In my last post, I alluded to my preference to run in the cooler months than during the summer. Truth be told, I love a good winter run. Nothing like pulling on tights, long sleeves, gloves, and a hat, cold shoes, and stepping out into the quiet of a winter morning. Besides, people who only suspected you might be crazy before this now know it to be truth.
I have two funny stories about winter training.
First, we had a fairly big snow the night before, that resulted in our road needing to be plowed. It had been cleared once and I headed out even though there was some residual snow on the ground. On my run, the plow came by again. With nowhere else to go, I had to step off the road and into the pile of snow created by the first pass of the plow. As the guy came slowly down the road, clearly wondering what on earth I was doing out there in the first place, I could feel the pile giving way beneath my feet. About the time he was even with me, I sank hip-deep into the snow back with both feet. I was cracking up. The driver stopped to ask if I was alright, which was nice, but having a three minute conversation while I was buried in snow in skimpy running tights was not the way to keep cold muscles from getting stiff.
Second, while training for my first Flying Pig, circumstances called for me to be working two jobs. I was fitting in training runs at all kinds of odd hours, and on this particular day, I headed out at about 9:00 at night, and in complete darkness. It was a short run that day, only about 3 miles, I think. Again, we had received some snow that had melted and then refroze on the roads. I headed to the safety of my parents' driveway down the road (they live back a long, long paved drive) in order to be off an icy road in the middle of the night. Since it was a short run, I didn't take my phone. About a mile and half into the run, and after having safely navigated a particular treacherous place in the drive once, I came to it a second time. I stopped paying attention just long enough for my feet to fly straight up in the air in front of me and just like that I was laying in the middle of the icy driveway, in the complete dark, on my back. I didn't hit my head, luckily, but I temporarily lost my headlamp. I had actually landed on my hip (now I can't even remember which one) and shoulder, and got the wind knocked out of me. I was about a mile from home, with no phone (big mistake, and the second time I actually made it....more on that one later). I stayed on the ground trying to assess what I had broken for a few minutes, got up and found my lamp, then limped my way through the last mile home. Funny in hindsight, and the first of two pretty nasty falls I have taken while running, and a valuable lesson in choosing your training routes and safety equipment wisely.
Nevertheless, I'll take snow and ice over heat and humidity any day.
On to another goal. It sort of goes hand in hand with running. At the peak of my training, I am hungry pretty much all the time, and since long runs require so much energy, I don't limit what I eat, but I do try to make mostly healthy choices. That said, I am a junk food junkie. If it is candy or ice cream, or soda, I love it. I especially love soda when I don't feel good. And since I've felt pretty rotten for, oh about 35 weeks, I've consumed more soda than I normally would. It's time to kick the habit. It's really not good for me, and it causes me to forgo healthier options. The point is, I've been soda-free for 5 days. I can't say that I feel better, but I don't feel worse, so that's a good thing. I could really go for a cherry coke right about now, though...
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