Saturday, January 19, 2008

Brisk 10 Miles



This was on my way out the door for my 10 miler this morning. It was a wee bit chilly this morning so I bundled up pretty good with a tech t, long sleeved tech t, turtle neck, and fleece pullover, and with long johns under my nylon, lined running pants. It was 16F with a wind chill of 2F when I headed out. It really wasn't that bad starting out. I went north on Lewis and was going to head west on Erie, but the blasted 18 mph wind was out of the west and I was not going to battle that in these frigid of temps. So, I continued on up to M151 and turned around heading back south on Lewis and into Lewiston Estates where I made my way to Sterns. I was really getting gased and wondering where this elusive "runner's high" was and when the endorphins would kick in at this point and just before mile 6 had to stop and walk, so I took this opportunity to down a Shot Block to try and help out my fatigue. I looped my way through the subdivision over to Jackman Road and back to Lewis for the home stretch. The last mile seemed like 10. It was a tough run and the only "runner's high" I had was at the finish of it. So, here I am coming in from my run with a bit of frostiness notable on my hat and forehead and my upper lip as numb as the dentist has ever gotten it. :-)

5 comments:

Mar said...

wow. I'm amazed you made it to 10. I never would have. And you were hoping it wouldn't be windy!! :(

I can *really* see the frost on your hat! Your poor face.

When I headed out yesterday in my toasty 35-37 degree temps, I told Todd I'd be back in 42 mins and then I was going to have a nice long soak to take the chill off. When I get home, I'm standing in the foyer and I can hear the water running upstairs. I think to myself, awww he's started the bath water for me!!! Um, no. He waited until I was gone 39 mins and got in the HOT shower. GRRR! So I, quite naturally, went upstairs and in my most sarcastic tone said "What part of "I'm gonna go run and then come home for a nice soak" didn't I make clear?" Then I immediately felt bad for being such a smartass and I apologized.

But I was soooooo looking forward to a nice, hot soak after such a freezing cold run.

And if you ask why didn't I just turn on the water in the tub and fill it up, there's a reason for that. There's a certain balance of hot/lukewarm water that makes a soak *perfect*. Any deviation from that perfect balance and the water is far too cold to get a lobster like shade of red on my skin. Thereby ruining said soak. Yes, I'm anal about certain things (my husband would be laughing his head off if he were reading things saying "Just CERTAIN things?!") but that's just how my head works:)

Good grief that was a long response to a numb upper lip and high winds...teach you to give me the link to your blog!:)

Tim Wilson said...

Wow, and you said that I needed to enter a tough man contest if I kept up what I did?. I guess this means that you too will be entered - but you will beat me?

Way to go!

The coldest weather I have run in was 18 degrees, I ran 5 miles, and then on my walk back to the house noticed that my mustache was frozen solid.

It is amazing, how invigorating it is even though at the time, painful, huh?

mar - I would have done the same thing for my wife :)

Rick said...

Mar, oh I seriously wanted to stop well before 10! The wind wasn't *too* bad most of the time since I wussed out and avoided running into it. The bath story cracked me up cause, after I stretched and logged my run, both Chelsea and Lindsey took showers before me so... no hot water till February now! LOL The bathwater temp requisites cracked me up too *cough, anal retentive, cough*, but I understand, cause I have my *issues* like that as well. I'm happy to see the long response. Heck, it's great that someone just has a response to MY diatribes, inanity, superfluousness, and ambiguity (I'm not sure what all those meant, but I will go look them up now). Anyway, always good to hear from you, Mar, and anyone else for that matter. Comments on my blog are fun, like opening up Christmas presents... unless the comment is a *lump of coal*. :-(

Tim - I'd get my disappearing (thanks to all this marathon training) heiney whooped in a tough man contest! It's only 10 today - not sure what the current wind chill is - and I am very thankful today is a day of REST! I can't imagine how the Packers and Giants will even be able to play at Lambeau this evening! No thanks!

Sara McCarty said...

Great job Rick! I completely feel your pain. Saturday was the coldest it's been here so far this year. It was 6 degrees (with a negative windchill) at 7:00 am for my weekly long run. 12 miles later I really thought my legs were frozen and would shatter with any impact! Not a good feeling! Kudos to us "hard-core" RA runners (you, Marion, etc.) that HTFU'd and got our runs in!! Way to go!!

Rick said...

Oh my gosh, Sara! I can't believe you ran a 12 miler in those brutal temps! That is crazily awesome!! Way to go! I think we have a bit of what you had yesterday in terms of the even colder temps and I am SO glad I have a rest day today cause I don't know if I could hack runnin' in it today! You ROCK girl!