Two posts in one day!

Apparently I have freakishly warm hands when I run. Anytime I try to use gloves they come off soon after running because my hands start sweating. At the same time though, I almost always have on earwarmers, because my ears can't stand the cold.

Over the weekend I thought that I had hit my cold threshold and would have to use gloves (remember, the wind chill was in the single digits at one point). I put some on, and sure enough, after ten minutes I had to take them off.

I guess I'll try again when (if) we get into the negatives. :) Until then, my gloves will stay packed away.

The 39 degree weather this morning felt almost tropical after the frigid temperatures over the weekend! It was another early morning group run, but this time we only went 5 miles. I'm glad too, because I was dragging the whole way. I felt bad for a couple of hours after the run too. I really hope I'm not getting sick. There's been something going around our office and I really don't need to get it. Only three weeks until Mercedes. I can get sick after!

It did end up snowing over the weekend. We got about an inch, but by that evening it had all melted. Because of the snow, our group run was cancelled.

So, I ran on my own yesterday. It was even colder yesterday than on the day it snowed. I think it was 19 or 20 degrees when I set out for my 12 mile run. In the end I only did 10 miles. But I was all on my own, so I'm amazed that I made it that far. I definitely need to have the group to keep me motivated on those long runs!

We have a 12 mile group run scheduled tomorrow morning. But the forecast is calling for snow in the morning. I'm in Alabama where it never snows. I seriously don't think we've had any snowfall that's stuck for at least 10 years. At least not that I can remember. So if it's snowing in the morning I won't make it to the group run. Which means I'll have to either run inside on the treadmill or do a million laps around my neighborhood. That might be cool though, to run while it's snowing. Hmmm....

If it does snow I'll definitely post pictures to document it since it happens so rarely!

My right calf muscle is still extremely sore after the 10 mile run on Saturday. I thought it would be better by now, but it's not. I almost have to limp it's so bad. Tonight I'm going to try some moist heat on it to see if it helps.

I was supposed to go running with another girl last night, but her daughter got sick so she couldn't make it. Normally that would be signal to me to flake out and not run, but I made myself go. Since I was running on a trail outside, I got changed at work before I left. I tend to get hot when I run, so I was wearing a running skirt. I think it was in the low 40s temperature wise. I work at a corporate headquarters for a bank downtown and am on the 11th floor. So after I changed I had to ride the elevator down filled with people who were dressed in formal business suits. I got some weird looks, especially when we walked outside and I was basically wearing shorts.

I got to the trail and started running. Since my calf was hurting so much and I forgot my inhaler, I only ran two miles. But two is better than nothing I guess.

I went to a spin class this morning and my calf was still bothering me during the first part, but once it warmed up it was ok. I'm glad that's out of the way and I don't have to worry about any kind of exercise until tomorrow night.

Red Nose Run - 10 miles

The Red Nose Run is a 10 mile run that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. It was held right by the Ronald McDonald House in downtown Birmingham. Because the police did not want to block off 10 miles worth of intersections we had to run a loop three times to equal ten miles. I did better with that than I thought I would. There were two water stations, but because of the three laps, there were six, so plenty of water. I used a gel about halfway through. This time I tried Powerade brand that was latte flavored. It was definitely better than the first one I tried that was mango flavored. I would almost say that it tasted good!

When I finished the second lap, I saw that the clock said it had been 1 hour 19 minutes. I decided that I was going to try to finish in under 2 hours. Then I stopped at a water stop, had some water and started off too fast. I got a stitch in my right side and had to walk. Once it was gone, I started again making sure I kept a good pace, but not too fast. The stitch came back 2 or 3 times, but it was small enough that I could breathe through it and get rid of it. It helped when I got to the last mile marker and had only one mile to go. I kept telling myself, "you can do it for one more mile". I picked it up when I rounded the corner to the finish line and was done with one minute to spare!

We hung around a bit afterwards. There was a lot of food there and I had a doughnut. That was the best tasting doughnut I have ever had! So I had another. And a coke. I rarely drink soft drinks and if I do, never a "real" one. I couldn't finish it because it was so sweet.

A lot of our group went to a sports bar afterwards to celebrate, but I came home. Got home and immediately got in the ice bath. It's still extremely hard to get into that thing! I stayed in for 15 minutes and then took a long hot shower.

Here are some pictures from the race:

I am definitely not someone who functions well on little sleep. After getting up early and running those 7 miles yesterday morning, I was worn out when I got home after work. I think I fell asleep at 8:00. My husband brought me the dog a little while later because he (the dog, not my husband) was scared of the thunder outside. The poor thing was just shaking. I'm afraid I wasn't much comfort to him because I fell back asleep about five minutes later. Yes, I slept through a thunderstorm. I could probably sleep through an earthquake.

But back to running. Today's run is only supposed to be 3 miles, and since there's a chance for rain again this evening, I think I'm going to run on the treadmill inside. Maybe I can catch up on my tv shows. :)

Long time no post. The holidays had me pretty busy, but I kept up with running for the most part.

Another group run early this morning. I'm still amazed at just how many people are on the road at 4:45 am! The schedule said we were running 6 miles, but it was actually 7. Our coach always manages to sneak in something, be it an extra mile, or some awful hills. I started out feeling like I wanted to quit, but after about a mile I loosened up a bit and actually enjoyed the rest of the run.

This weekend is the Red Nose Run, which is 10 miles. The schedule says we need to run 12, so I'm running two miles in addition to the race! We're going to On Tap afterwards for a post-race celebration.

Only 5 more weeks until Mercedes!