The original title of this post was supposed to be 'Things That Suck'. That was the plan before I even stepped out the door. In fact, I had been dreading this run since I looked at a forecast a few days ago. There were promises of darkness, near-freezing temperatures, high winds, and rain or snow. On top of that, it was another fartlek session. Nine miles of speed work in the cold, wind, and rain. This was truly going to suck.
But it didn't. All the factors above were still there. It WAS dark. It WAS cold. It WAS windy. It WAS raining. I WAS running hard. And I had a blast doing it. As bad as the conditions were, I've been through worse, and going through it again, gets me ready for the next time. If the conditions at Disney are similar to those two years ago, then I'll be prepared. (If they're like last year, then I might run into issues. Cold and wet doesn't prepare you for 85 and humid.)
Somebody I'll be racing next year took the day off today, and I'll beat that person. I don't have many athletic gifts. I'm not naturally fast, or strong, or even have that great of endurance. What I bring to the table is an uncommon tenacity, and a love for the sport. I don't miss training days. If it's in the schedule, it gets done. Every mile, every minute. And I hesitate to ever call what I do "workouts". It's not work. This is my playtime. Intervals in the rain? That's fun. Tempo session on the trainer? I can hardly wait. These sessions are some of the highlights of my days.
Running in the cold and rain doesn't suck. Skipping nights like tonight would.
Run: 9 miles w/ 7x5 min @ 5-10k pace, 3 min recovery
Now I feel like a pansy for hitting the trainer tonight...
ReplyDeleteSeriously though: Amen, brother. As I noted in my 'Paris-Roubaix' journal entry a while back... riding in the cold, wind and rain sucks and, at the same time, is awesome in a way that may not be obvious to sane people.
I can't really pinpoint the point at which workouts stopped being a necessary evil and started being one of the highlights of my day... but it happened somewhere along the way. Sure, there are still days that I'm tired and cranky from work and don't feel like starting... but, unless I'm really sick, I never come back from a workout in a worse mood than when I started.