Today I went out to do 3-4 hours of snowshoe running and cross country skiing for my long run. I used BJ's "mile loop" which is a wooded trail that he has well packed and tracked for skiing. I started with a run of 6 miles on snow shoes and felt pretty good. I was doing each loop in around 10 1/2 minutes and thought that was a good pace. Temperatures were in the mid teens and I was comfortable with my 2 long sleeve tops, light weight fleece vest, winter running tights, hat, and 2 pair light gloves. My plan was to switch over to skis after mile 6 and do another 6 miles on skis, then finish off with a final 6 on snowshoes again.
I switched to the skis and enjoyed the first two miles of skiing. Then my fingers started feeling cold. I pulled my sleeves down over my hands the best I could and started the next loop. My hands just got colder and started going numb. By the end of my 5th mile on skis I had to call it a day. My hands were completely numb.
I can't remember ever having to bail out of a run for cold hands! I think my hands must have become sweaty and wet during the snowshoe running and then with the wind generated by skiing, they just froze up. When my hands started warming up again in the car, I had to pull over because they hurt so bad.
The long run is my key workout each week and I hate to have stopped after less than 2 hours. I may try to get it in on another day this week. My usual rule is that if I am following a training plan and miss a scheduled workout, I stick with the schedule and don't try to make up the missed run. But, in this case I might decide to break my rule.
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