A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Dear Deer



For the first time in months and months I didn't have anywhere to be on Saturday. Instead, I was able to sleep in and run at my leisure. And I totally took advantage of it!

Except, when I did get up and look outside the weather was horrific. Cold, windy and doing a combination of snow and rain. Ugh. I really, really didn't want to run in that. In fact, I started kicking myself for not squeezing in my long run on Friday after work. Friday was so gorgeous! But Saturday, the first day of spring, winter returned with a vengeance.

My husband told me I had three choices: suck it up and run outside, run on the treadmill, or not run at all. I knew Option C was not really an option. This time last year Option B would definitely have been my first choice. But this year? I've managed to avoid the treadmill for all of my long runs so I decided to suck it up and run outside.

I also decided that I would drive to the bike path so that I would be sheltered by trees. Also, for some reason 9 miles on the bike path goes so much faster than 9 miles on the roads. In fact, Saturday's run went so quickly I had a difficult time believing I'd really run 9 miles. And I didn't do it significantly faster, either. This Saturday's 9 miler was only thirteen seconds faster than last Saturday's 9. But something about that bike path just makes the time go by so quickly.

Maybe it's the deer. I saw five of them on my run! Three crossed the path in front of me and I ran within feet of the other two standing in the trees off to the side. I love seeing deer. Every time I go out to the path I hope I'll see some. Saturday did not disappoint!

I also saw several other runners. I wasn't the only crazy person braving the wind and the snow flurries. Actually, the snow wasn't really that bad once I got out there. I wasn't even that wet at the end. Of course, some of that might have been because I wore my Westchester VeteRUN 10K jacket. It's more like a sail than a jacket but, hey, that's extra resistance training!

Overall this run felt really good. I was even able to run under race pace for the last mile. After the run, though, I felt totally wiped out. I think the combination of fighting the weather, running hard, and being cold really took a toll on me. Thank goodness we had plenty of Thai food leftovers for dinner!

*************************


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:622 ft
Location:Brookfield, ILElev. Gain:+4 ft
Date:03/20/10Up/Downhill: [+246/-242]
Time:12:18 PMDifficulty:3.6 / 5.0
 
Weather:Light Snow Fog/Mist
 33 F temp; 88% humidity
 33 F heat index; winds NE 20 G 29
Performance

Distance: 9.00 miles
Time:1:28:40
Speed:6.1 mph
Pace:9' 51 /mi
Calories:1074
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
110' 03+0' 126.0-0.1-7 ft
210' 25+0' 345.8-0.3+17 ft
310' 13+0' 225.9-0.20 ft
410' 53+1' 025.5-0.6-4 ft
59' 45-0' 066.2+0.10 ft
69' 45-0' 066.2+0.1+6 ft
79' 52+0' 016.1-0.0-10 ft
89' 55+0' 046.0-0.0-10 ft
end8' 54-0' 576.7+0.6+10 ft
Versus average of 9' 51 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

5 comments:

Oz Runner said...

nice job getting the run in despite the yucky weather....snow doesn't bother me as much as wind or rain....i can't believe it's spring either, it sure isn't acting like it...

Anne said...

Congrats on getting out there and doing your run. The weather over here is pretty similar, icky wet snow...irony of spring!
How cool that you get to see deer when you run :)

Bayjb said...

Wow I love that you went out in that weather to run. I was out because of family in town and it wasn't awful but wasn't fun. I would think running in it would have been more enjoyable.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE seeing deer - they are so peaceful! And it's a lot less scary to see them on foot than when you're in a car. :-)

That is awesome that you made it outside, despite the crappy weather. I think when you can talk yourself into doing that, those runs are more rewarding than the 65 degree "perfect" weather runs! Not as enjoyable, maybe, but definitely more rewarding!

kilax said...

I wonder why the path runs seem to go by faster. Maybe because you can zone out a bit more? You don't have to be as worried about cars... I sometimes find myself zoning out more in parks. I love to see deer and wildlife too! I often run at that park where we ran our AWESOME 5K last August, and I have seen turtles, otters, deer, ducks, fish, CRAZY ATTACK BIRDS, and everything there! :) I can't wait to try more trails this year. Just the bathroom issue... yeah.

And hooray for staying off of the evil treadmill! Seriously. What were we thinking last year?

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