« Finding My Limit* | Main | Snowed In and Frozen Out »

February 11, 2007

Well, All Righty Then

Today when I checked the weather before heading out for my long run, I got all excited when I saw that it was 15 degrees outside. 15! Even the wind chill was above zero! That's the warmest it's been around here in weeks! (Although, I use the term "warm" very, very loosely.) I bundled up, although not quite as aggressively as I've needed to lately, and headed out ready to rock and roll.

Then it hit me - 15 is still cold. A 4 degree wind chill? Is also still cold. Ugh. Yuck. Whine. I realized that while the break in the weather was nice, I've just had it with winter. I've had it with fighting the cold. I've had it with being cold. I've had it with having to run the last 2+ miles of my long run directly into the wind that is always, always, always coming out of the west. I am ready to go for a run without my face falling off or my ass turning into a giant ice cube. I am ready for Spring, dammit.

I gave myself a little bit of time to whine, but by the time I'd reached the corner, I sucked it up and got down to the business of my 11 miles. I kept a nice easy pace, I felt good, and before I knew it I was turning off the lake and heading home. Directly into the wind. Ugh.

Happily, the training plan I'm using gives me the option of picking up the pace during the last 20 minutes of my long run if I feel like it. Since I didn't want to spend any more time running into the wind than I had to, I picked it up. A little bit on mile 10, and then I shifted it into high gear on mile 11. I didn't think I was going that fast, but I definitely felt the extra work. I figured it was due more to the fact that I'd been running for over 2 hours at that point than any sort of actual speed.

Until I got home, that is. When I went to log my workout, I checked the splits. That last mile? Was covered in 9:15. I didn't even know what to do with that information, so I just laughed at it. I wasn't sure I could run a mile in 9:15 in my current somewhat out-of-shape state, never mind speed through the final mile of an 11-mile run at that pace. Looks like there may be hope for me after all.

Posted by Dawn at February 11, 2007 08:11 PM

Comments

Posted by: ali at February 12, 2007 09:15 AM