I only managed two runs last week, both of them on the treadmill. I planned an outside run on Friday and never made it, which turned out to be a good thing--when I gathered my bags to leave work that evening, I realized my gym bag wasn't with me. So even if I had made the time, I wouldn't have been able to do anything.
So today I tried to come up with excuses for why I could go running outside. The real excuse, of course, was that it was cold and I didn't want to. Once I admitted that, I had to go. I figured if I ran outside today, I wouldn't have to do it again until the race on Saturday and after that I wouldn't have to run outside at all if I didn't want to until the spring. So I bundled up in my wool t-shirt and Underarmor tights and shirt (more like a tunic--clearly the women's large size is designed for very tall women!) and gloves and headband thingie and off I went. Incidentally, races in the winter would be much easier for spectators to follow--in the summer you're pretty much dressed like everyone else (I'm the one in the black shorts and light blue shirt!) but in the winter you're hard to mistake (I'm the one in the bright purple shirt with the red jacket over top but the purple shows underneath because it's so long and I have on multicolored stripey ear warmer things.). Pity it's too damn cold to want to spectate at much of anything.
And yes, it was cold. 29 degrees, I found out afterwards. And worse, the wind was horrible--gusty and from all directions. You'd turn a corner and it would slam into you, taking your breath away. The prediction for the day was 30 m.p.h. gusts, and I think I had them. I was running uphill into a headwind for most of a mile along the route and thought I was having so much fun, and then the snow started! Seriously, it snowed on me. Just flurries, but it was snow. It made me laugh.
But clearly I made it back--I did all five miles and made it in just over 50 minutes (five seconds over), which probably has jinxed me for Saturday. But the important thing about this race is not how fast I do it, but that I'm getting a cool shirt out of it. Right? Oh, and keeping up with the running at a time of the year when I have a million good excuses for not exercising at all. But really I'm in it for the shirt.
2 comments:
Oh, good for you! That's a great time. And you got out and did it. Hooray! I was feeling well enough at the end of last week that I wanted to try running today, but we have you beat on cold by a long shot -- our high was 20 and by the time I was able to get ready to go out it was 17. Wind chill would be dramatically lower, I suspect. Fortunately Daniel came home early so I was able to go to the gym to run (but nothing like 5 miles!).
Have a great run this weekend! I hope it's warmer!
Good job! I am so impressed! I have just been proud of my self if I do anything other than huddle under a blanket at my house!! Come to think of it... if you want the experiece of running outdoors with the comfort of a treadmill, come use mine. It is cold enough inside... 8-)
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