 I woke up to hoarfrost on Saturday morning. No wind. The sun just up. The stillness. The belief that a storm was coming. Still, I rolled back over after watching the light come over the room and seeing the trees rise like frosty skeletons against the sky, and I went back to sleep for a bit. I knew I was gambling – everyone said to expect the next snowstorm to roll in that morning. I took the chance. Woke up later, made coffee and read for a bit. I made a quick plan with my friend Lisa to run 10 miles, and a plan with myself to run for a few miles to meet her, and a few miles after, in an effort to get in a decent long run. And that’s what happened. I ran three snowy miles – including a trudge down 57th Street and over the bridge that included a fair amount of cursing and walking because the sidewalks weren’t cleared – and then dipped down to meet her near Cliff Avenue. We went down to the bike path and did an out and back, stopped along the bridge to take some photos because it was that beautiful. The snow had begun to fall faster, and our tracks were covered as we headed back. We ran back up the Cliff Avenue hill and parted ways at the top. She headed home and I did another 3 miles, weaving through neighborhoods as the snow fell and fell. We didn’t end up getting more than a few inches, but it was enough, combined with the ice in my eyes and my generally bad vision, for me to struggle a bit at the end to see what was sidewalk and what wasn’t. It resulted in a few missteps and a few moments where I laughed out loud at myself.
In the end, I got in just over 16 miles in a truly awful positive split I’ll blame on the snow. When I got home, Patrick was finishing a ride on the bike trainer, and I sat on the basement stairs and dumped balls of ice out of the buff I had been wearing around my neck. “Look at this,” I said. “You made snow again,” he said as he finished the last bit of his virtual race. I did. And more than that, I got in a decent run on a beautiful morning with a friend. And what that gives you when you’re training for anything is just confidence. Running isn’t hard. You can slow it down to whatever you feel like that day – or pick it up. It’s the daily commitment to it that’s the real challenge, the relentless pursuit of whatever you’re after. Just like anything – it’s saying yes. Yes, I’ll put these shoes on. Yes, I’ll make sure I don’t spend more money than I have. Yes, I’ll return this phone call and try to maintain my relationships. That’s what always stops you – it’s never the act itself. It’s every moment you have to say no, I’ll sleep in or watch television or do something else. So on Saturday, lacing up my shoes to run in my favorite kind of winter weather felt like an accomplishment. To be able to log my longest run so far of the year felt even better. It’s hard to stay motivated through the winter. Training for a race can help. Meeting a friend can help. I’ve been doing both of those things, and taking yoga classes all over town for cross-training, enjoying following my breath as I move through the poses as a way to quiet my mind (not easy) and also challenging myself to random “feats of strength,” as I call them. I’ll never be really flexible. It’s getting better – that I can tell you. But one thing I love about yoga is that nobody cares. Nobody is looking at anyone else, and there are so many ways to modify what you’re doing, and every class is different and every day you’re different, so there’s no comparing me to you or even me to me. It’s as freeing as discovering trail running was to me. And while I’ve been doing it for years, something in me shifted in the past six months where I’m finding myself gravitating more and more to it. Not to replace the miles, but for some other need I can’t understand just yet. I keep going, and falling out of tree pose on occasion. Or trying to breathe a cramp out of my foot during a class if I run too many miles before it. Sweat pouring off me in a heated, darkened studio. Or laying there in corpse pose at the end, tears rolling down my face for no reason and all the reasons. In between, I practice poses in the living room. “What are you doing,” Viv asked me. “I’m trying to do this side crow, want to do it?” “It looks easy,” she said, as she stood there. “We used to do yoga together.” And we did. I can’t even remember what I was streaming, but we would move the furniture in the living room and lay out mats and beach towels and Viv, 7, and I and sometimes Jack, 9, would go through the virtual classes. She loved it, and we vowed to do it again. I tried again. Tucked my arms as tight against me as I could, shifted just the littlest bit, got one toe up, then the other, held it. “Once you get it, you’ll just have it,” a coworker had told me as she pretzeled herself into poses on our office floor one day. I knew that was true – several years ago, Patrick and I would practice headstands nonstop after running at lunch, until we could use straight core strength to pull ourselves up without toppling over, slowly inch back down in full control. And it’s true – once your body learns it, you can’t