Hardship Run

I have a friend who I run races with on occasion, who says that she believes in hardship runs. You know the runs you do in the rain or without music or on some horrible terrain. Or you know the ones you do in the freezing rain and sleet for nearly 70 tiring minutes with another insane member of your family.

That was my day after Christmas run with my little sister, Rachel. We decided that we were going to do a BIG run. So, we mapped it out and settled on a loop a little over 8 miles starting and ending at our mother's house. Well, when we started it was just really cold, but only sleeting a little bit. We warmed up fairly quickly and the freezing sleet wasn't a big deal for the first few miles.

It wasn't until about mile 4 that the wind and freezing rain decided to really come down. Rachel was running a bit behind me on the road and the sleet was pelting and stinging my face. I had begun to lost feeling in my hands because my gloves were wet and every time a car or truck came by I was splattered with additional water. Also, my legs were soaked and numb as well because I wore cotton leggings instead of spandex (Note to self: Always check the weather before running).

At one point, I said to Rachel: "I won't phone in for a ride, but if someone we know drives by, I will accept a ride." Well, my husband, Hank, did drive by around mile 7. I waved at him frantically, but he just kept driving. My heart sank. I knew we didn't have much further to run, but it was absolutely miserable outside at that point. I told Rachel I had seen Hank and she seemed slightly disappointed as well.

But, lo and behold, my husband had pulled off to the side of the road about a quarter mile around the bend. I have never been so happy to get into our car as I was in that moment. Rachel and I jumped in and he drove us home. When I arrived at my mom's house a few minutes later, I immediately peeled off my wet clothes and hopped in the shower. My thighs were bright red from the wet, cold rain, but the warm shower helped get my body temperature back to normal and once I was dressed, I felt good that I had done it.

I was excited to have run that far in such poor weather. It was the first time I had gone more than about 6.5 miles and I think considering the horrible weather, we ran at a pretty decent pace. I feel like I won't have to subject myself to one of those runs again anytime soon, but it's good practice in case there's bad weather for our 10 miler that's planned in a couple of weeks.

One other note: I remember seeing people run in the rain and cold and would think: "I'll never do that. I'm just not that committed to running." Well, now I'm one of those annoying runners who run come hell or high water. I guess it builds character to tough out the elements once in awhile.

This Week

I planned to run alot more than I did....

12/13/12
5 miles

12/14/12
Interval training (run to the gym, 20 minutes interval run back)

12/19/12
Interval Training (run to the gym 2 miles in 18:42! and 5 more minutes at a 6.5mph pace)

Thats it. Wow, that sucks.

Jingle All the Way 8K

Yesterday, I ran the Jingle All the Way 8K in downtown DC with a running friend. I was a naughty girl the night before the race and stayed up WAY too late and my speed suffered as a result the next day. Note to self: a good night's sleep does improve physical performance and is a necessity before running 5 miles.

Although I woke up to pouring down rain yesterday, it stopped by the time we arrived in DC, which was fortunate because I really didn't want to run in the cold rain. It was damp and rather chilling to the bone on our walk from the car to the start of the race, but by the time we were at the start point designated by pacing markers (we started at the 10:00-10:59 minute mile marker), there were tons of people waiting to start and it wasn't all that cold to me. This was a very festive race. People dressed like elves, santas, reindeer, and many were wearing hats and accessories to show their Christmas spirit. I even wore my reindeer headband to be a good sport.

During the race, I remembered what I had read about devoting miles to people that you love. It helps to focus attention to form and speed and when I get fatigued, thinking of that person helps me to continue to perform my best. So, by the time I saw mile two I remembered this idea and so my second mile was devoted to my Uncle Scott, who told me the night before the race to "run really fast." I devoted my third mile to my dad and when I started feeling lethargic I thought of his positive phrase: "I can, I am, I will."

My fourth mile was devoted to my brother and his girls. A lot of time when I run, I think of my brother and our memories together. There have been times where I've nearly hyperventilated because I've held back tears thinking about how much I miss him. That's why I also devoted that mile to his girls, so that I wouldn't get too sad. They are living reminders of him and I am so grateful for them.

Despite the dreary weather, the race went reasonably well. I finished in just over 48 minutes, which is slower than I've run in other races, but considering the tiredness factor, I'm okay with that pace. I placed 391st out of 977 females in the 25-29 year-old category. Meh, right around the middle of the pack.

Also, a brief rant about Pacers' events. First of all the race started about 15 minutes late, which is not cool in my book. I want things to start on time. I've allotted a specific amount of time to this and if I am there on time, I expect things to get going as planned. Also, when I went to pick up my "race packet," they handed me my shirt and bib and pointed me in the direction of the bags and safety pins. I had to put my own packet together! I paid $35 to participate in this event, the least they could do is stick the damn t-shirt in the bag. Okay, rant done. All in all, it was a fun time.

Progress

Sunday
     1.25 miles No time
          Stopped every .25miles to entertain children (ran at a track:)
Monday
     .9miles to the gym, 10 minutes on stepper, .2 miles back
Tuesday
     1.8 miles 17:??
Wed
     4.6 miles 46:23