It has been so brutally cold lately. I think it actually warmed up for my run today and might've hit 30 degrees. It's so, so hard to get out there alone and run in that. I was laying in bed trying to talk myself out of it. Instead, I thought about where I was at 2 years ago. I was in a hospital bed, in pain, not sleeping and depressed. I took pain medication when I could and it was as much for depression as the actual pain.
I try not to think about that time too often, but it does help if I need motivation. Sometimes, I forget how lucky I am to be able to be healthy and run. I need to take advantage of it while I can. After thinking about 2 years ago, I popped right out of bed, got changed and headed for the door.
I don't want to mess around with uneven surfaces, so I played it safe and headed to Riverview again. I am starting to get sick of this route by now, but at least I know it is clear. I was hoping I could run 12 miles, but even 10 would've been fine.
I started off heading toward Easton as usual. It was a slow start as the body warmed up. I had on my fleece vest to go along with the usual running gear. Actually, heading in this direction, the wind must've been at my back. It was warm and my headband came off quickly.
I cruised along at a comfortable pace. I tried to focus on how lucky I am to run and that helped a little. I still wasn't enjoying the conditions and after a busy week, my body wasn't feeling all that great either. The top of my foot bothered me early on, until I was able to adjust to running. The legs were only mildly sore, but they weren't sharp.
I headed out to Easton and came through the same route as the last few days. I wanted more mileage this time, so I decided to keep going past the amphitheater. I continued toward the arts trail. I looped around a building and turned around when I hit 4 miles. I figured that getting 8 miles done on this segment would be good enough.
Then, not long after that, I got to a hill that leads to Lafayette College. I thought, why not run up it. I went up and it was a little tough. It was slow though and actually not as bad as I thought it might be. It had a nice view from the top onto downtown Easton.
I came back down and started to feel some wind. It was nice to get a little extra distance in before heading back. It was difficult when I hit miles 5 and 6 and realized that I still had half of the run left.
I plugged away at it. I just tried to focus on the next mile or two. The legs weren't enjoying in though. Around mile 7, my IT band started acting up. I have to make sure to be cautious with that. At least I've had problems in the past, so I know my limit when it comes to that.
I got back to Riverview at 8.6 miles. I knew I had to head in the other direction. I had been going into a headwind and couldn't wait to turn around. Unfortunately, I still had over a mile to go until that point.
The section between Riverview and the Boat Launch was much more clear than when Emily and I ran it yesterday morning. However, it still had plenty of icy spots and I had to be cautious. It seemed like forever until I got to my turn around point. I wanted it to be mile 10.3, but it was getting too icy, so I turned around at 9.95.
I headed back and it was still a slow go. I was struggling and trying to focus on small increments. The legs were dieing. I was thrilled to finally get to mile 11 and only have 1 more mile to go. I did a short out and back at one point to get some more distance. It wound up being perfect as right at the end of the path, I hit mile 12.
It was a tough run and tough to get started, but it was rewarding to be done. I needed the mileage. I'm now at 58 miles for the week. I'm running the Christmas City Classic tomorrow. That's a 5 miler, so I need 7 other miles as well. It could be tricky because we are supposed to get hammered with snow. It's cool because I ran that race back in 1999. There aren't many races that are still around from then. With the weather being crappy, I probably won't run all out. It should be a hard workout though.
12 miles - 1:40:22 (8:22 pace)
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