I Skipped A Run

(Please note: I THOUGHT I posted this last night, but it turns out, I forgot to hit the “Publish” button!)

Actually, I skipped two. It may not sound like a big deal, but in 10 weeks of training five days a week, I have not skipped a run. I did postpone a run until the evening once, and another one I cut short by half a mile because I ran out of time. But other than that, I have kept my training plan perfectly.

That is, until Monday, when I finally decided I needed a break. But first, before talking about Monday, I should back up and tell you about last Friday. This intermediate marathon training program has me doing moderately long runs the day before a long run, and sometimes it has to be done at pace. My marathon pace is 11:04, which shouldn’t sound like much, but these days, with all the ice and snow and wind, it has been a struggle. And then, to boot, I woke up Friday morning to this:

Seriously? That made day number five running in subzero temperatures this season. But I was determined, and I woke up, put on all my gear, and then out the door I went.  There was no wind, and you know that makes a big difference. For the first five or so miles it actually wasn’t too bad. Don’t get me wrong, it was cold, but I had my thick gloves and all my warm gear, and I didn’t do too bad. The biggest challenge, like usual, was my runny nose. My nose won’t stop running in the cold, and it’s hard to blow it with my warm gloves. I went about the first four or so miles with trying to blow it while wearing the gloves, but then my fingers were getting warmer, because I was running and heating up obviously, so I started taking my gloves off to blow my nose. Big mistake. My hands started to get cold, and by the time I got to mile 6 1/2, my fingers were absolutely numb. By this time, I would discover when I got home that it was down to -5. Even though I didn’t know exactly what the temperature was, I knew it was frigid. I was really getting worried about my fingers, so I determined that I would just stop blowing my nose.

So, for the last mile and a half, I just let it run, and it sure did. I couldn’t handle not being able to breathe with all the mucous plugging my nostrils, so I started blowing into my face mask. Besides being disgusting, that just served to get my facemask all wet, and then it became like a wet blanket on my face every time I breathed in, suffocating me. For that last three quarters of a mile, I would’ve given just about anything to have somebody drive by and pick me up and take me home. Nobody did, and somehow, I made it all the way back, pissing and moaning and the whole way. My fingers had warmed up just a bit by this time, enough for me to take off my gloves and snapped this very quick picture before I went inside to get ready.

It just looks miserable, doesn’t it? It was!!

I had mentioned during one of my previous subzero runs that I had had a bit of a dizzy spell after I got out of the shower, which my husband later told me was due to the fact that I hadn’t let my body warm up before hitting it with the hot water from the shower. As much as I wanted to give myself another 15 minute break, I just didn’t have the time, in order for me to get the kids on the bus and get myself to work on time. So I got the kids out of bed, fixed their breakfast quickly, and then hopped in a hot shower. The hot water felt good for a few seconds, but unfortunately, this time I didn’t even make it out of the shower before I started feeling dizzy. I had conditioner in my hair when it started, and it was everything I could do to stay upright and rinse my hair before turning off the water, grabbing a couple of towels, and heading straight for the living room couch. Normally, my older son is on the couch eating breakfast, but he had gotten up, and I didn’t hesitate to take his spot. I had one towel wrapped around my body, and another one attempting to cover my hair, but I was still freezing. The poor kids were so worried about me, they didn’t know what to do. At that point, I told them they had to finish getting themselves ready and making their own lunches, because I was just not capable. I also made the youngest one grab me two more blankets. They know how to make their own lunch, so it wasn’t a big deal, but I did feel bad for scaring them. Eventually, the dizziness past, and I was able to get up and make sure they got on the bus in one piece.  But I definitely learned my lesson that time!

The next morning, I got up to do a 17-miler, and once again, the thermometer was against me.

I actually started to do a big 17-mile route around my neighborhood, but about a mile in, I realized I had forgotten both my energy gel and my water bottles. There was no way I could do a 17-mile run without you fuel and hydration, so after a moment of indecision, I turned around and went back home. At that point, I decided to change my route, and instead make it a series of out-and-backs around my house. I had a couple of loops that I could do that would allow me to be back at my house every 3 to 4 miles, and considering what it happened the day before, I just didn’t feel like I wanted to be too far from home when it was so cold.

It wasn’t very exciting, but I did it. Although it was cold, the roads were finally clear, and it was definitely sunny. The sun helped warm things up quite a bit.

It took me a little over three hours, and by the time I was done, the temperature had risen about 22°! In addition, I was surprised to discover I had not one but two new records!

These are records according to my new watch, of course. I expected the new longest run, since I hadn’t run farther than 15 miles with this watch previously, but I was amused at the fact that this was my fastest “half.” I had actually run 13.1 miles three times before that with the watch, but it just so happens that every one of those runs was during a snowstorm.  It’s pretty sad that my fastest run was the one where I stopped at my house every 3 miles. 😉

I burned a whole bunch of calories, of course, and I enjoyed a nice dinner at our school auction that night. I am one of the chair people for the auction, so I had a lot of work to do, and unfortunately ended up spending most of the night on my feet.  It’s been a while since my flat feet have hurt that much; not since I used to weigh about 40 pounds more! I woke up the next day very tired, and unfortunately, with some sort of chest cough that was not pleasant. I almost didn’t go to church or to JJ’s hockey game, but I trudged through. By the time Sunday night rolled around, I was beat, and when the alarm went off at 4 AM on Monday morning, for the first time in 10 weeks, I said “screw it.” I skipped my 8-mile run, but I felt surprisingly at peace with it. I never like to skip the Monday runs, because I like the fact that I run before weighing myself, which you know always helps. Yes, it’s a temporary weight-loss, but I like it. 😉 I weighed myself anyway, and was only moderately disappointed.

That’s up .8 from the prior week, but since I was down 3.4 pounds from the prior month when I weighed in at weight watchers the previous week, I’m not too upset. I even skipped Tuesday’s 5-mile run, although that one was a little harder to justify for the rest of the day. :/ The guilt kept eating at me, and by the time Wednesday morning rolled around, I was ready to run again. Unfortunately, mother nature was not very cooperative, having deposited about a 10th of an inch of ice the day before. 🙁 I hate running on the treadmill, but I did it, and I did feel better because of it.

I had yet ANOTHER 8 miles at subzero this morning (-2, WTF?! It’s March 6th!!), and then I’ll have a whopping 18 miles tomorrow. And of course there’s a hockey tournament! We’ll see if I get enthusiastic enough to run to the first game. Hey, don’t laugh, I’ve done it before! 🙂

I hope you enjoy this rather long post. It will have to get you through the next couple of weeks, because we are once again drawing close to the end of the hockey season, when I spend all my spare time (and then some) working on the two DVDs for my sons’ teams.    Please wish me luck. Considering I’m also starting a new job next Monday, I’m going to need all the luck I can get! 😉

Thank you so much for reading! I’ll be back, I promise!