I woke up on Friday feeling a cold coming on. I figured it was coming sooner than later, because Marshall had one and I’m always all up in his grill like eating his face everyday. Day 2 of a cold is much worse than day 1 and I started thinking about how hard my 20 on Saturday would feel if I was in full blown cold mode.
Then I looked at the temperature…..  6 degrees, feels like -10. It was cold. The temperature on Saturday would be much more desirable to run in (around 21), but I didn’t think I’d be feeling it as much.
My mom agreed to be on Marshall duty for 20 miles worth of time. She thought I was crazy for running outside, said she’d suffer through it on the old treadmill if she were me. Then I called Glenn and he also thought I was crazy.You don’t hear that from him much, so I was a little concerned.
His text right before I left: “Be smart out there. It is really cold. Do you have something for your face? Your water bottles are going to freeze.” My response- “I’ll be fine.” (I wasn’t taking water… it was cold enough and I could stop somewhere and grab a drink if I needed) I think he might have just been acting concerned, because I always tell him I don’t think he gets worried about when I could be in danger. Like one time I said I was going to get my run in at 3am and he had no arguments with me out running in the dark, basically in the middle of the night in some so so neighborhoods. He also always tells me I’m silly for thinking it’s dangerous to run on the shadiest parts of the monon by myself.
ANYWAY- since I do most of my weekday runs on the treadmill, I try to always do my weekend long runs outside no matter what. Glenn says putting the work in is putting the work in… and he has a point. While he was bouncing off Ironman WI, he did nearly all of his training for the Monumental Half on the treadmill. And he majorly PRed.
There are a few reasons I like to keep the long ones outside though, one being the wind- Shamrock could possibly have a strong headwind. I need to be used to that as much as I can. I’ve definitely done some serious stroller runs into a headwind, which is great practice. (that was more last fall though) I also think the mind battle is totally different on a treadmill than it is outside. In my mind, the miles seem to go by faster outside but the distance seems more daunting.
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| Heading out the door. Scared my fingers might fall off. |
What I wore:
- The only two pairs of long running tights I own. Both are too thin by themselves for weather under 15ish. I should probably invest in a thicker pair. I don’t like to spend money on running clothes though. Babies are like really expensive.
- Black wife beater tank (always start my layers with one, don’t ask me why)
- Super thick Under Armour long sleeved shirt
- Puma Rain Jacket thing
- Monumental Marathon toboggan hat (should have worn a hat that was tighter and didn’t let air come in the bottom… or a skimask)
- Super thick socks
- Two pairs of gloves (and kept my hands balled up in a loose fist inside the outer pair. Was too cold to have them out in the fingers)
- 2
Fuel: Â
- One Huckleberry Hammer Gel (not my fav, but what we had on hand) & One Glass of water at mile 14. (Shout out to my dad, who was home when I needed a pee/hammer/water break- I hardly looked at him though, in and out. I knew if I engaged, I’d want to stay and I still had 6 hard miles to hammer out)
When I started the run– I was heading west, making my way toward Pennsylvania St., where I planned to run south to downtown. The wind felt brutal and my face hurt it was so cold. I really needed a skimask.
I’m perfectly happy with it. My watch doesn’t give me automatic pace updates so I never know the exact pace I’m running at that time. (It’s like 20 seconds behind or something) I have a pretty good internal gauge of my pace though and was a little afraid if I lingered around 7:40s, which felt pretty decent at that time- that I wouldn’t get my butt to kick it up faster as the run progressed. Afraid my legs would say no. So I thought at least I’ll be better off if I run as much of it as I can at 7:30s.Â
Mile 2– 7:51Â
Mile 3– 7:42Â
Mile 4– 7:48Â
Mile 5– 7:48Â
Mile 6– 7:54Â
Mile 7– 7:43Â
Mile 8– 7:49Â
Mile 9– 7:31Â
Mile 10– 7:33Â
Mile 11– 7:23Â
Mile 12– 7:29Â
Mile 13– 7:32Â
Mile 14– 7:27Â
Mile 15– 7:32Â
Mile 16– 7:19Â
Mile 17– 7:28Â
Mile 18– 7:15Â
Mile 19– 7:25Â
Mile 20-7:29
I speed up so his run wasn’t heading straight toward me. Then he flags me down. I turn and kind of listen, but can’t really hear him. Then I think maybe he is warning me about whatever it is he is running from. So I stop my watch jog a little closer so I can hear him and he asks me if I want to buy a brand new laptop. I give him a dirty look, say, “what… no” in an annoyed voice I’m sure and off I go. For the love of God- do not stop a girl on mile 15 of a 20 mile run to ask her to buy your stolen laptop. Especially when she looks like she should probably be scared of you… running toward her. Hope he found someone to buy his laptop.
And in case you forgot- Marshall is still really cute:
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| He was cracking me up in this little seat at the store. His little nose is roughed up from his cold. |
Turns out I was smart to get the 20 in Friday, because Saturday night I slept probably 4 hours total. I finished off the weekend though with an easy 8 on Saturday and 13 today. 41 miles in 3 days…Â that’s a lot of running. I’m ready for my rest day tomorrow!