The guy from Scotland made me do it

I got into work today and one of my colleagues (who is a beginning runner himself, I am glad and proud to say) asked me if I’d run today. He knows I’m a die-hard, I guess. Or just insane, take your pic.  It was 21 degrees this morning around 5:30 a.m., and with 20-30 mph wind gusts, the wind chill temp was 7, according to my iPhone’s weather channel app. I laughed and told him, “yep, because a guy from Scotland made me do it.”  So, this is my shout-out to Mickdo100 (as he’s known on Twitter), or the writer of the Nowhere Fast Revisited blog I have on my blogroll.  Funny how people you’ve never met in person can inspire you. Well, I guess that means almost all of you reading this blog, in my case!

I was sitting on my couch this morning, watching my dog Ruthie, who’s oh-so-cute, sleep all curled up on her chair, with her blue blankie wrapped around her (she will put up with anything from us as long as it means she’s getting attention, including being treated like a human baby), and listening to the wind howl. And I mean howl. We have chimes hanging on our one deck and you could tell from the lovely sounds that they made, that the wind was pretty strong. And when I took Ruthie out to relieve herself at 4:30 a.m. (imagine that being your rude awakening to the day), she could stand on top of the snow without breaking through. It was that cold.

So, the idea of getting out there and running (especially since I was afraid that somehow there’d be more black ice like yesterday when I was an idiot and didn’t wear my Stabilicers, thus forcing me to abandon my run for a power walk with Ruthie) was not really an appealing one. I mean, on the one hand, I have this good volume of the Vampire Diaries saga I’m reading (this book series is so much better than Twilight and mind you, coming from me, that’s saying a lot), or I could write some of my own fiction (really liking it the more I do it), and on the other hand, I could freeze my butt off.  (Oh, my other hand [I know, this gives me something like 4 hands right now if you've been adding them all up] had the option of decorating our Christmas tree.)

So, what do I do? I start whining about it on Twitter. And the power of the Internet, Mickdo100 , being 5 or 6 hours ahead of me, time-wise, and who also had the day off, and is injured, well, he tells me to get out there, dress warm, and remember that even if it’s only for 20 minutes that I get out there, it’s still better than nothing.

So, I thought about it. For a few minutes, and thought, “well, now or never, I’ve got to be on time today, I’m covering the reference desk first thing.” So I started getting dressed. Not a quick proposition with our weather. Three shirts, a pair of tights, one long pair of pants, a neck muffler, heavy thermal hat and warm gloves, smart wool socks, sneaks with Stabilicer Sports later, and I was ready to go! (Oh yeah, and my Road ID, or Road Kill ID, as I call it with iPod were worn also but those go without saying.)  For any of you who are wondering (and still reading), I do wear a headlamp in the dark. I want to live.

Running with all that gear can make it hard to move.  It was not my fastest run, but I didn’t wear my Garmin either.  I didn’t want to have to stand outside and wait for the thing to pick up satellites, it was that cold.  So, just two laps around my nearby lake, which means about 3.4 miles, and that was it for me.  But I got out there, and I did it, and I’m glad for that. Because sooner or later this season, those temps are going to feel downright balmy to me. (Oh, and I did stop about halfway to remove the Stabilicers, they just weren’t needed today. Luckily they are pretty lightweight so I put them in my pockets and started up again.)

While I was out there, I looked up at the sky, as I do many times on my runs when I can’t wait for the sunrise. The moon was very thin this morning, and of course the sky was completely cloudless (helping to keep the temps down.) This reminded me of another of my Twitter friends, TurtlePower1 (if you are on Twitter, I highly recommend following him. He has some great sayings, and perspectives.  He protects his tweets but just send him a request to follow and if you’re lucky, he’ll agree to it.)  He’s a runner that keeps his eyes on the heavens, watches for meteor showers, and has taught me a lot about the International Space Station and how you can see it in the night sky.  I think he would have enjoyed the pre-dawn sky I saw this morning.

