Soesterdawn

93 min
Start 7.30
It was still dark and grey when I looked out the window this morning but there was no wind howling and it was somehow a hopeful sort of grey rather than a miserable one so decided to just get the running clothes on (I'd laid them out ready the night before, this helps...) and get out into the snow before I changed my mind. As always I was glad I did. There was low-lying cloud on the horizon at first so the sun didn't actually make an appearance till half an hour after it was scheduled, but it did finally show itself. There was no wind at all so despite it being about -5 degrees it didn't feel so cold as I'd expected. It was also a very dry cold which never feels so bad as when there's more moisture in the air. I even had to take my gloves off now and then. The snow had been blown about a lot in the last few days and was mixed in with the sand in the dunes giving interesting colour gradations ranging from pure white to various shades of cream and beige. There were also frequent drifts which made for interesting running when it suddenly became ankle deep for a few steps. Met a woman with a whole troop of dogs - 2 of them, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a nicely marked black and white mutt came running over to me so I stopped to say hello. Listening to episode 56 (I think...) of The Extra Mile Podcast and there was some interesting stuff about dehydrating when it's cold as you don't feel the need to drink so much. This can lead to cramps later - which I also had a mild case of after the Urk/Zwolle marathon. I never usually have such problems so will have to remember this.