Failures

 We all have stuff we rely on.

Like the sun going down in the evening, and returning the next morning
(well, except at extreme latitudes)

Last Saturday, I had three things I depend on pretty heavily let me down. The first was my Garmin, which had actually started messing up on Thursday: I had plugged it into my laptop to clear out the old workout data, and an update had installed via Garmin Express. Cool, cool...except when I ran afterward, I got some seriously funky data out of it.

Those blue bits on the map? My watch apparently thought I was stopped, though it kept recording my progress and position.
You can also see dots in the bottom part that indicate it was taking cadence readings...but they were all zero, despite my daily step count increasing steadily through the run

I had hoped it was just a freak thing and would resolve itself, but come Saturday morning it was still pulling the same crap.

I didn't notice until later that it had also messed up a couple of other daily metrics like sleep and energy tracking from Thursday afternoon to Saturday

Fortunately, I don't put that much stock in my Garmin data, and it all resolved after I plugged it back in to my laptop and it installed another update. This took a bit of time and was a little frustrating, but was definitely the least clutch of the failures.

That run down to the market Saturday morning? It caused a much more concerning failure: my phone.

Source of almost 100% of the photos I post, here and anywhere else

It was a frosty one - base air temperature of -20c (-4f) with windchill of -28c (-18f). I was bundled up pretty solidly, and was keeping my phone in the back pocket of my jacket to keep it warm.

My mainstay winter running jackets (I have both red and black of the same model/year) are intended to be cycling jackets, and have cycling jersey-like pockets at the lower back, which is one of the warmest and best protected places to keep anything in extreme cold weather

I was running down the multi-use trail portion beside a roadway with forest on the far side, and saw a huge whitetail deer go bounding out of the woods, across the road, and toward the river just before the trail veers off into trees. I paused at the spot to see if I could find the deer on the wetland plain, taking a shot of the tracks where it had crossed the paved path but unable to see the majestic creature itself.

You can tell by the splaying of its hooves how heavily it had landed, and on the right you can see some of the myriad other tracks I found just a few feet away

I also flipped the camera around to get a shot of my own frosted-up face.

I'd only been out about 30mins so far

..and then my phone shut down. That's not unusual in deep cold: once I get it warmed back up, it's generally just fine. So, I stuck it back in my pocket and kept going. 

I tried pulling it out again a few minutes later, because I wanted to get photos of the most ridiculous ice I think I've ever seen on this particular trail. My screw shoes were struggling trying to bite into the incredibly hard-frozen surface, and as soon as I got my camera app started my phone just noped out again.

I came back later in the day with Tank to show him and get some shots

By leaving it in my pocket for a good 15-20mins while I ran along, I manage to coax it back to life toward the end of my journey so I could snap a pic or two in the brilliant sunshine.

It was a really beautiful day, as long as you were dressed right

While losing a few photo opportunities was frustrating, I wouldn't really count this as a failure if that were the only outcome. However, once I'd re-warmed my poor phone after the run, it was still declining to a) recognize the SD card inserted in it, and b) make noise. The former issue I could probably have lived with, but since my phone is my alarm clock as well as a means of communication, its stubborn silence was worrisome! Restarting hadn't solved it, and I feared that I might have to replace it; it's a bit elderly and certainly not in the best condition, but the device I want to succeed it hasn't been released yet, and I didn't really have time that day to make an attempt anyway.

Fortunately, it found its voice again after I carefully shut it down, left it powered off and plugged in for a few minutes, then said a few encouraging words as it rebooted. This all happened at approximately the same time I sorted out my Garmin, so it seemed like I was good to go for my second run!

Begun just after my walk with Tanker to check out the ice, and about 25 minutes after sunset

I'd worn my full running kit under some warm outer layers for the hike (namely, a down jacket and long insulated skirt that I could easily remove before the run), including my trail shoes and spikes as I'd known I would be on ice. As I set off into the woods from the trailhead at a trot, I soon noticed that my spikes sounded more jingly than usual, and seemed a bit looser than I'd expect. As I ran down a big, ice-covered hill, I was a bit confused by a slight sensation of slip on my right foot: I could hear and feel the spikes biting into the ice, so how could I be slipping? It definitely wasn't confidence inspiring, but it didn't seem to be catastrophic - I still had good traction, and I didn't think there was much I could do in pitch dark at -14c (7f) with nothing but my mittens and a handheld light I was trying out.

Which also made this about the worst possible time for me to have an equipment failure

When I got home, I pulled off my spikes to see what the issue was - a brief inspection of the ones from my right shoe quickly revealed the source of the trouble.

Well there's your problem..

Fortunately - after a bit of a false start - I was able to fashion a replacement link out of a cotter pin.

Far from pretty, but hopefully functional?

I confirmed that I'd got good data from my Garmin from the run, though, so it seemed like I'd managed to sort out all three of the issues that had cropped up! 

I took the repaired spikes out for a test drive on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Shade's Mills, rambling around the sun-drenched forest and trying to avoid crunching my new link off any protruding rocks on the trails.

It wouldn't occur to me until much later that the deep cold might have been the culprit in the case of the broken link

Fortunately everything seemed to hold up, and I had a really enjoyable run!

Unlike the people I saw there trying to hike without traction devices - they were making rather heavy weather of it

The sunshine was most welcome, as were the milder temperatures - it was still -5c (23f), but that felt nearly tropical compared to the day before.

Though the idea of a dip at the beach wasn't really any more inviting!

I got a second run in after dark, too, on much sketchier trail than I had intended considering I was still unsure about the durability of my makeshift cotter pin link.

#Didn'tDie

I inspected the link carefully again afterward, but it seems to be going strong! I haven't noticed any signs of wear or fatigue on it, but I've ordered another set to be sure - the ones I buy aren't terribly expensive, and I'd rather have a new pair for bigger, higher-risk ventures (though I'll likely keep running in the repaired ones for short, easy-to-bail-from jaunts). 

Their journey isn't at an end just yet

So, while it was frustrating to be feel let down by three devices in one day, I'm pretty pleased I was able to implement solutions that allowed me to continue on using them - even if I may need to be a bit more cautious about a couple of them in future. 

It felt quite apropos to find this scrawled in the beach sand at Shade's Mills on Sunday afternoon

I wish you all a trouble-free weekend - have fun out there, and be safe!