Take It Outside

This morning as I opened the door to take H out to the bus stop, I slammed it shut again when I thought for a fleeting moment that an intruder was trying to shoulder his way in. Rational thought took over and I realized that Old Mr. Wind had decided to visit us today. Other than Wizard of Oz gale forces, I was thinking to myself as we made our way down the street that it was beautiful running weather, much like an early Spring or Late Fall day instead of the dead of winter that it is.

My neighbor, who is running a marathon next month on a whim (and will do really well) because that's just how he rolls, remarked that there's a flood warning today in addition to aforementioned winds 'or else it would be the perfect day for a run.'

As luck would have it, I have four on the schedule for today in anticipation of my first 6 miler since Barber to Boise in October. Now, I have the dilemma of tucking my tail and heading to the dreadmill, or just waiting until J (my husband) gets home so I can enjoy the outdoor run I've been looking forward to since yesterday. Even though the marathon is in June, I'm a big fan of getting used to running in whatever Mother Nature brings so that it's not as big a deal on race day, so I guess I've answered my own question and will be braving the elements.

On Tuesday, J and I took baby Charlie up to the summit to break in our new snow shoes. Turns out old Char isn't a huge fan of winter-time, or of being cold. The parking lot was windy to the nth degree, and my hands felt like ice-pops by the time I got done figuring out the bindings and shoving my hands into the puffy warmth of my new gloves. After a brief episode about fifteen minutes in where I thought bamboo shoots were being rammed under my fingernails causing a sensation of vomitus immediatus, I warmed up, kept moving along and an hour later we were at the truck loading back in. My butt muscles are still feeling the slightly duck-footed stance I adopted, and I only fell on my face twice, so I'm calling it a success. We made it home and within ten minutes I was laced up and out the door for my scheduled run. At the end of the day I was tired with a capital T, but it's so much better than the sloggy feeling of exhaustion that comes from a day of doing a whole lotta nothin'.

Friday's cross-training (after a visit to Helga the Hotwaxer for my waxapalooza) will be taking me to the pool, where I'll revisit Sunday's performance with another laminated workout card from my bag of tricks courtesy of the lovely Ms Pam. Saturday you'll find me on the road, rain or shine, for a glorious six. How are you rounding out your running week?