Anyway, have you ever noticed that the moon sometimes seems to move further upward in the sky as the sun tries to take over?  I thought of it as an epic battle that gets fought every day between the sun and the moon for control over the sky.  We all know how it’s going to end, yet it gets repeated day after day. It’s one of my favorite reasons for being a morning runner.

I leave you now with a picture I took of the Cape the last time I was down there. Don’t worry, there’ll be no shortage of my opportunities to take more snow pics and post them up here for you! LOL

Grey's Beach, Cape Cod

Ok, gotta go and decorate my tree now – thanks for listening!

By the way, anyone think this post wins the award for use of most parentheticals or run-on sentences?! 

 

Early morning runner? Yeah, probably not.

Before I forget, I wanted to give you a link to John from NYC’s race report from yesterday’s NYC Marathon.  I think he did awesome, running-wise, and as someone pointed out in the comments to his report on Runner’s World’s Forums, he SHOULD be a motivational speaker. How many could read his race report, and then not want to run NYC?!  You can read his report here.

Right now, I am so jealous of those of you who live in warmer climates. That’s right, this is probably not the first time I’ve said/written that, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Got up this morning around 6 a.m., checked the temperature on the thermometer we have over the kitchen sink. Inside temp something like 64 degrees, outside temp something like 24.  WTH was I thinking?!  That running  outside in the cold might be better than working out in the gym which is a bearable, if somewhat hot temperature?

Had my cereal, V8, yogurt and the usual coffee to get me alive, or at least past my usual snarling self before caffeine.  (Ask my husband, it’s so-o-o not pretty!)

Thoughts while running this morning (at least I didn’t have to worry about looking like a coal miner, as Chris fears, since it was light out):

1. Yeah, could have helped if Bill told me just one more time how cold it was outside before he left. Or that there was frost on the cars. And not for the first time. Sigh…
2. Yep, the tights, long sleeve running shirt and fleece jacket, maybe not warm enough.
3. Thank God for thermal hats and gloves.
4. I WILL eventually warm up, right?!
5. The hard part about starting out “slow” in this weather is going to be that I am FREEZING to death! I was thinking I’d go HOW FAR this morning?!
6. I SO hope it is not this cold this weekend.  13.1  miles of this, without headphones, will just be so long to get through.
7. Not sure why lately but I feel like I have to walk occasionally. Why can’t I stop the negative thoughts from breaking into my head?
8. Well, at least I’m still running at a fast enough pace that even with walking, I can still get home in time and get to work on time.
9. This is why I don’t usually like to run in the morning, because then I have to worry still about getting to work on time. I don’t need to deal with the stress of thinking about work while running. Need to stop doing that.  Really.
10. My God, thankfully I’m halfway. At least I’m not fighting traffic like these poor folks. Usually I’m one of them, watching the runners go by and wishing I was one of them.
11. Ok, the fact that I am now beating the cars is a sad comment on the traffic around here. And I thought that only happened to me downtown!
12. Ok, why is that van behind me taking so long to move forward. Please don’t tell me they are looking at my butt in these tights?!!  Yeah, I’m not going to look and make eye contact because that’d be creepy.
13. I suppose I could wear shorts over the tights but then it’s just one more item of gear/clothing that my headphone cord can get caught up in.
14. Can’t believe it took me 3-4 miles to see another walker or runner!
15. Ok, coming up to the hardest part of my route this morning. No, think of it as being the most “challenging” part, that sounds better and more positive after all.
16. Finally, the Endurolytes are kicking in!
17. Why is it that my legs finally feel great and I’ve only got about a mile left to go? Why couldn’t they have felt this way the entire way?
18. Wow, I can’t believe I’ve already run over 6 miles and I still have my whole workday ahead of me!
19. 8:55 a.m., if I hurry my butt I may even be able to get to work on time.

Oh yeah, my legs started to stiffen up pretty quickly this morning.  Luckily, only 4 or so Advils every few hours seems to work just fine by me, and by tonight, they feel just fine.

Remember to get out there and vote tomorrow, everyone, even if you have to miss a day’s workout, to stand in a long line. This kind of election only comes along every 4 years!