Yesterday I planned on running 2 miles at the gym because of the insane wind we’ve been having hear, but my iPod had other plans. My little green friend was totally dead by the time I jumped onto a treadmill. I wasn’t going to totally give up, but then the treadmill I was on wouldn’t let me set a speed over 4.0, so I took it as a sign that I needed to just get my butt outside. I grabbed my stuff, threw it back into my trunk, secured my car key and took off.
I ended up running 2.5 miles in about 24 minutes (using my phone as my only watch). It felt great to just take off running with no real plan. I just ran on a straight, uphill road until it started to get dark, then I turned around and headed back.
Today was an easy day of cross-training – 50 minutes on the elliptical.
Dedicating Miles
I read an interesting article today on Runner’s World about different ways runners deal when the going gets tough. Some of the tips I have already tried out and found success with, like having a mantra and setting mini-goals (“Just run to the next stoplight” and “Now you can totally make it to the next one!”).
One tip in the article that really caught my attention was this one:
“I dedicated each mile in a marathon and kept running so I wouldn’t have to fess up to walking anyone’s mile!” -Annie Tindall Birmingham, Alabama
Genius! The whole reason I started this blog was to keep myself accountable to my goal of running a half marathon. I knew if I told enough people, I would feel really embarrassed if I didn’t succeed due to laziness or just giving up. I’ve decided that I’m going to dedicate each of the 13 miles to various friends and family, and send them a Christmas card letting them know which mile I will be running for them and why. I think it will be a great way to get me through tough moments or mental fatigue, and help me push harder. The last .1 mile I’ll be doing for myself – pure determination and selfish pride 🙂
Santa Ana Insanity
If you’ve ever read the book or seen the movie White Oleander, then you know the beginning scene where Astrid talks about how the Santa Ana’s can make people do crazy things. I will say, I think the craziest thing I did today was go outside! Oh, and go to work on about 3 hours of sleep. The winds were howling last night and I was up at 2:30 in the morning, wide awake, watching Enchanted to try to drown out the noise outside.
This morning was quite hectic. We heard a knock at the door at 7:00 and it turned out to be our neighbor telling us that our back gate had been torn open by the wind and Heidi had taken that as an opportunity to bolt out of the yard and down the street. Luckily, I got her back by bribing her with treats (a girl after my own heart). The problem was that my mom and I were both leaving for work and we couldn’t leave the Dingoid inside all day because she would just eat all the toilet paper and paper towels in the house. We ended up MacGuyvering the gate back together using my brother’s climbing rope tied down to our tent trailer.
Luckily, it held all day despite the numerous trees that were torn out of the ground (or snapped in half! Poor Christmas tree!)
Pictures don’t do it justice, but I had quite the windy ride to work this morning. Stuff was blowing everywhere – including shopping carts and tumbleweeds!
We did get lucky though – no crazy brushfires like we had when I was in high school. I just had to spend the day trying to not let the wind slam the car door on my leg each time I got in and out.
Is your town known for any crazy annual weather?
Simi is just known for insane wind and BIG brush fires. Although it did randomly hail AND snow last winter.
Do you have any tricks you use to motivate yourself during runs and races? Would you ever dedicate miles to people to push yourself?
girlsthatrun 