Marathon training – Day 2 – 6 miles with ECHO in the bitter cold

Posted on | January 2, 2010 | No Comments

Saturday mornings belong to the ECHO Running Club.  ECHO stands for “East Cincinnati Harriers Organization”.  A harrier is either a dog bred for hunting rabbits or a cross-country runner. 

ECHO meets every Saturday morning at 7am at the Parkside Christian Church at 6986 Salem Road in Anderson Township, about a mile from my house.  Anyone is welcome to join us, any week.  No membership, no dues, just a bunch of friends who like to run.  Some of those ECHO friends are exceptionally accomplished runners (Boston Marathoners, Ironman Triathletes), but others are recreational.  They’ve been most welcoming for a rookie like me.

The ECHO bunch runs a 6-mile route every week.  Most weeks it’s this course, which is nearly flat.

The ECHO pace is usually 8:30-8:45 per mile, though there are some who go faster and some who’ll go slower.  I keep up, but the 8:30 pace is at the fast-end of my comfort level.  I’ll get faster.

Day 2 – January 2 – 7am – Anderson Township – 6 miles in 51:28, an 8:34/mile pace.  Good run.  My coldest run ever: temperature 15 degrees with a wind-chill near 0.  Light snow flurries that occasionally hit your face.  I wore a yellow Nike hoodie and a skull cap, with a long-sleeve shirt and long running pants.   I was warm enough everywhere, except for my hands.  I wore the gloves that I bought the day before the Columbus Half back in October.  The gloves are perfect for 25 degrees, but I found them wholly unacceptable for 15 degrees.  My hands froze for 3 miles until I retreated my hands back into my hoodie sleeves for extra warmth. 

The amazing thing about ECHO – there were 15 runners joining today’s run, even in such cold weather.  An ECHO bonus: after each run the group reconvenes at Big Apple Bagles, at Salem and Beechmont, for a post-race bagel.

My only regret – I wish I had brought a camera to capture the essence of running in frozen weather.

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