What Better Way?

My original plan this weekend was to run 10 miles with Greg D. and celebrate my personal "I'm back" moment with a cheeseburger and beer but after my horrible drive back from Toledo the night before I decided I wanted nothing to do with my car and my four nearly bald tires. The weather forecast for Sunday was anything but desirable but I kept hoping that the longer I waited the more palatable I would magically find the weather but as the clock neared 2 I knew it was either get out there or do 10 on the dreadmill which was far scarier than braving the elements.
I had also wanted to go to the grocery store but that would defeat my plan of not getting in my car so I mapped it out and decided that 2 of my 10 would be spent running to the grocery store for the handful of things I needed...I just strapped a backpack on and headed out into the storm. For the very few readers out there who don't live in Northeast Ohio let me just say this in regards to the weather-it was 14 degrees with the windchill, heavy blowing snow and winds were at 25mph when I got out there.

I got about halfway to the store and decided that it was just stupid to be out there. I made a plan to turn right instead of left at the corner and go back home to complete my miles on the treadmill. As I was heading back though I started to feel really let down...for fuck's sake, what better way to prepare myself for winter 50k than running in these conditions? Who knows what the weather will hold for January 26th so I might as well give myself a taste of horrible, right? Right. I turned back around and continued on my way to the store.

After making it to the store and back I dropped off my groceries and foraged on through the storm. Thank god I smothered my face with vaseline before I left because I think that's the only thing that saved me from getting a windburn on my exposed skin (I cannot stand wearing anything over my mouth hence my lack of scarf). You all know I hate droning on with boring details so I'll leave it at this...it was one of the hardest runs I've done but definitely one of the most fulfilling. Once I got home and my icicle laden hair thawed I realized that regardless of what the weather may bring in January I'm up for anything...as long as I get to keep putting one foot in front of the other I'm one happy girl.

This is PowerThirst on CRACK

Bad Idea

I'm doing this post for Rob...because as he pointed out in the comments of the previous post, I should really get going. ~smirk~

So...HERE I AM! Actually I've been good on getting back into things. Slowly, but nevertheless still building it back up, one mile at a time. I got the green light from my doctor a while back to train for the winter BT50k so that's where my focus has been as of late. That is, until I made the mistake of getting too close to my dear sweet little niece who had in fact NOT fully recovered from her stomach flu. I'll spare you the details of my woes this past week except for this tidbit: no one should throw up for days on end and then try to cram all their miles in within the last few days of the week.

Hence the title of this post... although the company was fantastic this morning. Along with Red and Debi whom I adore running with, E-Speed & her friend Amy joined us as well as Brett and two newer members of SARC-Bob and Denise. I've got to hand it to Red...she provides an essential service to area runners...always making them feel welcome, always making them feel capable.

We all had different mileage goals. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to be able to stick with them for their 13-18 miles but per my carefully constructed plan, I only had 8 or 9 on tap. The minute we stepped onto the trail it was apparent it was going to be a very slick, very dirty run...just the kind most of us love. The mud was bad but at least it served as a pretty decisive slash through the pristine white landscape. There's no mistaking where you should go when your feet have no other choice than to suction to what lays ahead of you.

I felt pretty good until about 30 minutes into the run and then the few stores of energy I had just seemed to ooze out of me and mix with the already muddled path. Putting one foot in front of the other was starting to seem like a Herculean effort. Nonetheless though, it was great to be out there and I was just so happy to not be kneeling at the mercy of my toilet at that point.

My halfway mark couldn't have come sooner, while everyone else looked to be comfortable as hell, I found that I was drenched in a cold sweat and the color had kinda drained from my face. Red shared a few of her fig newtons with me which I inhaled with the hopes of some renewed energy...alas, it did not happen. Thankfully Denise was willing to turn back and make the return trip with me. I've never run with her before but was so glad to have her with me today! She put up with my stopping and slow pace with the patience only my mother should have with me! We made it back and she graciously gave me a banana that she had in her car. I don't think I could have gotten home any faster than I did... a nice hot shower and an afternoon in bed was just what I needed.

So even though it wasn't the most ideal run, it was still so great to be out there. I love the group of people that I've met and I love how the trail always seems to welcome me back...regardless of how long we've been apart.