Today, I’m writing about two unrelated topics, the weather and this week’s long run. I don’t know how to tie these things together, so it’s a two part post! (If I put an exclamation point, it makes it sound exciting and not just lame, right?)

Part 1: About the Weather

What normal people see when they see the weather forecast:

What runners see when they see the weather forecast:

I’m getting sick and tired of being sick and tired of the weather. I know it’s hard to believe, but I guess there is a limit to my whining (bet you didn’t know that, mom!) and I’ve officially reached it in regards to winter weather. I just don’t care anymore. Slush is falling from the sky and I can’t run outside or drive to the gym? Whatever. It’s freezing, and going outside would give me frostbite? Oh, well.  It’s going to start blizzarding so I have to get up early and do my long run before that starts.  Sure, why not?  

I just don’t care anymore if the weather screws up my running schedule, or if I have to run on the treadmill instead of on the street. And this not caring, it’s kind of a nice feeling.

Part 2: About A Long Run

I had a fantastic 9 mile long run this morning. I was surprised it went so well, I did not think I’d have a good run for several reasons:

• My brain was on vacation: Jeff and I went to the gym to run on the treadmill. First, I forgot my sneakers, then I forgot my gel. Jeff was not happy with me – he likes to leave early. At least we hadn’t even gotten to the car either time I realized I forgot something.

• I did not sleep well: I woke up at 3:30AM and could not fall back asleep until 5AM because my stomach was hurting. I think I ate too much of this:

And possibly too much of this:

I should probably have eaten less of these valentine’s treats, but they were delicious and I don’t really regret it that much.

• I did not have fresh legs: Because of laziness and the weather, I didn’t run on either Wednesday or Thursday. So, on Friday night (you know, less that 12 hours before my long run) I went for an easy 3 mile run. And I did take it easy…but then I decided that I should run 2.14 kilometers in honor of Valentine’s day! So, I ran a fast (much faster than easy run pace) 2.14 kilometers – while listening to “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” on repeat – after my easy 3 mile run. Oops! I think my pink shirt, socks, and sneakers affected my brain 🙂

Regardless of all those reasons I shouldn’t have had a good run, I did!  I’ve been doing my long runs on the treadmill in order to avoid the snow and ice covered sidewalks (I do not run in the street). I’m slightly concerned that the treadmill is easier than running outside, so I’ve been doing a “rolling hills” program on the treadmill. Today I did level 4, which has 3 small hills that get up to 2.5% incline, and one large hill that gets up to 4.5% incline.  I’ve been doing really great on the small hills, but still have a tough time when the incline gets above 3%.  I did this program twice (because gym treadmills don’t think you can run longer than an hour). In the first 4.5 miles I averaged 9:41 min/mile, and in the second 4.5 miles I averaged 9:44 min/mile.  This is awesome for me for such a long, “hilly” run.  And, I felt great after – just the right amount of tired.  It was both a hard and easy run depending on the incline, so I felt like I worked hard, but I also came out feeling confident and happy with my pace. Yay!

Now, off to eat lunch and wait for the blizzard to start.  Hopefully, it’ll be cleared up by tomorrow morning and Jeff and I can skip running and do some snowshoeing instead. It was super fun last weekend, and worth postponing my run!