10-Mile Slog
I overslept my running club's 10-mile run today so decided to create one of my own. This was not one of those days I was eager to get outside. In fact, I was downright anxious. Why? It was 44 degrees, raining, overcast - let's face it, bone-chilling miserable.
I made it slightly more inviting by creating my own little biosphere. The challenge to runners when going farther than 3-5 miles is choosing the right clothes. There is no chance of staying dry on a rainy day, so one wants simply to stay warm - but not too warm. My rainy day outfit always includes a baseball cap. Other than that, it all depends on the temperature. Today I chose well, except I should have added gloves (a winter coat, rainproof jacket, wool hat, umbrella, waterproof boots, indoor treadmill, etc..).
My waterproof ipod, with new surround sound earphones, and Garmin Forerunner GPS completed the illusion of an enjoyable training date with myself. I found the miles adding up on my wrist, along with the personal music selections drumming in my ears, somewhat numbed me to my actual miserable circumstances.
To give my run a purpose outside of training, I worked on staying present-focused. What I noticed along my run were tons of displaced earth worms, puddles of murky sidewalk water, the cherry blossom pedals giving way to green leaves, the daffodils in varying stages of display and death, and the general beginnings of winter brown giving way to spring green.
While I tried to go a full 10-mile route - logging as many miles far from home as possible to prevent short-cutting - I ended up at mile 9 very close to my house and too cold and wet to add another lake loop. The map below shows my actual route as recorded by my Forerunner (during the first 1/2 mile my forerunner couldn't locate the satellite).
And this is the link to my entire route on Motion-based.com: My 10-Mile Slog
I made it slightly more inviting by creating my own little biosphere. The challenge to runners when going farther than 3-5 miles is choosing the right clothes. There is no chance of staying dry on a rainy day, so one wants simply to stay warm - but not too warm. My rainy day outfit always includes a baseball cap. Other than that, it all depends on the temperature. Today I chose well, except I should have added gloves (a winter coat, rainproof jacket, wool hat, umbrella, waterproof boots, indoor treadmill, etc..).
My waterproof ipod, with new surround sound earphones, and Garmin Forerunner GPS completed the illusion of an enjoyable training date with myself. I found the miles adding up on my wrist, along with the personal music selections drumming in my ears, somewhat numbed me to my actual miserable circumstances.
To give my run a purpose outside of training, I worked on staying present-focused. What I noticed along my run were tons of displaced earth worms, puddles of murky sidewalk water, the cherry blossom pedals giving way to green leaves, the daffodils in varying stages of display and death, and the general beginnings of winter brown giving way to spring green.
While I tried to go a full 10-mile route - logging as many miles far from home as possible to prevent short-cutting - I ended up at mile 9 very close to my house and too cold and wet to add another lake loop. The map below shows my actual route as recorded by my Forerunner (during the first 1/2 mile my forerunner couldn't locate the satellite).
And this is the link to my entire route on Motion-based.com: My 10-Mile Slog
