Simple Little Kind of Free

This morning I happily awoke to slightly more than 2 inches of new snow. Although I'm down my usual workout partner I always have my faithful backup of the four legged variety. After passing most of the morning grumbling about all my sore muscles from yesterday's run we geared up for snow and headed out for a cross country trek.

Conditions were less than ideal for me and my skis but for Boomer they were absolutely perfect. I decided to keep him leashed for the first section along the road for his safety but as soon as we turned away I set him loose. Rarely do you see such joy as in an animal running free, I think Boom was channeling his inner greyhound today as he went flying ahead of me and charging back. Lucky for me he never goes too far and almost always comes back once I call, only occasionally taking the scenic route.

After our last run when we were chased down by a rottie, I have been a little reluctant to take Boomer along. At least I know I can scream loud enough to elicit help. Lucky for us even though the dog nipped at him a few times and I had to pick him up over my head, the neighbors helped us escape shaken but unharmed. It would be nice not to have to worry about these things, but if it's a choice between my dog's health/ happiness and the occasional mishap I guess it's better to take your chances. Although if I have to, I might buy dog repellent spray to carry with me for our own safety. As much as I hate the idea of ever harming an animal, I would have gone down fighting that rottie if it had attacked any worse than it did. I'm crossing my fingers it never happens again!

Listening to: Born to Run/ Bruce Springsteen

This One's for the Girls

I dragged my sleepy self from a nice warm bed this morning to brave winter winds and the cold hard pavement. I met the Tri group at the Y despite my reservations that I wouldn't be able to keep up. My last run was about 2 weeks ago at the college with Angela, I didn't make it much more than a mile and had to walk on and off more than usual. It's easy to get discouraged with running, too many bad days that leave you questioning your capability and then seemingly random good days that have you guessing what exactly it is that contributes to those vast differences.

Today was a little of both. First off I'll mention that our group today consisted of three very active men and then me... Luckily for me they did one of their easy runs so that I could attempt to keep up. I did manage to keep up for almost two miles, slightly out of breath. Before hitting the two mile mark however a problem that I've been having for awhile attacked with vengeance... lately when I run, about 10 minutes in I get cramps so bad I can barely move, feel like puking and sometimes find it hard to breathe. And by cramps I don't mean in my legs : ) The only way to get through it is to stop and breathe deeply for about 3 minutes while attempting to walk and not immediately fall to the ground in the fetal position (yes it hurts that bad). So not the kind of thing you want to happen when running with a bunch of guys. I pulled the girl card though, I would rather do that than puke in front of them. The good thing about the whole debacle is that directly after the pain goes away I can run all day without having another symptom. So I decided to try and meet them when they looped back around.

After my brief walk I started jogging, weaving up and down the side streets probably freaking out the neighborhood with my haphazard route that had me circling the same area so much that it's a miracle I didn't make myself dizzy. After awhile I figured I must have missed them or misunderstood the route so I headed back to the YMCA. When I got there I kept going because I felt lame ending my run early so I threw in a bridge loop, as I turned for home I spotted them and met them back at the starting point. So in the end I ran for about as long as they did, I had to walk that one time but I was shocked when I got home, mapped my run and saw that I actually did make it to the 5 mile mark. It's nice to know I still have it in me even in the off season.

Listening to: Charlie Brown/ Coldplay

Spinning my Wheels

It's been awhile, but that's the trouble with the off season... it's too easy to stay off your feet and on your butt. Winter has been mild to make an understatement, we've only managed to hit the mountain with our snowboards once and cross country ski a whopping three times and March is just around the corner. We're really missing our x-country treks and more specifically being able to use them as an excuse not to run. I've discovered winter running is the heartlessly brutal cousin to the humidity riddled bitch that is summertime running. Between the gusting frigid air, frozen face, numb feet, heavy clothing, and overheating and shivering on the same run I could go for a nice toasty warm run.

The silver lining to winter training is that it forces us indoors and into classes like yoga and spinning where we happen upon very helpful people and challenging workouts. Spinning in particular has been keeping us in shape and in the Tri training mind set. Conveniently this class is specific to triathletes so we have been picking up running and cycling tips on a biweekly basis. For some reason during our last class I may have possibly agreed to run tomorrow morning with the the small group of devoted Saturday morning winter swimmer/runners. I'm bypassing the swim for now, at least until I get a few lap sessions in on my own to control that whole gasping for air/drowning thing I do. Unfortunately I think we may have lost most of what we once had as far as running stamina is concerned. I'll report back tomorrow after I get my ass handed to me.

Listening to: The Road/ Frank Turner