I hate snow

Sure it starts off pretty, and innocent enough, even cushioning the ground. But that is just day one. By day 4 it has turned into a blocky, slushy, icy brown mess. On day 1 I thought it was fun even as it pelted against my face and gave me frostbite over 30 miles. On day 2 everything was soft and pretty and the cars stayed away. Day 3 it had mostly melted and I ran past a dead body being pulled from Lake Washington. Day 4 it came back and was pretty much a repeat of day 2, except colder, like when you are running on what you think is a road but really turns out to be a gigantic puddle you find out in the middle of it. Day 5 the power was out in my house and we were snowed in, or really I should say iced in. I went out the door, like I always do but then everything was different. I had to cling to the plants in the garden as I walked sideways down the stairs and then slid into the driveway. I could go no further unless I could run 20 miles on my stomach.
Well I am panicked. I mean I have to run everyday, and a lot, no matter what, there's absolutely no excuse I can give that would make it okay otherwise. It is hard and stressful enough having to run 20 miles a day without adding a vast wasteland of frozen rain covered snow on top of it.
My dad managed to bust us out of the house around 1 oclock in the truck and drove me to the gym while he went to work. But he was only going to work for two hours. So I ran 2 hours on the tredmill, trying to get as many miles as I could get in in such a short amount of time. I ended up, because I was so bored, changing the speed every half mile, starting around 7.0 mph and getting up to 8.4 before going back down. So I ran pretty quick since I only did 15 miles, finishing in 1:57, with 3 minutes left over for a shower (I'd forgotten you can sweat while running!) The next morning I had to get up early and go into work with him so I could run again. This time I ran 20 miles in 2 hours and 47 minutes and was not too bored because I brought my notebook and could read it by propping it up on the treadmill while running. This made time fly by because it covers up the mile counter, stopping me from obsessively staring at it as it goes from 0.01 to 0.02, 0.03, all the way to 20.00. I will stare at it if at all possible so best to just cover it up. For some reason reading while running is more distracting than having someone else read to you while running- I don't know why that is. While the treadmill may be insanely boring it is kind to me, unlike mapmyrun which always says I run like 9 minute mile pace, hmph. Maybe I should just stick to the treadmill. I already did 35 miles in less than 24 hours and Joel told me the world record is only like 90 something- that is, the world record for running on a treadmill for 24 hours.
I made it back outdoors on day 7. The snow had melted but only in the middle of the street. Somehow I managed to do my 20 miles without getting run over. Today is day 8 and we have mostly won. The snow is melted in all the street but all the disgusting sludge and every other fowl thing that was once in the street has been pushed onto the shoulder into a huge dirt stick pile because no one actually uses the shoulder of the road do they? And there was still snow putting up a fight along the trail I tried to run on. It had managed to knock down a tree about every quarter mile that I had to crawl under or over, usually on some patch of really slick ice.
Is it sad that when my long run is only 3 and a 1/2 hours I get excited and think of it as a break? I mean less than two hours into it and you're already half way done? Is this my long run or an easy day I can't tell. That might be because I haven't had an easy day since around November.
Even mapmyrun agreed I ran 24 miles ( I had to run a couple extra minutes just to make sure.) It usually only snows once a year so I hope that all traces of it will soon be obliterated. And to all those easter washingtoners and northerners and midwesterners and whereeverelse they're froms that laugh at Seattle and say we don't have "real" snow- you can keep your "real" snow. I'd like to see you run 20 miles a day in it and see how you feel about it.

Procrastination

Sometimes I dread the weekend. Saturday and Sunday are usually the hardest, longest running days of the week and this week was no exception. Work sounds enjoyable compared to 15 mile repeats by yourself in the rain, at least it did to me Saturday morning. On such days I usually spend an hour or two dreading my upcoming run and putting it off for the next couple minutes. This sucks because usually those hours are the worst of the whole day and then by the time I finish it is already time for my second run and then darkness.
This Saturday was the most I have not wanted to run in a long time. I had been feeling pretty motivated since the 30 mile. But not enough to pretend at all that I even wanted to go outside in the pouring drizzle Saturday morning and spend the next 2 and 1/2 hours doing mile repeats on some depressing gray street with only cars for company. As awful as that sounded- doing all that running on top of driving 4 hours round trip to Bellingham to run on a track sounded just as bad. I finally got out the door, wanting to cry as much as the sky was. After doing one mile repeat I felt better because the first one never takes very long and then you are part of the way done already, yipee! maybe this won't be so bad. Then after I do about 4 and it feels like I have done a whole lot it starts to get really depressing when I realize I am only about a 1/4 of the way done. Funny how one can make you feel more done than four but that's just the way it is for me. I still managed to do 15 even though it was the last thing I wanted to do and thought I would die attempting.I was done but still demoralized. I  miss speed workouts. I had to lie on the floor for about an hour on the heating vent because I was too cold to make lunch and by the time I did eat it was almost time for my second run which lets just say went very sickly.
On to Sunday. I finally got new shoes. It had only been about 4 months and 1500+ miles or so. I had forgotten what it felt like to have shoes with sole on the bottom and every pair felt like I was wearing high tops. The running shoe store only had Brooks and New Balance which are not my favorite but oh well. They also didn't offer me a high school discount even though I was with my mom and usually they do. We did however get them for only 14 dollars because of a shoe card we had that says- buy 12 shoes, get one free, or for 14 dollars. My mom had had the card since 06, or as my mom said- "wow, we've had this since you were in high school!" I would correct her but the shoe salesman is watching and he doesn't need to know how old I really am so I say- right. I can be 23, thanks mom. No one needs to know that I graduated high school like 8 and by 8 I mean BILLION years ago! shhh
Then with new shoes I am off to run more miles than I am old. I wonder how many I will be running when I am 30? Better not ask. Well it was snowing. And my run took me four and a half hours. It sounded like something your grandparents were supposed to tell you about, when you complained about walking to the school bus or something. I can picture me as an old person (older than I already am I mean), I used to run 30 miles in the snow, and it was uphill both ways. True story. My grandkids are going to hate me and I will probably still be running 30 miles then.
I have never begun a run a little after noon and finished after dark before and I don't want to again. This is what procrastination gets you, by the time you are done with your work it is almost time to start more work. Well at least I can put it off, for a little while anyway.

I feel like a slacker

I feel like a slacker because I only ran 106 miles last week. I shouldn't feel guilty because it was my easy week after my time trial.
The night of my 30 mile TT I was advised to run more, if I could, but I was pretty positive I wasn't going to be able to. I was very impressed, but also disappointed, to find that I ended up running 25 minutes and walking 35 mixed in. I was impressed because this meant I was in much better shape than I ever have been, happy as this would prove good for me in the 24 hour run, but also a little disappointed because if I could do it it meant I had to. What is wrong with me? Will nothing make me sore anymore?
I was sore but not enough to keep me from running as I had to run 12 miles the next day and that would be my easiest day. It's probably for the best because I felt guilty enough about only 106 miles! I mean there were significant amounts of the day that I wasn't running and I don't normally feel like that! At the 30 mile I finally felt like I can get better and I am. When I don't run a lot I'm slow- it's my natural state. I usually feel like all my training just goes towards fighting that off. But if I have found something that will actually make me better then I will run 160 miles a week. If that's what it takes. I may not want to do it sometimes but I always want to do it in someway. Bring on 2012!