What I am fretting about is the fact that I had to cancel my plans to do the Sunburst Half Marathon today because of the bumbling of the doctors down at the immediate care clinic down the street. It involved a TB test, 2 hours of wait time, and a lot of people who didn't know what the other people who had seen me before them were doing. If you want to read the details, you can read my review of the place on Yelp. What you do need to know is that because of all that, I would have left here at about 6:30 P.M., gotten in to South Bend at about 10:30 EST, and then have to get settled in a hotel and wake up for packet pick-up at 5:30 A.M. for a 7:30 A.M. race....it would have been a complete mess.
So I cancelled and did a 15-mile run here instead. My own mini-more-than-half marathon.
Those were 15 strong miles. I was surprised, considering that yesterday I did 2 miles on some very tired legs. I wanted to do 3, but came back early and then did Cathe's Total Body Tri-Sets workout, which contained so many push-up variations that I woke up with sore shoulders. (Aren't they supposed to work your chest....? Need to work on my form.) Anyway, the run started out looking like it was going to pour down rain and ruin my awesome new Brooks Ravennas:
In fact, I actually met someone walking along that road (which, if you couldn't tell, is pretty rare and kind of freaks me out; they're MY roads, dammit) who warned me I might get wet. I assured him that I've been wet before. (Oh unintentional double entendres!) But not a single drop of rain fell, and I was feeling very good at the 7.5 mile turn-around. As I turned around, I started running right into the wind. Ugh. That'll teach me not to check the wind direction and speed before I do a long run. I've gotten out of the habit now that the weather is warmer. However, even though I was running into some strong winds, I found myself thinking about why long runs at this time of year are better than winter runs:
- I'm not worried about body parts getting frostbite.
- I get to wear tank tops.
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| This is the best I could do since my personal photographer was not at home. But I am wearing a tank top. |
- I can wear my Camelbak on the outside of my clothes because the water won't freeze.
- Icicles don't form on my eyelashes due to the act of breathing.
- I'm only wearing one layer of clothing.
- The loose skin/fat under my triceps can finally fly free and jiggle at will on the run instead of being bound up in a base layer.
- It's easier to help farmers fertilize their fields when you only have one layer of clothing with which to contend.
And speaking of my Camelbak, I am so pleased with that purchase I just want to shout it from the rooftops. It is going to be pretty awesome to train for my fall marathon with that this summer; I'll never have to carry a water bottle or wear a fanny pack every again! Having my hands empty while I run is one of those little things that make this runner overjoyed.
I also purchased a pair of Yurbuds last night because my current running headphones are driving me bonkers. They shift in the wind, don't stay in my ears, and are hard to wear with a hat (I usually run in a hat). So I picked up these suckers whilst trapped in Walmart-land:
Although I found them really tough to put in my ears (because I am lacking fine motor skills, apparently), once I got them in, they were comfy and didn't move at ALL. Not even in the crazy wind. The sound quality was excellent, and they are sweat-proof and waterproof. I think I have found my favorite pair of running headphones yet. However, be forewarned--they are pretty pricey. But I have found that, with running gear, you really are paying for quality (so cough up the cash, cheapos!).
The plan for tomorrow is to run 4 miles and do some biking. This means I will have run 19 miles this weekend...the same distance I will be running in Ragnar Chicago this coming weekend!
I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for my first Friturday of the summer.
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