Chickened Out

It’s Saturday. That means “long run time” in my world of marathon training. I’ve had the route planned for my 14.5 miles for at least a week now and have been thinking about it ever since. As the temperatures have continued to drop around the country I’ve remained positive that since it’s not nearly as cold in Arnold, Maryland, as it is in Minnesota or other Midwest locations, surely I can handle it. I’ve powered through the low 20s and the high teens, but not for 14 miles, which will also be the farthest I’ve ever run.

Yesterday morning when I went to take the trash and recycling out, it was about 5 degrees and it sort of hurt to breath. That could have also been caused by my frustration of taking out the trash in my nice work clothes and heels and struggling over the frozen uneven ground with the trash can tipping over every 10 feet. Regardless, it was at that point that I started wondering what my threshold is for running in the cold. Last night I went in search of some motivation from my new running personalities on Twitter. There is one runner I follow, crossn81, who lives in Minnesota and had recently posted about his run in -21 degrees. When he told me that 5 degrees was ok, I was inspired; and from the warmth and comfort of my couch had the confidence to rise and shine and hit the road.

In the end, when this morning rolled around, I did not run. I chickened out. Knowing full well that it is supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow with a chance of snow I did Pilates and decided to wait for Sunday to run. I’ve always wanted to run in the snow. I’ve also always wondered how hard core I am. This is my first marathon training experience and I’m definitely committed to it and enjoy it, but I think it will take several rounds of cold weather running for me to be as brave as crossn81.