unlearn it. Even in other classes – the amazing Wednesday evening and occasional Saturday morning classes with Jeri Light at 605 or Woodgrain, where she teaches you how to lean into a stretch and suddenly your whole body says yes, this is what I needed, and you’re able to find that again the next time. It’s like running – muscle memory, practice, commitment, an understanding that today won’t be like yesterday, that the left side won’t be like the right side, that you have to find something still to focus on, inside of you or inside this room. My sister used to enter aerobics competitions in the 1980s. She was absurdly strong – she still is, the kind of former high school and college athlete who can just be amazing with a tiny bit of work. I remember watching her sit with her legs in a V in front of her, push her palms down into the ground between her legs, and just lift her entire body up, and slowly turn in circles. I don’t know what she had to engage to do that, but I’ve been in awe for nearly 30 years now. So when I finally could hold myself in my very beginner version of side crow – I’ll be able to extend my legs one day, or do it for longer than 10 seconds soon – I set up my phone and took a photo to send to her. Jeanette Winterson says when you love someone, you should tell them. When you admire them, you should tell them. When you’re thinking about them, you should tell them. So I told her. And tried to remember the yoga that Viv and I used to do. And reached out to Lisa to thank her for the run. And nod to Jeri for helping me in ways she’ll never understand over the years. Logged it all in all the places in my head and heart. Watched the snow fall.  Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.
What: Yoga at 605 Running Co. When: Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Where: At the store Cost; $1 per class or buy a punch card Who: Instructor Jeri Light Level: All levels are welcome
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 Hello friends of Blog 605. It has been awhile. With the fresh snow on the ground I’m thinking about my recent vacation to Disney World and Universal Studios. How much longer do we have to wait for nicer weather? I think I’m going to run away; as long as I don’t slip on the ice while making my getaway that should be a good plan. Right? Anyway, as great as my vacation was, that didn’t mean I got a break from training. Poor planning on my part. The reality of it is, my second week of marathon training was during my vacation. I very proud of the fact that I ran all of my prescribed workouts while away and I can honestly tell you it was the hardest week of training in my life. My Garmin Connect tells me that I put in over 130,000 steps during the week. Not to mention the time standing in lines, standing on buses or dancing for joy that I was in Florida while it snowed in South Dakota. There are lots of things to say about Disney. We stayed on property, had the dining plan and utilized all of the transportation. This is not a blog post about that though. Today I wanted to share with you all, a few items that helped make my trip so successful.
 My Brooks Cascadia Shell Pullover $100: I’ve yet to take an extended trip in my life where rain wasn’t a factor. This pullover was a great addition. Both my wife and I bought this prior to our trip and it worked perfect in the humid Florida environment as it is vented on each side and packs up small (we shared a suitcase!). Designed with trail running in mind this pullover is water and wind resistant and dries super fast. It also is specifically designed to go over a pack which was very nice. I often wore this at night when it cooled down and was very happy to have it in the rain on the first night of our trip.
 CEP Compression Socks $60: These babies were true life savers for me. I chose to sleep in my compression socks each night. No matter how good the footwear is, when you go hard like we did in Disney, your body takes a beating. My feet would ache each night and I was not at all motivated to wake up at 4:30am our time to get my running done. However, with a little Disney magic and a night of sleep in my compression socks each morning I would wake up with refreshed happy feet and calves.  Trigger Point Mini Grid Foam Roller $24.99: This was another vital recovery tool that was small enough to pack in our suitcase. Over the course of our week I struggled a little with tight calf muscles and hamstrings. A little targeted rolling with this guy and I was able to make it through each workout happy and more importantly healthy. A must have if you are traveling for a race and need to pack light. Do you have any major vacations planned in the future? Will you try to train for a race while on vacation? Stop on down and see us at 605 Running Company. We'd love to chat with you about your adventures and we may have a tip or two we could share. Every customer that tells us a story about a journey takes us away from the cold, if only for a moment and in late winter that is truly refreshing.  Greg Koch is the General Manager/Co-Owner of the 605 Running Company. When he is not at the store he volunteers on the Sioux Falls Marathon Board and Co-Coaches his church softball co-ed team. Greg is an avid runner and enjoys being outdoors whenever possible. Follow Greg on Instagram @gregrun605
