deep freeze long run

Amid the long term slactivity, alas...a posting.

I have to admit, I was finding it quite difficult to get all blogity about anything as of late; be it my sore foot, the incredibly exciting treadmill workouts that I have been having or getting my ass handed to me in masters swim class by middle-aged women.

Having said that, yesterday's long run made me realize that all I want for Christmas is wind proof underpants...15-miles...14 degrees as a bundled up and headed out the door. That 14 degrees, however, doesn't include the 20 mph accompanying wind chill, which based on the chart puts the temp somewhere in the area of -2. Anything would be better than a treadmill for 15 miles.

As soon as I left, I thought, this is really stupid...stupid me, stupid cold, stupid run... just plain stupid...why do I do this again? And then I turned into the wind,...I needed to continue with the stupidity for another 14.5 miles. The way my brain works, I decided to do the out and back, because if I ran past home on my normal loop route, it would have been too easy to return to the couch and warm my feet by the fire with the dogs... so instead, an ever dripping nose, windy frost burn and freezy headaches from breathing in a sideswiping cold blast - I couldn't remember having a more painful run save none...

I ended up running 9:58's on a hilly and very exposed Anthem loop...and returned physically depleted and really cold, but feeling like a mental giant (albeit a not so smart one). What I lack in speed everyday, I made up in toughness yesterday...someday it may come in handy, or not?