allowed me to discover that I needed more food than my normal pre-run fuel (coffee, banana, frosted flakes, Maurten 320 Drink Mix). I added a plain bagel for race day, and it worked out great for my body.

Despite all the positive changes I made during this training cycle, I still fell short on a couple of things. Here are the things that I would like to do for the next training block:

Having a proper plan for aerobic cross-training, and strength training

Here we go again. I know this was on my “to-do” list last time, and I honestly just didn’t make it a priority for this training block. About half of the cross-training days for this training block ended up being rest days. I canceled my gym membership in the beginning of the pandemic. Not having access to a gym made cross-training a bit tricky in the winter. I did a couple day passes to a small gym by my place, and 3 weeks before the race, I finally was able to get a spin bike for our home gym. In total, I did 3 Peloton cycling classes before the race. That’s all I did for aerobic cross-training. Not ideal. But now that I have a spin bike at home, there is no excuse for slacking next time.

I still had the same old issue with weights. My amazing (read pushy) husband built a basic whole-body training plan for me that includes lower body, upper body, and abs, but I got bored after 4 weeks. I would procrastinate until it was too late to work out and use it as an excuse to get out of it. I took some Peloton strength classes here and there, but it was not consistent. I need to find a style of strength training that I enjoy so that I will actually stick to it next time.

Stop stressing about one missed run or one bad run

This got really bad towards the end of this training cycle when I got sick for a couple of weeks (not Covid). I knew deep down that the best thing for me to do was to let my body fully rest and recover, but emotionally, I didn’t feel that way. I couldn’t stop having hot and sweaty (literally) nightmares about Boston every single night. The stress affected my work and life. For a brief moment there, I lost my love for this sport.

This is part of the reason why this post is coming a bit late. Since I was sick up to the day before the race, I didn’t have enough time to process my emotions. Despite having an amazing race result, I didn’t feel the kind of joy that I felt in my previous races. As I was crossing the finish line, I was just relieved that this huge stressor was gone, and I didn’t disappoint anyone.

Typing this down right now made me realize how unhealthy that was. I am proud of how I executed my race plan. But I cannot let the race result determine everything. I also want to be able to enjoy the process, be proud of all the hard work that I have put in, and trust the training.

I don’t have a plan for how to tackle this in the future yet. But I am noting the problem. And hopefully, when things happen next time, I can be more graceful with myself.

Cannot do a post-mortem without looking at the race day. I had an Instagram post to recap the race day. This part is to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. And honestly, besides not being able to fully enjoy the day due to my anxiety coming into the race, it was a great day. Lots of goods, not much bad. As Josh said, I was a good little soldier who masked all of the emotions and executed the plan.

THE GOOD

Getting enough rest and fluid before the race

Me being sick leading up to the race actually helped in this case. I was napping whenever I can, and being very adamant about hygration the week before the week. Despite having to get up at 4:30am on race day, I felt rested when I started the race.

Perfect execution of race fuel plan

Nailing down my race fuel plan has been a big goal since my last training cycle. A gel every 4 miles has been working great for me, but I would still miss the exact mile marker a couple of times during training.

When I was writing down my race mantra and race plan on my arm, I wrote down the split and elapsed time for every 4 miles. This served as a great reminder to take the gel when I was checking my elapsed time. Here is my race day plan:

Mile 4 – Gatorade with caffeine

Mile 8 – Gatorade with caffeine

[picked up two Maurten gels at mile 11.8, and stuffed them in my shorts pocket]

Mile 12 – Maurten with caffeine

Mile 16 – Gatorade without caffeine

Mile 20 – Gatorade without caffeine

Mile 24 – Maurten without caffeine

The only adjustment I made on race day was that I started having the last Maurten gel at mile 23, instead of 24, because it takes me a while to finish that jello-like gel, and I didn’t want to be still eating the gel when I crossed the finish line.

