'Moscow Rules': Winter Running.

9.5 km - 57.56 min., temperature -7º Celsius (20º Fahrenheit), sharp wind, roads clear, but ice and frozen mud on dirt-tracks. 

Ran by 'Moscow Rules' today, with winter add-ons to the usual gear.

The main principle of staying warm is to add layer of clothing. It's not so much about thermals and woolies, but layering. 

I double-triple layered myself: warm pants, running tights and ramblers' thermal trousers with rubber bands at the ankles. Above: usual cotton t-shirt, thermal long-sleeved vest with high neck, a ski-cap and a windbreaker with hood. The windbreaker had soft thick cotton lining and pull-strings at waist and in hood. Over the windbreaker I put the orange road-safety waist-coat with reflective stripes.

One mistake: I thought my feet would be warm on the run with the usual pair of socks. After all, -7º is not the Moscow -20º.  I was wrong, I could feel the cold biting through the trainers and the socks. Should have added another pair of skiing thermal socks. 

Gloves: usual thin running gloves inside thick padded ski gloves. 

I smudged face with cold pressed virgin olive oil against frostbite. 

Actually, it was amazingly pleasant except for the prickly wind on open stretches. The day was sunny and on sunken lanes and in the woods it was quiet. Only the ice crunching under feet.

Dogs loved it too. When I let them off the lead, they jumped in the snow and rolled happily, cleaning their coats.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

8 Jan 09
6 miles 48.50 - freezing weather, it's minus 5 Cº. I put on thermal longjohns under running tights, cover my face with aloe vera lotion and put on sheepskin mittens over runners' gloves. When we come back dogs get warm milk outside, but I retreat inside for stretching - in this weather muscles seize up very quickly.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a new book by Haruki Murakami, the award winning Japanese writer. Since the 80-s he has been running in at least one marathon a year and has completed many triathlons and super-endurance races - while producing book after book. I was given it for Christmas and have just finished.

I think it is the best book about running ever written.

It is not a training manual, though there are tips for training, staying fit and avoiding injuries. It is not a collection of reviews of races in which he took part, though preparing for a marathon is described in detail, with schedules, times and tips gear. The power of Murakami's writing is in explaining what it is that makes running so special and how it blends in with creative life.

Here is a passage:

People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But I don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you're going to while away the years, it's far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life - and for me, for writing as well. I believe many runners would agree.

And for me the book is specially appealing, because Murakami started running in 1982 - the same year as me, and, again just like me, in Tokyo. He describes the same routes I used to pace - the footpath around the Imperial Palace and the Jingu Stadium.