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. :(