What I learned today...

I just posted this as my facebook status, but today I learned that I have nothing to prove to anyone (mostly myself). Just being able to run 13 miles is hardcore. Running it outside in 12 degree weather when you have a perfectly good treadmill in a nice warm spare bedroom is just stupid and all the expensive gear in the world won't stop you from freezing your butt off!

Obviously, my long run sucked. Running-wise it was fine, but I really am a baby when it comes to cold weather. To those people who run in those sub zero temps, I honestly think you are crazy! I woke up and got all my layers on: under armour cold gear (tights and shirt), my nike cold weather turtle neck, reebok wind pants, and Aaron's old Lafayette baseball jacket as a windbreaker (size XL, so yeah, I was a sight to see). I also wore my balaclava and underarmour gloves and carried my 20 oz handheld water bottle. I even heated up the water ahead of time because I didn't want to drink cold water. My legs were still sore from Wednesday's hill workout and my pace run yesterday. I am actually happy about that. It takes alot for me to get sore legs!

The run actually started off ok, and i felt good for most of it. Around the 11-mile mark, I started to get cold. REALLY COLD! I think the wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping, despite the nice, sunny day (at least that's what Tom Clark said this morning). I think if I was only out there for about an hour, I would have felt great. 2 hours (actually 1:53) was too long in these temps. I can only imagine what the wind chill was. By the time I was finished, the water in my water bottle was frozen despite starting with warm water. My braid was frozen solid from the sweat (and it was tucked into my balaclava) and my nostrils were actually starting to freeze! My nose wouldn't stop running and the tissue I had with me (stupid me only brought one tissue) was frozen solid, so I was blowing my nose into a hard clump of paper, hence the frozen nostrils!

I should have ran half the mileage outside and then moved it indoors. For some reason, I feel like I'm not a "hardcore" runner for running indoors. I feel I need to prove that I am a real runner by torturing myself. Honestly, it was just stupid. My balaclava worked well with keeping my face warm, but despite the good reviews, it does get damp from breathing into it. I hate the feeling of dampness on my skin. Uhh...it is the worst feeling! Somehow I ended up at 9:03 pace, which is perfect, if not a little fast, for a long run. I felt like I was working so hard and still going so slow. Every time I would look at my pace, it was fine, but I just felt like I was going so slow. I felt like I was barely lifting up my legs my last two miles and I know I saw a 9:30 in there! I just noticed that this is the exact pace I ran two weeks ago for my 11-miler...very weird!

Yesterday, I was so thrilled with my under armour cold gear. It was about 25 degrees out and snowing, and I was nice and toasty warm! It was a 6-mile pace run and I felt great. I average 8:28 which isn't my marathon pace goal, but with the conditions, it is right where I should be. Yesterday, it snowed in the morning and there was still some icy patches on the sidewalks, so I had to be really careful. Plus, I forgot to turn on the auto-pause on my garmin, so the clock was running even when I was stopped for traffic lights. I didn't wear the balaclava, only a knit hat and it was perfect. I only wore the cold gear and wind pants and a nike half zip cold weather shirt, and like I said, I felt great!

I ended up with 31 miles, which is the highest mileage I have run since November. I am actually looking forward to cranking up the mileage. I am paying attention to my weight this time around because I think I actually gain a pound or two when I am running high mileage, so I want to see if that is true.

Week 5 is finally starting to get a little hard. Here is the schedule:

Monday: 3 miles (I am going to be sad when I lose these 3-milers)
Tuesday: 7 miles
Wednesday: 35 min. tempo (prob 4.5/5 miles)
Friday: 7 miles (not pace)
Saturday: 14 miles