The text came on Friday. “I have to run 17 this weekend on Sunday. Are you going?” it read. I was, and that was more miles than I had planned but not out of the realm of possibility, so I did what any long-distance runner does: I replied yes, and that sounded perfect. That’s how a weekend plan is hatched. With Sunday taken care of, I reached out to another friend to make a plan for Saturday. We decided to meet at the gym for an 8-mile run with enough time for me to finish and take a yoga class – the perfect reward for a subzero morning, and part of my continuing attempt to regularly do more than just run, run, run. The rest of the weekend promised cross-country skiing, downtown coffee-having and as much Olympics coverage as I could find. There’s something to be said for shared custody, and while it’s nobody’s first choice for how to raise kids, it happens, and here we are.  Show our sponsor some love and get your valentine a delicious cookie from The Cookie Jar Eatery! The windchill was well below zero when Lisa and I met on Saturday morning. I had on the usual amount of absurdity: Tights, tank top, long sleeve, fleece, windbreaker, wool socks, mittens, hat, balaclava and a chemical handwarmer tucked into each mitten and both shoes. This is what it takes to run through the South Dakota winter. Lisa and I did an out and back along the bike path, waving to the runners and bikers we saw and chatting about everyone we know. I’ve known her for many years, and it’s been great to connect again. We finished with icy braids and eyelashes and I went inside for yoga. For a change I had remembered to bring dry clothes, and I put them on and stepped into the room, which is warm but not the stifling hot yoga I’ve taken other places. Still, I began to shiver and had chattering teeth and goosebumps the entire first half hour of the class. It’s not easy to hold a pose when you’re shaking and your fingers are turning white. It’s weird to be so cold when you’re finally done running – there was never a moment when Lisa and I were out there where I felt cold. It always hits later. The rest of the day was exactly what I had hoped for: Lunch and coffee downtown, a phone call from friends and a trip for an afternoon beer (or a chai latte, which is what I chose instead) and more Olympics. Everything was setting up well for a lovely Sunday run with Nanci. So when I woke up and it was still 9 below, I texted her. “I have no plans today, do you want to wait for it to warm up,” I asked. “I like the way you think,” she said. “Noon?” We agreed to that, and I settled back into my chair, a mug of coffee and a book of essays by Yiyun Li called “Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life,” where she chronicles her suicidal depression and the power of literature to get her through it. I’ve read another of her books, “The Vagrants,” and loved it. And sometimes that’s all it takes for me – one book I loved, and then I’ll read anything else I see by that person. It also reminded me of “Darkness Visible,” an essay by William Styron originally published in Vanity Fair and then expanded into a short book, a copy of which I gave to a friend almost exactly a year ago that I still think about. What’s meaningful to you and what it ends up meaning to someone else is one of the gifts of literature. And that’s really what Yiyun Li writes about. This is what I was thinking about when I began to assemble all the gear one needs for a long winter run. The chemical warmers, the layers, and, this time, my hydration pack and the hope it wouldn’t freeze. I met Nanci at Pasley Park and we did what anyone does: Decided, oh why not, let’s just run the entire loop. There’s no difference between 17 and 20, after all, and the thought of an out and back made me want to cry. We set out. Nanci is the kind of person who is soft spoken, gentle and always, always kind. She’s funny and fast and loves to share stories. So as we started and I realized that for no reason at all I felt fairly awful, I dreaded telling her. We ran. I started to feel really, sickly hot. We decided to stop every 40 minutes or so to drink something and eat something and use that to break up the loop. At 30 minutes, I stopped us under a bridge using the excuse of getting out of the wind to refuel. And still I felt terrible. “I have to just relax and get in that groove of the long run,” I told her. “I’m fine with whatever,” she replied, and I knew she was. That makes it even worse – you don’t want to let someone down who is that kind. We talked about upcoming races – Boston for her, Zumbro for me, Afton maybe for both of us. We lamented the weather. “Every day Russ talks about the first day of spring and the day we change the clocks,” she said. “Every day.” “What day is it,” I asked. “I don’t know,” she said. We doubled over laughing. “That pretty much sums up marriage,” I said. A while later I