THE MEH (insert shrug emoji)

Didn’t stick to my race plan

I worked with my coaches (shout out to Cynthia and Mike!) to build a race plan based on the course. Here is the actual plan:

Mile 1-4 (downhill): Marathon Race Pace (MRP) + 10 sec

Mile 5-16 (relatively flat): MRP

Mile 17-21 (uphill): MRP +5 sec

Mile 22 (downhill): MRP

Mile 23-26.2: MRP-16 sec

I actually started MRP + 15 sec in the first mile. I panicked and overcorrected to 2 miles at MRP, and 1 mile at MRP – 5 sec. I settled back down to 2-5 sec under MRP between mile 5-16. I knew I was ahead of my target the whole time. But I was feeling ok with the pace. I decided to stay with it. I thought I could either surprise myself, or I would use the extra time on the hills later. It worked out. My slowest mile was on heartbreak hill on mile 21, in which I ran MRP + 30sec. But I was still able to finish strong, and finished right on target.

Maybe I would have more legs for climbing the hills if I had stuck to my plan. Guess we’ll never know. That’s why this is not a “bad’, but rather a “meh”.

THE BAD

Not sharing my race goal

As I wrote down my split/elapsed time on my arm, I was reflecting on all of the self-doubt and negative talk that I had cast on myself. I am a big believer in the power of vulnerability. The power of sharing your big goals, and the courage to chase after them. But I didn’t do that this time. I didn’t really tell people my goal time (3:10:00 was the goal), and I didn’t share my bib number to allow others to track me. Because I was scared. I was scared that I would disappoint others and myself. I felt like hiding the goal from others gave me a way out in case I had a bad race. It was like I was already finding excuses for myself before the race even started.

I want to be better at this. Be ok with being vulnerable. And feel empowered by my big goals and dreams. I may not hit my goals every time. But the courage of chasing after them is the beauty of this sport.

Running in Different Weather

A dummy guide for running outfits in different weather.

I grew up in a southern city in China where it was sunny and warm most of the year. The trees were always green, and snow was a distant dream. Because of all this, it’s also a city that doesn’t have heat. I remember poking my nose out from the comforter in the mornings to figure out the temperature. Why am I telling you this? Because after living in the U.S for over 10 years, my brain still only clicks with Celsius. And for the sake of easy conversion, I am going to use my nose as the scale for the temperature here!

This is a dummy guide for running outfits in different weather. Since I now live in a place that has four seasons, and I started running all year round two years ago, I figured I would share my experience of dressing for different temperatures and weather conditions.

(For those who are normal and use weather apps instead of their noses to tell the temperature, don’t worry, I included a nose to Celsius to Fahrenheit chart at the end.)

SUNBURNT NOSE

The world is an oven. But you are likely in the middle of your training plan for all of those fall races. There is nothing much I can tell you about how to dress in this kind of weather. This is my hot girl summer time, aka. sports bra running weather. Find something light, breathable, and as little coverage as acceptable for society and your comfort level. Avoid cotton, which soaks up your sweat, and the smells sometimes linger around even after laundry.

Hydration and electrolytes are the keys in this weather. Be mindful of your water intake during the entire training cycle, especially on the days when you know you have a tough workout. And a magical thing that I started using during this past training cycle was salt tablets. It not only helped me during my workouts to keep electrolytes balanced and retain more fluid (bye side stitches), but it also made me feel less drained and recover faster after the workouts.

SWEATY NOSE

The perfect weather for chilling outdoors, but a bit too hot for running. I mostly run in shorts and tank in this weather, and walk straight into the shower with all the clothes on because I don’t want my sweat-soaked clothes sitting in the laundry bin, and also I just go through my running clothes too quickly.

This is the time of the year when rain could become a frequent guest. Some people may skip the runs when it’s raining, but it’s honestly my favorite running weather. The raindrops cool you down so that you never overheat. And there is just something about running in the rain that makes me feel joyful and stress-free. Here are some tips I learned over the years about running in the rain: wear a hat to avoid water getting into your eyes, wear body-fitting clothes such as leggings and compression shorts, use an anti-chafing balm on areas that may chafe (feet, nipples, sports bra seam…etc), stuff your wet shoes with newspapers or paper towel.

TICKLY NOSE

My nose gets tickly during seasonal changes between winter and spring, and summer and fall. Growing up, the first thing I would do when I woke up was a sneeze. The sneezing somehow got better over the years, but the tickly feeling in my nose never went away during seasonal changes. Tickly nose weather is the kind of weather that’s too cold to sit outside, but it’s heaven for runners.

