Winter Running

I’m embarrassed.

I’m from Iowa.

That’s not why I’m embarrassed.

I’ve been living in California for the last 20 years and I am now a total wimp when it comes to the cold.  There was a day in college when us Iowans were thrilled because the temperature was up to 45 degrees! Half the campus grabbed bottles of baby oil and laid out on the hill overlooking the pond to ......sunbathe!!!

I’m not kidding. It was the first ‘nice’ day in six months and we thought it was hot out!

Now if the temperature drops below 60 I only want to crawl under a thick blanket on the couch and watch re-runs of Drop Dead Diva. 

So when I needed to go for a ‘run’ in the COLD RAIN on Sunday, I caught myself whimpering.

My Iowan friends would be so ashamed! They would’ve said, “What is WRONG with you! It’s gorgeous out! Let’s go!” And they would’ve ran outside in their shorts and t-shirt. Crazy Iowans!

I can always spot a tourist from back East in the winter time. Not because they have a camera around their neck. But because they are the only ones in tank tops and shorts with their winter white legs glaring at us.

I envy them.

I wish I felt the same about sub 60 degree weather. It would be so easy to get my runs in if I were like my friends back East.

But no. I have to cajole, manipulate and trick myself into getting out there.

So first I had to convince myself I had the right clothes. I had winter running clothes. So no problems. But then I couldn’t find my fleece lined running tights. Oh no! I’ll be way too cold if I wear unlined leggings!!

Well, I have a warm long sleeve running top and I’ll wear my cool Nike Women’s Marathon rain jacket to keep me dry. Then I decided I should cover my head. Even though the sun wasn’t out, covering my head will keep me from getting wet and will keep my core temperature up.

So I told myself, I’ll wear my NWM’s “Finisher” running hat. (A Christmas present no less). That way as cars drove by and wondered why the hell I was out there on a cold rainy day, they could see the bright pink “F-I-N-I-S-H-E-R” and know: “Ah ha!” They’d think to themselves. “She’s one of those crazy people! .... Nutbar!” Then they’d drive to their nice warm house.

So my self-badgering worked and I hit the pavement. Because, unlike Nike will have you believe, it’s not about “Just Do[ing] It”; it’s about doing it even when it’s hard.

You  may understand the need for this internal struggle in order to complete an hour-long running session in such ‘tough’ conditions. But this was for a short warm up which would last 20 mintues....top.

I’m a wimp.

I’m embarrassed.

Happy New Year!

If you have been reading my blog you know my husband fueled my running interest by getting me a Nikesport band for my birthday a couple years ago. It really opened up running for me. It was such a great motivator. You can set a goal (you racing against yourself) or join a challenge (you racing against other runners on the Nike site). Soon running just became fun! Then it became a necessity.

My husband also started running. He used a Garmin to track his running. I liked the extra features the Garmin had so I got one too. So I joked about having two tracking devices. (One on each wrist). What a dork!

Well, Kris expressed interest in having a Nike sportband this Christmas. So of course Santa brought him one. :) So now he's a dork too! :)

He got on the Nike site and found the Challenges. He signed up for the 210 in 2010 challenge. All the runners who sign up for this challenge strives to complete 210 miles in 2010. No problem. That is only 4 miles a week! Seriously, that is a breeze now. So I signed up!

Then Kris found the 500 challenge. This challenge is to complete 500 miles in 2010. Wow! How cool would that be to say you ran 500 miles in a year! 500 sounds like a lot! Let's do the math: 52 weeks in a year into 500 is 9.6153846153846153846153846153846 miles per week. That's less than 10 miles a week.

THAT IS TOTALLY DOABLE!!!

So I signed up!

So, I figured out that if I run 2- 5Ks during the week (which is about what I do already) and a 10k on the weekend, (which I haven't been doing) I could get in 500 in a year and even have a little wiggle room for a couple missed runs. Sounds good.

Right now I am meeting two nights a week with a trainer at the gym. In March when the time changes I'll be riding two nights a week and long rides on the weekend. I was off my bike most of last season due to an injury and I just got a new bike. So I don't want to miss riding again this season. I wonder if I can keep up with the running goals and the riding. I am already prepared to drop the trainer appointments because I know something has to give when I add the riding.

But I am really hoping I can keep up running and riding at the same time. I thought I might do another century this year. But wonder if maybe I should focus on one large goal at a time.

So far this year I am on target to make my 500 mile goal. But it's only Jan 4th. Stay tuned to see how I do. Who knows, maybe I'll even beat Kris to the 500 mile mark!!! Wish me luck! :)

PS. We found another challenge "2010 in 2010". Challengers run 2010 miles in 2010. I'd like to see who wins that one!