Ran outdoors yesterday! Reno finally got warm enough for me to venture out. I’m still an Aussie girl at heart. After a month of treadmill running it felt weird and wonderful. Loved the fresh air except the ice cream headache when I pushed up the hills. Ouch!
For a change my easy 6 miles flew by. On the tread it’s “are we there yet” after 10 minutes. What a delight to look around the neighborhood. No college football, which I still don’t understand. No CNN or Fox News.
Some friends call it the “dreadmill” but I’ve come to appreciate it. Even enjoy it. I did miss knowing my pace. It’s a great training tool. Adjusting my speed up and down is the only way I can stay on.
Speed day today so back on the tread. No sucking frigid air for me. Tricked my mind by just looking at time. Easy 20 minutes to warm up. Then increased my speed every 3 minutes. Before I knew it, 25 minutes had ticked by. Wow 3 miles of faster running, how did I do that? It felt like a sauna. Finished red faced and sweaty.
There’s no pleasing this girl, one day I’m complaining about the cold the next I’m too hot. The joys of winter running in Reno.
Thre are days when the thought of running on a treadmill seems attractive – snow, ice, sleet, wind – well below freezing temperatures – all make me wish I had a treadmill in the family room. I belong to a gym so I could go there to run on one but that requires that I get myself there. The fire in the wood stove makes staying at home too attractive.
I may break down and buy one is a couple of years – the older I get the more I have visions of broken hips just from getting from the house down the driveway to the road. I focus like a laser on the road surface looking for the bit of ice or slush that has – ah trip her – written on it. Those are not fun runs.
The rest of the winter when the roads are clear – it is just the wind and cold to deal with – every year I seem to add yet another layer of clothes to my body before I go out the door. Pretty soon I will have so many layers on that I will not be able to lift my feet. The good part of that might be – more layers to cushion my fall if I trip on the ice or slush. And perhaps the best part of the run in the cold and wind – the hot shower when I get home.
Comment by Mary Harada — January 6, 2010 @ 12:53 pm