Okay. I didn’t have any melt downs today…but I am sooooo sick of this cold weather. I even saw flurries on my way to taking the kids to school today. And the wind…the nasty wind just won’t let up.
Anyway, no moaning and groaning on the bedroom floor. This time I made it outside without any histrionics.
For the past week I have been figuring out how I’m going to drink and fuel while running these longer and longer training runs. I have a few different hydration options; an amphipod belt, a waist and backpack pack from Camelback as well as the simple water bottle that I could carry or leave by the side of the road as I run loops in my neighborhood. I have worn them all for long runs, and I have found fault with each of them at different times for different reasons. I spent the last few days reading reviews and imagining what it would be like running with a vest pack or something similar. Then I looked at the prices…over $100. Yikes. I was sure that I could give the products I already owned another shot.
So, I found my Camelback waist pack, which is probably about 8 years old, and cleaned it out. Thankfully I received my box of Honey Stinger gel packs in the mail yesterday, so I was good to go.
Wearing tights and 2 top layers, my iPod shuffle, my hydration pack filled with water and 4 gels, I made it outside in the cold, windy weather. I guess I should be grateful that we didn’t get snow (like Cap Cod did).
After all of that, I felt really good on the run. It was a good workout where I had to keep a pace for 6 minutes with a 3 minute easy run, three times. Then a 12 minute steady pace followed by a cool down as I headed home. I ran 8 3/4 miles in 80 minutes. The sun didn’t come out once, and while I warmed up significantly, the wind was pretty brutal, especially for March.
I’m going to remember this cold and try to channel it when I’m running in hot, humid, sunny conditions in July. In the meantime, a little warmth wouldn’t be so terrible…pretty please!