Nowton Park Suffolk - Seven Mile Run

Uggh bitterly cold and breezy morning. Overnight there was a dusting of snow but I had no second thoughts about the need to keep to my training schedule. I haven't broken it yet though I am sure I will at some point.

The air was cold this morning to the point where it effects my running. I have read about this before and experienced this before in the previous cold spell earlier in January where I find I come to a complete halt when the air is really cold. It is as if I can get get enough air into the lungs and consequently I will walk a bit and then run on.

I read this on a site called Dr Pribut's Running Injuries Page "A balaclava is a fine idea to use to cover your face, and keep the cold air from triggering bronchospasm. A number of articles over the years have found that it isn't merely breathing cold air that contributes to asthma and bronchial constriction, but "facial cooling" that triggers the response. This is considered a reflexive triggering of the vagus nerve. Facial cooling can trigger other vagal nerve reactions, including slowing up of heart beat, which will limit your ability to exercise.



I will certainly try running with a scarf over my face and mouth if the cold weather continues to see if this overcomes a perception that the cold air might be affecting  my breathing. Then again I might be over analysing this!

I still managed to put in my 7 miles and again I had a slight time improvement with the following splits 8.29,8.51,9.09,9.03,8.52,8.39,8.44 for a total of 1hr 1 min 51 seconds. Three seconds faster than yesterday.

 Todays run took me to Nowton Park. There is a good circular run of around 2 miles folowing a woodland trail in parts. The ground was generally frozen rock hard so there was problems with slipping.

Day 27 of the Runners World SMART Coach schedule completed