Saturday, December 5, 2009

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I have one word to describe Wednesday night's run:  holy-shit-this-is-horrible-i-want-to-die-and/or-move-away-immediately.  It was SO COLD.  I thought I was prepared for a cold run, but I was oh so wrong.  The temp wasn't so bad, in the 20s, but the wind was brutal 10-15 mph.  While the wind was at my back, I was perfectly comfy, even slightly warm, but I had tears running down my face when I was running against the wind.  Partially because of the wind, partially because of the pain.  My coat zipper stuck to my neck on a couple of occasions because it was so cold and I was still slightly sweaty.  Talk about ouch.  I almost stopped at one point to turn around and walk home backwards it was so brutal.  Ugh.  Never again.  Will utilize the gym if necessary.

Ok the run from hell:  I did 5 miles in 47:21 for a pace of 9:29.  My splits were all over the place because of the wind and horrendous pain I was in running against it.

1. 9:32
2. 9:15
3. 9:15
4. 9:36
5. 9:40


Thursday I woke up ready to head to the gym for an easy 5 miles.  After the run from hell, and the huge snow fall we had, I knew I wasn't subjecting myself to running outside again.  After puttsing around, I decided to do yoga instead, opting to head to the gym after work instead. Mistake #1.

After work, I quick got ready for the gym and headed out.  I contemplating going to tan before the gym, but realized I would be even WARMER if I did that, so I decided not to.  Mistake #2.  While waiting to make a left hand turn to head to my gym (I live about 1 mile from my gym, great location), I got rear-ended by some ding dong.

The setting:  8:25pm dark and biting cold.  CRASH/CRUNCH!
Jeri:  What happened!?!?!
Ding dong:  Well.... I hit you.
Jeri:  I know but why!?!?!?!?  Was it slippery or something?
Ding dong:  Nope, I just wasn't paying attention.  We should probably call someone.
End scene.

His car didn't have a scratch on it, but my bumper shattered.  Because of the extreme cold (it was probably in the single digits at this point) the plastic was just decimated.  The guy kept apologizing, and I kept saying it was fine, as long as I could get to my gym before it closed.  :p

After talking to the cop and exchanging insurance info., I was finally free to go.  Mr. Wreckless Driver had to stay in the cop car, presumably to get his ticket.  I got to the gym and knew I'd have to shorten my tempo run.  A run that I had been dreading all day had taken on new meaning.  I was SO happy to be ok and that the accident wasn't anything serious.  (Disclosure:  I'm deathly afraid of car accidents.  I didn't have my license until very late in life because of it, and still refuse to drive 99% of the time.)

The adrenaline from the accident definitely gave me an extra boost on my run.  I had 7 miles, with 5 at a tempo pace of 8:28, 1 warm up and 1 mile cool down.  I ended up having to omit the cool down, and opted to walk for a minute as the gym was closing.  The tempo pace felt like a BREEZE!  It's making me think an 8:30 pace for the Dallas HM might be doable!!!

I did the 6 miles in 51:10 for a pace of 8:32.  Tempo pace:  8:20.
1. 9:26 2. 8:21 3. 8:26 4. 8:26 5. 8:22 6. 8:06

The run felt gooooooood.  I kicked up the pace the last 2 miles because I was feeling great, plus I knew I wanted to walk at least a little post run before going out into the cold.

I got an estimate on my car repairs Friday after work, and a new bumper plus labor is 1/2 as much as my far cost.  Pretty happy I wasn't at fault for the accident. :p

Ok, onto some happy things.  My Christmas tree.


Also, after cleaning my living living room to put up my decorations, I realized I needed a place to display my race medals, other than just lying on the floor.  I was pretty happy with my solution.  I may or may not have tried to string lights on my bike, but the string of lights was dead. :(

14 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a rockstar for running in the cold. It was like 50 and rainy here and we complained all morning about how cold our run was. I couldn't handle it!

Kathleen said...

YIKES bad day :/ I despise the wind so much...today it snowed at my school, which sucks to walk in, much less run in.. Ughhhhhs winter :(

Trying To Heal said...

dude, don't know how you run in that cold...i died in the 45 degree weather this morning. more props to you woman!

wish you could come and run w/ me at my home though...

Alyssa said...

HAHA! You should string lights on your bike, that is awesome! I may just have to steal that idea :):)

Sorry about the crash, that blows. Glad you're ok and you still made it to the gym! You are going to rock Dallas!
The cold weather is starting to get to me too, i'm slowing losing motivation to get out the door in these temps. Why do we live in the north?

Mica said...

UghhhH! I'm glad you're okay, but an accident makes for a bummer day.

How about this miserable cold? Uggh.

Anonymous said...

Ooof! glad you're okay! and it wasn't anything serious, but those things just aren't fun to deal with.

but hey, kick a$$ tempo run to show for it? NOT BAD ;)

your tree and medal stand are Awesome. decorating at its best! :)

J said...

That stinks about being hit in the car. i get so angry when i see ppl not paying attention while they drive! I live like 0.5 miles away from the gym and I am thinking about walking over tonight...we will see though its getting cold out!

runningbrooke said...

Hi Jeri-
I love the way you write as you were talking to me and with so much enthusiasm...
Cheers and Memphis was COLD so I could totally relate to you story...
-Brooke

RunToTheFinish said...

ohh car wrecks are so no fun, at least you weren't hurt! way to rock the run

Glenn Jones said...

Okay - story for you....

Today is the *first* day of bad weather here in Southern California. Raining and 50 outside. Did I go run this morning? NO WAY!!! Not in this cold and wet! Yes - you may belly laugh now.

I'm glad that you're accident was not too serious and that you came out unscathed.

You'll rock it in Dallas!

Pining for Pinterest said...

Sorry to hear about the car accident. Great job on the run!

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

Wind Chill. Living in Kansas that was all I heard each winter. No one really cared what the actual temp, but wind chill. I never ran with the temps below 30 no matter the wind chill back there. Now my story is never running a Vegas Rock and Roll with temps below 40! Even the first place mens winner, a Kenyan was complaining about the cold here in Vegas yesterday! Glad your bumper crunch was not serious. Have fun!

Amy - the gazelle said...

I was so afraid of my SD weekend because of the temps. Luckily I got a run in Saturday morning, and it was almost 30 (although windy), so it wasn't awful! Yesterday morning was FREEZING though. I'm glad to be back in my (still fairly chilly) state. :)

Sorry 'bout the accident. That sucks!

Jen Feeny said...

LMAO at trying to stream lights on the bike! I think it would've been so festive!

Sorry to hear about the accident! I'm glad you are ok!

Holy balls that sounds cold!