finally had to confess: I felt awful and it wasn’t getting better. I had made a concerted effort to drink water, to get a ton of sleep, to be ready for actual mileage this weekend, and it all somehow fell apart. At mile 8, I called Patrick off his bike across town, veered off the bike path and ran 2 miles to his mom’s house, where he picked me up. I don’t know what went wrong. I felt silly when I got done and sat for a while, let my clammy skin warm up and cool down at the same time – maybe I could have powered through. Nanci did. And giving up won’t get me anywhere on race day, I know that. But I couldn’t make it happen, and those 2 miles across northern Sioux Falls until I found a place to land were terrible. It’s unfair to compare it to what Styron or Yiyun Li or anyone else goes through, and I don’t mean to, but these words were in my head as I ran, this Chinese writer who works only in English, and wondering if it removes you or reveals you to put all your artistry into a language not your own. “There is this emptiness in me,” she writes. “All the voices in the world are not enough to drown out the voice of this emptiness that says: You are nothing.” Later in the same essay, she says, “It is either a dictator or the closest friend I have ever had … what if this emptiness is what keeps me going?” When we got home, I took a hot, hot shower, laid on the couch with the Olympics on and woke up an hour later feeling completely foggy but much, much better. Maybe that’s all I needed. I hope so. Nanci texted that she finished, was really cold, but finished and told me to feel better and recover. “We’ve all been there,” she said. We have, and I have, too. It’s hard to not be disappointed. My week I hoped would end near 40 miles topped out at 30. This isn’t where I want to be two months out from Zumbro. Then I remind myself it’s still better than where I was last year at this time, and better than all the people who aren’t out there at all. And I’ve kept up the yoga and the weights and the miles, for the most part. It was one bad run. It wasn’t a bad weekend, with the reading and the conversation and the coffee and the friends and the knowledge that it’s just another attempt, and you can’t make them all. Yiyun Li talks about how terrifying it is to try to face things in yourself you don’t want to, and this is one way she describes it: “The nearer I get to what I want to say, the further I deviate from it. Any word is the wrong word when it’s too close to the unspeakable.” Here’s to trying again, to always trying again.  Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.
 Benson wore Altra Trucker Hat, Arctreyx Delta LT Jacket (from GOS), Brooks Ghost Short Sleeve Shirt, Brooks Distance Jogger, and Saucony Peregrines. This is a perfect outfit for a couple miles on the trails or meeting your friends at Coffea for some hot tea.  These next two outfit uses the Brooks Fremont pant two ways. The first way is a more athletic look with the Arcteryx Kyanite vest, Patagoina Trucker hat, and Fresh Foam 1080s.  Here, Benson switched it up a bit for something you could wear to dinner or Sunday morning church. He switched out the vest for a tan Patagonia Down Sweater Vest paired with a Patagonia Button up underneath (both from GOS). A nice wool hat to top it off because it’s South Dakota.  Now it was my turn. I chose items that I would feel comfortable in while dressing a bump, but also anyone not preggo can wear these pieces as well! Here, I wore the Brooks Cascadia Thermal Vest, Marmot Sunrift Hoody (From GOS and suuuuuper flattering!), the Brooks Chaser Pant (you can customize the leg opening on these, love that feature), Asics running hat, and my fav New Balance 1080s. Now I don’t do much running with it being icy and 32 weeks pregnant but I would totally recommend this outfit for a Saturday morning running. This is another outfit that used the vest from the previous outfit but dressed it up differently. I changed it up by putting on the Lole Taryn top (from GOS), that has an asymmetrical bottom with a cute flower detail on the back. The top is very gym worthy but also something cute to wear when out with friends. These very forgiving leggings are from Saucony and have a nice texture too them that almost give them a denim look. I wore the Saucony Peregrine with this outfit, but would totally pair it with a casual boot as well.
 I so wanted to take this Patagonia Cotton Quilt Hoody (from GOS) home. Good thing my birthday is coming up….hint hint. It would be the perfect jacket to throw on after a run and go run some errands or go out for lunch. The Saucony leggings looked great with the mix of textures from the pants and the jacket. Paired with your favorite running stores long sleeve top and a chunky knit hat (from GOS) and you’re ready to conquer the day! Kelli Vasquez is Assistant Manager at 605 Running Company. When she isn’t hanging out at store she enjoys spending time with her family and running competitively when she isn’t preggers. She will be periodically contributing to the 605 Running Co. Blog.
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