Coldest Run In History

This has been a rather busy week. Hmm... I seem to say that every week. Such is the life of a marathoner mama with an often traveling husband. A highlight of this week was getting a bit of relief from my foot pain. I decided to call my favorite running store, Breakaway Running, in Memphis. They are always very nice and helpful. They suggested I come in when possible and they'd take a look at my shoes and try to figure something out. Off I went the very next day.

With a simple, short explanation on my part, and a 'consult' with the back room, a kind gentleman laced my problem shoe in an alternative way.

Which one of these is not like the other?

I left there with the hope that maybe, just maybe, this would help me. Guess what... it did! I did another 40-minute Galloway run within a few hours and felt nearly 100%. Whoo hoo! I was quite speedy, to boot. The next day I did a 4-mile walk with some minor discomfort. Somehow walking is always harder on me, no matter what. I still felt confident to at least attempt my 15-miler on Saturday.

Saturday morning came and off I went. I set my Garmin to alert me to run 0.19 miles and walk 0.06 miles... sixty times (that's 15 miles). It was soooooo cold. Sub-freezing, extremely windy... even with snow flurries. I was underdressed, not that there is any amount of clothing that can keep a Southerner warm on a day like that. It. Was. Miserable.

By the halfway point of my out-and-back course I wanted to throw in the towel. I felt frozen solid. It was ridiculous! But somehow after I literally turned around and headed home two things happened. My foot was holding up and I actually started to feel a bit warmer and I got MAD. Mad at the weather, mad at my lack of warmer pants on my legs, mad at the wind, mad at the cold... mad at the world. I was cooking with gas then! I stopped in at a local fire station and asked to sit for a minute and warm up a little, although by that point I hardly needed it. Anger will get one's blood flowing!

I made it around 13 miles before I began to feel spent. But the beauty of the Galloway plan is that I really always had gas in the tank. Sometimes during my running stints I was clocking 10-something paces (although the average was closer to 12, I'm sure). Minus the biting cold, it was a very strong, accomplished run with only minor discomfort in my foot.

This is probably the first time in my running history that my ice bath really didn't feel like much. The ice really never melted all the way since I was a runncercicle. But I stayed in it, anyway. I feel like I ran a whole marathon: tired, sore, spent. One victory, however, was remembering to wrap my big toes in duct tape, plus some over the toenails. I got zero blisters and zero toenail soreness! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Here is the bigger winner, who has been accident free for two weeks now!

In the coming days I will be as busy as ever. I have my cottage addition that some time must be devoted to, plus I will be baking Valentine's Day cheesecakes and making chocolate covered strawberries (pre-orders only). And I have to make cupcakes two days in a row for Isaac's MDO parties because he is going to be three years old on Wednesday. Where on earth has time gone? Into my excellent memory bank, that's where. :)