February in Review

1 03 2012

Once again Mother Nature treated us runners pretty darn well. I am fairly certain this December, January, and February have been the best winter running I can remember. I am so excited for what that may translate to for my spring races.

Overview:

Total Mileage: 112
Miles with Sara: 55
Total Miles to date: 206
Longest Run: 13.22 – Renee and Sara’s Unofficial Half Marathon
Races: 1 killer 5K!

Highest mileage month in 18 months! And it was a short month. I had a 30 mile week for the first time this year. I made it a whole year without going to an ortho doc, which is a much bigger deal than it should be. I, thankfully, remained healthy in February. I love that Sara and I have our “schedule” set. On Sunday night we both look at our runs for the week, look at our schedules and plan our morning run for the week. It is either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and always our 5.5 mile route. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes it is easy. Usually on that run we decide what the weekend plans are. Of course life tends to get in the way on the weekend and we don’t always get to run together. While I know it’s important to be able to run by myself my long runs are just not nearly as enjoyable when I am not chatting with Sara for 2 hours. The time flies and we talk about everything from the serious to things that bring us to laughter. Our completely unofficial half marathon was sub 2 hours without us even realizing it.

What’s Next?

March brings all kinds of awesomeness. It is my birthday month and yes, I say month. I will be celebrating in Milwaukee, DC and Chicago. I will be running a half marathon in New Orleans and DC. I get to see lots of friends. I have to decide what my strategy will be for two half marathons in that period of time, but I’m not overly worried. My body is used to the mileage at this point.


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Winter Running Wonderland

18 12 2011

Snow. I love it. This is no secret. I prefer snow running to summer running. People tried to call me out last summer when it was 80 bazillion degrees and humid when I said I prefer snow running. Well, now there is snow and I still love it.

Sara and I had plans to run Saturday morning. Nothing unusual. Until I opened twitter and it was full of excited over snow and running. It was like we were all little kids seeing snow for the first time. It even felt that way. We live in Wisconsin. It is mid December. There is supposed to be snow. I slowly peaked out of my shades and saw that there really was snow. I bounded, and by bounded, I mean scurried over the cat who wouldn’t move to get out of bed. I had set out an outfit the night before, but became very indecisive about layers. It was 24, sunny and snowing! What an amazing morning.

Once ready I went and sat in the doorway of my building just watching the snow. So pretty. As I got into Sara’s car we were both still giddy with excitement over getting to run in the snow. When we got to the park there was one other car and only two sets of tracks on the path. It was just an amazingly beautiful morning to be out running. We ran south by Lake Michigan and as the sun came out once the snow stopped it was even more beautiful. We had to slow our pace so as to not slide and injure ourselves, but it didn’t matter. I wish I had lots more pictures from the run, but well then, I wouldn’t have gotten such a good run in.

I love snow running. And to do an unofficial half in the snow was a perfect Saturday morning. We rewarded ourselves with eggnog lattes, which was a brilliant idea. Once again, thank you to Sara for a great run. I’m looking forward to surviving winter in Wisconsin together.


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Why am I afraid of the Dark?

13 12 2011

The cold doesn’t bother me. You just put more layers on. People may think I’m crazy, but I run outside until it’s close to zero degrees. I have tights that have a wind layer. I have mittens that are too warm until it is under 20 degrees and even then if it’s a long run I switch to my lighter gloves 6 or so miles in. I have more cold weather running tops than I care to admit. I know how to layer. I have been doing it my whole life. It’s no different than staying warm while out snowboarding all day. The cold, not a problem.

The no daylight. This is a problem. I seemed to have developed a fear of running in the dark. I have no idea where this game from. I have been running in the dark for years. My fear isn’t there when I run with Sara or a group. It is there when I am supposed to run alone. Monday night I was planning on running outside after work. It was 43 degrees so I figured even after the sun went down it wouldn’t be cold. Instead of changing into my running clothes at work and driving to the park I turned left and went to the gym. I HATE the treadmill. Why on earth did I choose running on the treadmill.

And then Tuesday morning I am able to get out of bed at 5:00am, put on my layers, and pound out our 5.5 mile run. I have Sara with me on that loop. I would never ever run that part of the trail in the dark by myself. Maybe it was the years living in a bigger city, maybe it is the years living in the country, who knows? But really, I need to not be afraid of the dark. I can’t run with Sara for every run. I ran by myself last winter. What happened? There was no bad experience that happened between last winter and now. I just became a wuss. I don’t run with headphones outside in general and would never ever do it at night. I started that years ago. I have a headlamp. I have a reflective vest.

Do you run outside in the dark? How do you make yourself feel comfortable? Any advice to help me get over my completely irrational fear? I can’t take a whole winter of running on the treadmill or sitting on my ass.

Help save me from myself.


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