Shorts are still my go-to in this weather, and this is the only time when all of my free race t-shirts get to see the sunlight. I dislike running in t-shirts in sweaty nose weather because I want to avoid sleeve tan lines. But the sun is normally pretty gentle during this time of the year. I know I warm up relatively quickly, and I tend to run hot. But if that’s not you, this is the kind of weather in which you may consider a light long-sleeved shirt or light leggings.

FOGGY NOSE

This is as cold as my hometown would ever get. It meant “deep winter” for me growing up. I still vividly remember when I was walking to an 8 am art history class during my first semester at the University of Minnesota, it was early September. I took a deep breath, and I saw my breath condense into a small, misty cloud. I stood there for a second, pondering my decision to transfer there. Here I am, 8 years later, still living in the midwest, still questioning my decision to live here every single winter.

Fogging nose weather is when I would start bringing out my gloves and windbreakers. I have a couple of super light windbreakers that I love to layer in different weather conditions. It can get pretty windy during this time of the year. But the temperature is still lovely once you warm up. My go-to outfit in this temperature are shorts+tank+windbreaker+gloves, or shorts+long-sleeves. If it takes your body a little longer to warm up, or you are just out there for a super short and light jog, you can try leggings+long-sleeves+light gloves. Don’t reach for your fleece yet. You will overheat once you start moving.

This is also the time of the year when the days are getting shorter. You should start thinking about being visible in the dark. I have a couple of small Nathan StrobeLights that I would clip on my shirts. I also have a light vest that I would wear when it’s colder and darker. I love wearing my light vest during the holiday season. It makes me feel like I am a moving Christmas tree. There are a lot of different options out there, from reflective vests to ankle lights to headlamps to flashlights. Find one that works for you!

SHIVERING NOSE

This is how I would describe the current temperature in Chicago. It’s mostly dark, gloomy, and cold. But it’s not snowing yet. When the temperature drops to shivering nose weather, I basically live in long-sleeved shirts with thumbholes all day long. It is tempting to dress warm and cozy before heading out of the door. But I guarantee you that if you are toasty before starting your run, you will overheat less than 1 mile in. The rule of thumb is to dress like it’s 10-20°F or 6-11°C warmer.

My go-to running outfit in this weather is leggings+long-sleeves shirts with thumbholes+light gloves (sometimes)+neck gaiter that I use as an earwarmer. I have some fleece headbands, but they are too warm for this weather. I find a neck gaiter to be the right level of thickness. Depending on the wind, I sometimes throw on a light windbreaker.

RUNNY/STUFFY NOSE

Tissue paper is my best friend in runny/stuffy nose weather. This is when I start reaching for my merino base layers or fleece-lined shirts. I would throw on a light windbreaker over it whether or not it’s windy because I find that extra layer helps to retain the heat. As long as my core feels warm, I can keep going! That being said, I stay with regular leggings in this weather just so that my legs still feel light.

As for accessories, this is when I would put on thicker socks, think about merino and wool materials. Gloves and headbands/hats become necessities in this weather.

SNOTSICLES

This is the kind of weather in which your eyelashes turn into tiny icicles. The key to running at this temperature is layering. Start with base layers and build from there. You can add a pullover and a thicker waterproof jacket. If it’s still cold, throw on a light puffy vest.

When the temperature drops to snotsicles weather, it’s likely snowy and icy. It’s important to make sure that your outer layer is windproof and waterproof. I have never invested in winter running shoes so I cannot give specific recommendations here. But if you are interested, there are a handful of brands that make winter-resistant (Gore-tex) running shoes with good traction.

Depending on the exact temperature, I sometimes put on fleece-lined leggings. I refuse to put on multiple layers on my legs because I don’t like to feel weighed down by the layers. But if you feel like the windchill is getting to your bones, tights+a pair of lightweight waterproof pants could be a good idea.

I sometimes wear two pairs of gloves in this weather. And headbands/hats are must-haves otherwise your ears and head would hurt from the cold wind. If you have a neck gaiter, it could be nice to put it over your neck. I tend to pull it over my nose to keep my nose and mouth warm when I start my runs. And as I warm up, I pull it down.

Hope this post inspires you to run in different weather conditions! Yeah running!