Ugly Toes

It's fairly easy to tell which miles involved running directly into the wind.

1 | 09:27
2 | 09:59 | 19:27
3 | 09:59 | 29:26
4 | 10:05 | 39:32
5 | 10:13 | 49:45
6 | 09:21 | 59:06
7 | 09:28 | 1:08:35
8 | 09:37 | 1:18:12
9 | 09:43 | 1:27:56
10 | 09:44 | 1:37:40
11 | 09:38 | 1:47:19
12 | 10:40 | 1:58:00
------------------------------------
12.12 miles | 1:59:15 | 9:50/mi.

The actual air temperature wasn't that bad, but that wind was just brutal. I ran out into it for the first 5 miles, and there were spots where I had to stop and turn around to face away from the wind and give myself a break from it. I then managed to run out of it for awhile, but I wasn't having a good time. My left foot/ankle started feeling kind of weird halfway through, and as the run progressed I just felt crappier and crappier. The last 2 miles featured the wind again, and it got really, really bad the last mile. The worst part is that by that time I was losing feeling in my hands, and worst of all, I was starting to feel like parts of my face might be frostbitten. I was getting really upset by how much my face hurt, and how hard it was to run. Having the collar of my jacket shoved tight against my throat didn't help things either, nor did the start of breathing problems. I finally just gave up when I reached my street and turned off my watch and walked the rest of the way home. I'd normally just keep running because it's faster, but I just couldn't run anymore.

I hate winter. I'm feeling thawed finally, and it doesn't look like I did actually get frostbite. Probably just windburn. I knew the wind was going to be bad today, but thought this would be a better day for a long run since tomorrow's temperatures are expected to be in the single digits with windchills near -20. I guess this was a good learning experience, in that I've now reached a wind/temperature limit for going outside. I should've just treadmilled it to start, but since I haven't used it in so long I really don't want to do my long runs on it.

I'm heavily leaning towards "no" on Boston right now. I really didn't enjoy anything about my run today, and I didn't even run the distance I was supposed to (13). I don't think I want to try and run longer with weather like this, nor do I want to run long on my treadmill. I don't care if that makes me wussy.

I think a marathon is too long of a distance, too large of a training commitment, and in the case of Boston too expensive of a trip, to take on if your heart isn't really in it. It's not that I don't want to run a marathon this year, I just don't feel like I'm anywhere near good enough shape to run a decent one in 11 weeks. And if I just want to half-ass a marathon, it shouldn't be one that costs me over $1000. I'm kind of thinking about just running Med-City this year, as it's 17 weeks away and would therefore give me enough time to actually train for it and it's freaking cheap ($40 entry, no travel costs, no time off work, no merchandise). The only drawback to Med-City is that May is really unpredictable and it could be 90+ degrees again.