Can't rain on my parade!

January 13, 2011

Well here I am sitting on the floor of our apartment bedroom, exhausted, sweating, listening to the guys rehearse in the next room, and feeling pretty damn proud of myself. I did two runs this week; a long run on Monday and a tempo run tonight. I meant to write about my long run right afterwards because my mind was consumed with thoughts, but I didn't have the opportunity to. So tonight, I suppose I'll write about them both!

Monday's run was ALL mental. It was in the mid 30's, drizzling, and cold as hell. It made me think about running races in Colorado. I remember running the Winter Series there. It was a series of 3 races smack in the middle of the snowy Colorado winter. I remember running the 4 mile race of that series on Valentine's weekend. I woke up that morning for the race and it was snowing. Snowing. I thought for sure the race would be canceled, and actually HOPED it would be - how was this little Texas girl going to run in the SNOW? I threw on some warm clothes and prepared myself mentally while driving to the trail and approaching the starting line. I jumped around in place the entire time I was waiting just to make sure I kept my blood flowing. During that 4 miles, I looked around at the snow falling and covering the city. It was pouring down, but not like rain...it was silent. During the last mile, I realized that my eyelashes were frozen. They had ice covering them. I definitely warmed up during the run, but the temperature didn't. After I completed the run, all of my sweat made me feel like I was standing in a freezer- it was SO COLD. Running in Colorado taught me a VERY important skill about running. It taught me that running those long distances is all mental. The reason I refer to it as a 'skill' is because it is something that MUST be applied in order to have a successful long run. WHICH brings me back to my run on Monday....
I pulled up to the parking lot right across from the Taco Cabana and noticed that it was practically EMPTY. Usually this is the prime parking lot for my trail, but it's always full. I usually have to go down a bit further to the next lot to snag a spot, but not today. I got out, ran my ipod through my shirt, and tucked my car key away. I very quickly realized that there weren't as many runners on the trail as there normally would be on a Monday evening. However, there were MORE runners out there than you would imagine. I thought to myself, "Wow! These people are hard-core! They are out here running in this awful weather...most of them having REAL winter running clothes on, not just sweats...these people are serious!" Then I thought, "Hmm...but I'm out here....does that make me a serious runner? I'm doing exactly what these people are doing in the proper running attire based on the weather ....hmm...naw".
The trail was wet. A bit muddy actually. I was going over this one part of the trail during mile one and the smell of sand filled the air. It made me think about being at a beach. I haven't been to a beach in years it seems like. The last time I went was when Kristin and Nic got married. I went to San Francisco with them and was honor to witness their beautiful wedding on the beach. It was gorgeous, real, and absolutely lovely. I can't remember, though the last time I actually went to a beach and played in the sand, went into the ocean, had the full experience. I need to do that. Note to self: talk to Colin about hitting the beach this spring/summer! :)
The loop that I was running was a 3 mile loop so I was planning on running it twice to give myself a 6 mile long run. The second half of the first loop was the most difficult for me. I decided NOT to stop at the half was point at the water station; I wanted to keep going. When I was wrapping up the first loop, I could feel my energy really escaping me. I popped a hershey kiss in my mouth while I was crossing the huge bridge. That is just a little bolt of sugar that I needed. I threw on the Ting Ting's song, "Shut up and let me go", and started the second loop. I felt good.Really good. I knew that starting this second loop meant commitment. If I started, I HAD to run and finish it. Once I hit mile 4, I usually get into my autopilot zone. I just run, I don't have to THINK about moving my arms, legs, or how my posture is, it's just all working together like a machine while I'm focusing on my breathing.
When I got to that half way point again, I didn't want to stop for water. I was on the bridge and looked to my right. The Austin skyline was right THERE. There was fog covering up the top of the buildings- it was as though I was looking at a painting. How freaking cool.  I looked to the left and saw people rowing. It looked like they were just fading away into the fog. The scenery that I was viewing at this moment was surreal. It's one of those moments in life that makes me know that I'm exactly where I should be.
As I started the last chunk of this run, my ipod decided to treat me with SL's song, "Strange". Hell YES! Talk about getting pumped! I felt great! What I love about the end of this loop that I do is that I'm heading towards downtown during the last mile. The tall, lit-up buildings getting closer and closer is such a rush! I love it. I love Austin and I love running in it.
I couldn't believe it-I straight up ran 6 miles without stopping, in this cold shitty weather, and felt GREAT! I ran it in 1 hour and 1 minute.
OK, this was long enough...more about the tempo run later!