When takers were few (that is, zero) on my suggestions to run Friday in the frigid night air, I felt only a small bit of regret--after all, this was the perfect excuse to wimp out and run on the treadmill.
Clad in shorts and my favorite T, I hopped on the treadmill. Feeling a slight pang of guilt at what I knew might be an easy workout, I slightly overcompensated...by setting the treadmill on Hills, and increasing my pace to a 9:00 min/mile--thinking, "Well, this will surely get me ready for Derry next week."
As the late-night gymgoers came and went from their 30-minute elliptical and treadmill workouts, the treadmill from hell continued its sadistic up and down, increasing the incline now, decreasing the incline next, increasing the incline again...
By 7 miles, I was gasping for air, and in dire need of a Gu. Hopping off the treadmill, I meandered out to the nearby balcony above the basketball court, stalking Jared playing hoops (hey, he looks good in shorts), stretching, and taking my sweet time with the Gu. Within a minute or two, though, Jared noticed me, and immediately asked how many I'd done...forcing me to admit to myself it was time to get back on the treadmill.
Back to the hills, running uphill and recovering downhill. I took a 30-second breather for water and a Clif Shot with 3.75 to go, but recognizing my own desire to quit, got right back to it--though admittedly feeling a bit surly.
At 2 miles to go, I realized I had to face the facts--sacrifice the hills, or sacrifice the pace, as my body was in the process of crapping out on both. Feeling justified, and managing to convince myself that the worst of the hills are usually early in a race, I turned off the horrible hill setting, and slugged through my last two miles, watching every hundredth tick by.
The next day, I was surprised to feel GREAT when snowboarding with Jared and a group of friends at Pico (see photo at right, Nick, me, and EJ--just a couple of tools). Sunday, however, the miles and the riding caught up to me at Jay Peak, as my legs felt it on the very first run. I made it to about mid-afternoon before calling it quits (and frankly only my pride kept me out that long). Thirty minutes later, my beloved joined me, and we toasted our weekend with a couple of Jay Peak Long Trail--a surprisingly tasty local brew.
2 comments:
Good luck at Derry next week! The race looks so cool; I would love to make it up North one day to try it out! Your DFMC teammate, Helen :)
It is not that you "crapped out" mid-afternoon, but that you made it to Sunday at all. Let's see: 15 miles of running hills Friday evening, snowboarding ALL day on Saturday, and you still had the energy to even get up on Sunday?
Knock the Derry run on its a--. I wish you no wind and dry roads.
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