Sunday, February 14, 2010

Tired and Cold


I met 50 runners at the Chevy Chase Store on Saturday for the Haiti Run. The going was tough as sidewalks still aren't 100% cleared and road running down Wisconsin and Connecticut can be quite daredevilish. The thought if one of those giant metro buses crushing my foot gives me pause. I got in 10 but felt sluggish for most of the run. The cold, (mid-20s) overcast day was a bit demoralizing.

On Sunday I met a smaller group of GRCers at The Line. Bobby Jarrin, Frank, PMurphy, Dave Burnham and I departed Maryland and soon found our friends Marren and Dirk. Moments later we were joined by a ninja...who we later discovered was Towpath. He didn't say much so it could have been someone else in disguise...maybe a PACER? Jarrin and Frank turned back after 5 miles and the rest of us did a revised Zoo Loop. When we finally got back to The Line I asked PMurphy to time the mile from our cars to East West simply so we could see what pace we'd been running. Shortly thereafter Murphy and I began an impromptu tempo (the "Dirk Out & Back"). I drafted off Murphy for the first mile then crawled up alongside him as we cruised back to The Line. I was pretty tired and I really couldn't get myself moving much faster. He surged ahead but I think we both hit around 10:30 for 2 miles. We ran a 1.5 mile cooldown then called it a day. I was pretty beat at the end of the run and again, after taking off my cold, wet, heavy clothes, found myself longing for warmer weather. I am calling the run 16.5, though it might be a little less. Something worth noting - I saw more runners today on Beach Drive than I ever have. It was nice to see.

That gives me 90 for the week. After feeling peppy at the start of the week, I began to feel every mile near the end. Still, it was a fine week of training, but more importantly a good block (2 months plus) of solid mileage. This week was suppose to be a down week, but I found myself with extra time and energy after being snowed in for 9 days. When applicable, I worked from home so I was able to get in a fair share of doubles.


This winter has really been brutal. Back in 1987 a blizzard dumped 36" on Cape Cod and cut off our power. We were forced to move in with my grandmother for a few days. I remember trudging through huge snow banks dragging my teddy bear (Bear E. Face) in tow just to get to my grandmother's front door. We were off of school for 10 days (2 weeks). This had always been my "big storm measuring stick"...but not anymore. I never said this, but I will now - "I can't wait for spring". I do enjoy winter but feel as if DC never gets hit too bad. This year we're due a grand spring full of flowers, song birds, shamrocks and pleasant sunny weather.

2 comments:

Peter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter said...

"This year we're due a grand spring"

Amen, brother!