snow snow go away

Slowly but surely I'm becoming more adapt and ok with the idea of running outside in the cold.  It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  No doubt it helps that we've had a fairly mild winter (which means we are totally screwed the rest of February through the beginning of April, I'm sure of it), but really with the right clothing or gear I almost always get HOT while I'm running.

Things I don't deal with?  Any sort of elements.  Like rain.  Or flipping SNOW.  And temperatures under 10!  Chris has been on vacation since Thursday, and I thought I'd get a couple outdoor runs in before he has to be back at work this Thursday.  But the last time I ran at all?  Was Thursday.  I went pretty much all out on Thursday, 4.15 miles in 36 minutes (8:44 pace).  Friday I did the 30 Day Shred because I couldn't convince myself to go to the gym with the hubby home :o), Saturday I took the 50/50 group fitness class at the gym, and Sunday?  Sunday it was miserably cold out.  So instead of running or hitting up the gym, we went out to brunch with friends.  A good compromise right?

And wouldn't you know it, this morning it is snowing.  We pretty much haven't seen snow all winter, and the few days that I could utilize Christopher to watch Ryann right now, I simply can't make myself get out the door.  The good news is that I'm not currently training for a big race or anything, so I'm not freaking out about missing the runs.  I do feel a bit guilty, but it seems like that is the trend with me right now.  I know I'm not doing everything I could in the health and fitness department, and I feel guilty about it.  But apparently it hasn't been enough guilt to convince me to do otherwise.

I'm trying to give myself a swift kick in the butt though.  Even though I'm not training for a big race, I've got plans for the 5k I want to run the first weekend in March.  Looking at last years results, the top female finisher in my age group finished in 25:33, an 8:13 pace. That almost 5k I did recently?  I finished with an 8:16 pace.  Now obviously there is no telling who will turn out for the 5k this year, how fast they will go, etc.  But potentially I could place in my age division.  Well actually the random site I was looking at claimed the overall top woman's finisher was 25 and finished in 19:14 (ha, never going to happen for me!) so I'm not really sure how to read the results.  But if I ignore that she wasn't included in the age division, I COULD place.

Do you know how insane that sounds to me?  I've always gone to races with the mentality that they are fun, I simply love the atmosphere, I'm not there to win anything.  I've never been fast enough.  And that is completely ok.  But... what if I could win something?  Even if it is just my age division?  Simply typing this all out is encouraging me to go to some sprints on the treadmill (except I don't want to drive in the snow, but the treadmills at the gym are so much nicer than the one in my basement :o).  Must. Get. Faster.

For the record, I really started to like running when I completed a 10k without walking.  I fell in love with running the first time I completed a training run under a 9:30 pace.  You don't have to be fast to like running, but it definitely makes it more fun in my opinion.

 

Sorry for the delay on the link-up, but it should be working right now!  Link up your health and fitness posts :o).