Eight on the Eighth...........................

Background for the readers that don't follow the running blogs, Nancy put together a cyber race in which anyone that cared to participate could log eight miles on the weekend of December eighth and then report back to her with the results. Here is my report, and remember this run/race was also Wild Woman's first venture out.


I woke to a couple of inches of new snow Friday morning, so I shoved the driveway in a short sleeve T-shirt and flip flops to help me gage the outdoor temperature. It didn't seem that cold to me, and by noon the roads were clear of snow so I opted to do my run Friday, having heard on the television it was a whopping 30 degrees outside, and not knowing what the rest of the weekend might bring.


I started layer dressing for the race around two in the afternoon, and as I was tying my shoes, I realized I had not eaten anything beyond my morning coffee and four or five radishes. I guess I am out of training with paying attention to what I eat on race days. I threw a mini box of raisins and a Prana bar in with my water and Wild Woman and I were out the door and on our way.

The first couple of miles is always a warm up for me but by the end of mile two we found our running legs and were singing out loud. Our harmony seemed to drive the dogs crazy, but the couple of cows we passed in a field didn't seem to mind at all. By mile three (35 minutes) Wild Woman joined me in a funky dance around the corner to the song Sonar Girl, and we were having a blast, and laughing out loud.


I had not listened to my race play list since the first part of October so this added to my enjoyment. Having used the same songs for some time now several of them bring back memories of past runs so I used the reminders of hot weather runs to keep me warm, gently told the ache in my left leg to knock it off, and we arrived at the five mile mark at 1:05.


I found these really great fingerless gloves that have a mitten part that goes over the missing finger area. I wear these over another pair of gloves and they help me regulate my hand comfort. If I am feeling warm I can take off the mitten part and cool down. If my hands get cold I add the mittens and I have toasty warm fingers in seconds. If my hands are comfortable the rest of me automatically follows suit. The wind was only a problem at miles four and seven, and I solved this by pulling my wattle up over my cheeks and nose. Like my food processor is the one kitchen appliance I would want with me on a deserted island, my wattle is my MUST HAVE for winter running.


As usual, I didn't break any speed records, but I was happy because I felt great and only walked a couple of times while I was having a drink. Having only done short distance runs since completing my marathon, I was thrilled to see that I could still do a longer distance run without it knocking the snot out of me. My final time was 1:45 (not sure how accurate this is as I just looked at my wrist watch at beginning and end and didn't use a stop watch, so if there is a tie timed with me in my age division go ahead and knock me to the bottom).


After the race I thawed out in the tanning bed (and worried just a tad about a suffering from a heart attack from heating up too quickly for a few seconds until I drifted off to another thought) for twenty minutes and then celebrated my accomplishment with a six inch veggie sub (no cheese please) from Subway, along with a handful of cheddar cheese potato chips since I had burned all those calories .


Since no race is complete for me without a finisher's picture here are a couple of pictures of Wild Woman and I at the finish line (it is drawn in the snow, no banner so you can't really see it in the picture so you will have to trust me that it is there.





Thanks Nancy for putting the race together. I vote we do our next one on New Year's day since I will be in Cozumel and it will be warm, warm, warm there.