14 Cold, Snowy Miles

Training last week was rough.

Monday: 5 miles

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday & Thursday: 0 miles (excuse: fever)

Friday: 0 miles (excuse: crazy wind chill)

Saturday: 4 treadmill miles

Sunday: 14 miles

Beginning Saturday night we were under a level two snow emergency. We woke up to more snow, still falling, and a sub-zero wind chill. Still, we were determined to get out for 14 miles. The original plan was to run four miles to our friends, six with them, then four back to home.

We struggled to get out of the house, not because of the weather but because of the stuff we had to do to *prepare* for the weather. You know, find and put on all of our layers, fiddle with busted YakTrax (both of us had one break during the 12-miler the week prior), eat a snack, fill the water bottle, and put on watches, gloves, and mittens. It's a process much like preparing to go deep sea diving. That resulted in taking a 2.5 mile route to our friends instead of the planned four.

The weather wasn't bad, save for the periodic low visibility in blizzard conditions. That also kept traffic at a minimum, so we had free range of the entire road much of the way. At least, until we were on our way home for the last 5.5 miles.

At eight and a half miles It got really, *really* cold. Poor Joe at one point couldn't hold the water anymore because his fingers were too cold, even in gloves. Not long after that my thumbs were cold and stinging and I was actually concerned about frostbite. We stopped so that I could try to warm them up and Joe, being the problem-solver he is, told me to just put my thumbs with my other fingers in the big part of the mittens.

Because it was still snowing, most people and businesses hadn't cleared their sidewalks yet. The church crowd had hit the roads eventually so we had less space and usually no discernible shoulders to run. Most drivers were really considerate, moving over to give us a lot of space and even waving and smiling. One driver of a minivan was deserving of a rock through the windshield, though. He didn't move over, didn't slow down, AND lay on the horn while making an angry face. Seriously?

A few minutes later, after trudging through ankle-deep snow on the sidewalk, Joe's YakTrax were jacked up again. He took off his gloves to adjust them and his hands were red. I gave him the top layer of my mittens (Dumb & Dumber, anyone?) to wear over his gloves, which I guess warmed up his hands significantly.

We ran through some more deep snow on sidewalks. A few times I had to stop to peel clumps of ice off of the bottom of my tights. No, not frost or a little bit of snow--clumps. CLUMPS of ice were built up at my ankles. It sucked.

It was slow (10:08/mile). It was cold. It was snowy. Some drivers were asswipes. But we made it through 14 miles. Treadmills are for the weak. Also, they're for the smart people who want to avoid all of that bullshit.