Sunday, December 30, 2012

Running in a winter wonderland

When I got home, I discovered my ponytail had frozen!


I am not going to lie!!!!!!! I dreaded getting up for my long run this morning.  It was -6 Celsius this morning when I headed out to the Running Room.  That's 20 Fahrenheit for my American friends.  I know there are much colder places on earth right now, but have I mentioned that since I have lost all this weight, I am perpetually cold?  I can't ever seem to get warm.  I dressed in 4 layers, wore a bandanna and a hat and two pairs of gloves.  I also wore my ski socks which kept my feet toasty warm.

Now about the ski socks for a minute.  I buy them at Walmart and they are technical socks.  You can buy technical socks at any sports/running store and pay $10 to $15 dollars per pair.  I get 2 pairs for six bucks and they work just great.  They are dry wick and come in funky colors.  Today was the real test because not only was today my coldest running day to date, but it was also snowy out and I ran in snow for 1 hour and 25 minutes.  My feet stayed toasty and comfortable. Definitely worth the 3 bucks per pair.  Now back to my run...sorry Lou!

Although we ran along a route that was cleared because it was plowed, there was still a layer of soft snow on top of the packed snow and it was similar to running in sand.  Man did I work my glutes and calves today.  My glutes are still crying, oops no, that's just me.  I hurt!  I did need the extra rest day yesterday because although I felt good while I was running, I'm hurting now.  It hurts so good though.  That hurt that I know will turn into a nice ass and slimmer calves.  The reason why I do crazy things like run 12K on soft snow with a 6:58 pace.  Not too shabby, considering the conditions!  And there was a nice big hill thrown in for good measure!  Ah the glamorous life of a runner.

Love this picture of my gal Tanya.
When you gotta go, you gotta go:)

Food.  I don't know if anyone is interested in what I eat, but I thought I would share my menu for today, just to clarify that I eat a TON of food.  May sound boring, but I don't care what I eat, just so long as I get rid of hunger when it strikes.  I had 2 hard boiled eggs this morning, and 2 mini Clif bars (at 100 calories each).  When I got back from my run I drank a coffee with cream and ate 2 slices of cantaloupe.  For lunch I made a HUGE salad with iceberg lettuce, tomato, carrot sticks, a HUGE amount of left over roast beef, feta cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.  I'm snacking on baby carrots right now with tzatziki dip and a glass of red wine.  For dinner I'm eating this ham bone soup in my slow cooker with tomato (canned no added sodium), onion, cabbage, rutabaga and left over ham that I froze from Christmas Eve.  The liquid is low sodium chicken stock.  I'll eat this until I'm full!  And I'll likely snack later on fruit.  I have no idea how many calories I've eaten today and I don't care.  I burned 1076 calories this morning.  I've been eating like this for months and months.  Running is my savior...aside from the real one that is.

Very hearty and yummy:)


Now the plan for the week ahead?  I'm running a couple of short runs Monday and Tuesday. I have to run tomorrow because it's the last day of the year and that's how I want to finish my year.  And Tuesday because it's New Years day and I have to run on the first day of the year because it's how I want to begin my year.  Wednesday is the dreaded hill repeat night.  We're doing 5 this week. And Thursday is my clinic night. I plan to take Friday off as a day of rest.  Saturday will be a short run followed by my long run on Sunday.  We're doing 14K on Sunday.  My longest run to date.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time.  I know that if I can run 12.5K, I can run 14K no problem. Carol always said I needed to work on my inner cheerleader and give myself more credit.  She's 100% right!  I am definitely my worst critic!

It took 15 minutes and a ton of conditioner to get the massive
frozen knot out of my hair!