wearing: northface tech top, sporthill 0-40 pants (yay!), saucony fuzzy, brimmed hat, fleece gloves, 1 pr smartwool socksSince I had no music, I had a lot of time to think, and found myself remembering my first "race". It was the 1 mile fun-run held before the Charlotte Observer Marathon & 10K (which my mom did for many years). It was probably 1983 or so. I wore a lavender, cotton sweatsuit. The race was in early January, so in Charlotte it might have been in the 40s or 50s, but I remember thinking it was so cold and such a long way! Little did I know that 25 years later, I would willingly step out my door for a 10 mile training run on an 8-degree day.
very hilly on purpose, since this was a "down" week. fell on black ice on boston ave. ran out of batteries in the MP3 player soon after. lost my course notes and had to try to remember (i did ok). started out overdressed, fearful of the -5 deg. wind-chill. looped back by the house to shed a layer. then was too cold going into headwind, but not sweating like a pig while running uphill in the sun. lot of crossing back & forth to find clear sidewalks and clambering over snowbanks hurt my time. i made ice on my hat! overall, one of those "another f*ing growth opportunity" runs.
Even though a 10 mile "long" run is cake at this point in training, today did kinda suck. I actually had to sing the Rocky theme song to myself all the way up that last haul up Winter Hill to keep running. But a nice guy stopped to make sure I was ok when I fell on the ice, and I didn't get hit by a turning car before I could stand back up, so that's a good thing.
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"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
ReplyDeleteJesse Owens