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| Well, I wasn’t wearing shorts but this was how I felt starting off! (source) |
Yesterday, I ran against the wind. I woke up to see pretty little snowflakes dancing outside my window. How quaint. NOT. If I never saw snow again, I’d be okay. Maybe in a Christmas movie but no need for snow in real life. I think I was meant to live in Florida.
But it was Saturday — long run day! I have a love/hate relationship with such. Lately, I’ve not been training for anything but still trying to get 10 miles in on Saturdays to keep up my running levels. Rick was going to the gym and I felt like ditching the cold in favor of a nice & toasty treadmill.
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| SO true for me. How ’bout you? |
Two reasons held me back: 1) I knew I would only do 7 miles tops if I succumbed to the tread. 2) Mizuno just sent me some awesome new winter running gear that I was dying to wear.
You have to understand something. I’m a runner who really never had “gear” until the past year.
I ran in sweat pants and pulled hoodies over my freezing cold knuckles. I wore those cotton cheerleading shorts from Kohls to run in (thus, many unnecessary bouts of inner thigh chafing). I complained about sports burn rub and came away with a sports bra encrusted tattoo around my upper body with no idea what to do about (um, Body Glide exists Ericka!).
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| Best running gear ever invented? Maybe! |
Since last year, I got serious about running gear:
- I bought real running shorts — with the built in undies.
- I started using body glide faithfully, I got two pairs of running gloves (one lightweight, one not).
- I purchased UnderArmour dry fit tanks.
- With a beloved Lululemon gift certificate, I bought a not-so-cheap running jacket with built in hand warmers!
- I finally took shoes seriously and bought my first pair of Mizunos (will NEVER go back!).
- I even bought some of those insanely tight but necessary running tights.
- Most recently: Saucony arm warmers, Nike ear warmers and a knee brace.
Oh yeah, running, it’s ON. So when the lovely peeps at Mizuno offered to send me some gear for the DC Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon, I was pumped (slightly more than a normal person.) Yesterday was toooo cold to wear the Mizuno Exodus 3/4 pants so I opted for the pink & black zip up and couldn’t wait to bust out a long run in it. It was settled, I HAD to run outside if for this reason only.
I loaded up my ipod with the latest playlist and took off in the deceivingly warm looking sunshine. Oooh, it was cold. Then, the wind hit. Like so hard that I felt like I was running in virtual molasses. Kind of like running in place, really. Anyone been there? Yeah, but I kept on. I was using RunKeeper on my iphone to keep track of pace, etc. and figured this wind was putting me at like an 11-minute mile.
Luckily, after about two miles, I got out of the wind and onto my favorite trail. I actually didn’t know how far I was going to run. I have been running for so many years tracking mileage by time that I was excited to see just how far this one particular route was. I brought with me Double Latte Power Bar Gu (kind of good but on the fence) and planned top stop at Starbucks for a water break.
I really just wanted to finish by the end because I had little time to shower and leave for an event. It was such a beautiful, cold morning that once you are into the run it’s kind of glorious by the water. I sprinted till I thought I would throw up near the end (good feeling, weird, I know) and ended up with 11.3 miles in 1:45. Yay! Saturday long run success!
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