Saturday, January 29, 2005
a very long day
this morning i woke up insanely early, so i could get my 10 mile run in before the retreat started (9:00am). I had figured it would take about 2 hours, so 6am was the time i set my alarm clock for. Well, that's mistake number one...I didn't get out the door until 6:30---scarfing down a PowerBar, getting all the cold-weather running gear together, stretching, etc took a lot longer than expected. Well, whatever..I still have time, right? hah.
Well, it was like 12 degrees outside, but the wind was calm. Hence, i said i might as well try running around the river, like i usually do. Well, that was mistake number two. I first ran along Memorial drive, and cross the Longfellow bridge. Of course it was still covered in snow, so i basically had to walk (or plow) my way through it. And once i had crossed over into Boston, i could run again, but then my hands started to feel like they were freezing. Frustrating...since that was a little after mile two. So I decided to take the shortest path home, which was crossing the next bridge (Harvard). Well, at that point my hands were like completely frozen, and on top of that the side that i was running on was covered in snow, so again i had to walk. Plus, it was a lot windier there, and my face started to feel like i was getting stabbed with little needles. Eek!
Anyway, by the time i had ran back to SP, i had only run 4.3 miles and felt like a block of ice (i had been outside for about a full hour). Time was running out, and i didn't want to give up, so i decided to finish what I could on the SP treadmill. After about a mile though, i got extremely bored (as i almost always do on treadmills), and pondered the idea of going back outside again (by this time my hands had thawed out). I was feeling a bit tired & weak though, so I downed some raspberry gel (basically sugar+ flavoring) and headed back outside. I stopped by my apartment though, to grab those small hand-warmers that I had bought at EMS (you just open up the sealed package and expose them to air, and they become like mini-heating pads for a few hours). I figured I could use them to prevent my hands from freezing on the rest of the run.
So this time I didnt run by the river, and just ran around SP and MIT (Albany, Landsdowne, Mass Ave, etc). Actually I did run along Memorial Drive (and back) but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as actually crossing the river. I did use the heating pad in my right hand, and it was a godsend. My mp3 player was also a godsend..i ended up listening to Celia Cruz for the last few miles or so. I basically ran and ran until the Garmin said I had run 10 miles. By that time it was about 5 to 9am, but whatever. I went inside and stretched, drank some water, ate some crackers and attempted to take a shower in 5 minutes (it ended up being more like 10). After getting dressed, throwing my stuff together and grabbing an apple from the fridge and an ice pack from the freezer, I ran out the door. Since it was Saturday, the shuttles weren't running so I had to walk to E38..so by the time I got there I was more than fashionably late (try 9:40). Oh well..by that time I had already had an adventurous day, and it was great. :)
Well, it was like 12 degrees outside, but the wind was calm. Hence, i said i might as well try running around the river, like i usually do. Well, that was mistake number two. I first ran along Memorial drive, and cross the Longfellow bridge. Of course it was still covered in snow, so i basically had to walk (or plow) my way through it. And once i had crossed over into Boston, i could run again, but then my hands started to feel like they were freezing. Frustrating...since that was a little after mile two. So I decided to take the shortest path home, which was crossing the next bridge (Harvard). Well, at that point my hands were like completely frozen, and on top of that the side that i was running on was covered in snow, so again i had to walk. Plus, it was a lot windier there, and my face started to feel like i was getting stabbed with little needles. Eek!
Anyway, by the time i had ran back to SP, i had only run 4.3 miles and felt like a block of ice (i had been outside for about a full hour). Time was running out, and i didn't want to give up, so i decided to finish what I could on the SP treadmill. After about a mile though, i got extremely bored (as i almost always do on treadmills), and pondered the idea of going back outside again (by this time my hands had thawed out). I was feeling a bit tired & weak though, so I downed some raspberry gel (basically sugar+ flavoring) and headed back outside. I stopped by my apartment though, to grab those small hand-warmers that I had bought at EMS (you just open up the sealed package and expose them to air, and they become like mini-heating pads for a few hours). I figured I could use them to prevent my hands from freezing on the rest of the run.
So this time I didnt run by the river, and just ran around SP and MIT (Albany, Landsdowne, Mass Ave, etc). Actually I did run along Memorial Drive (and back) but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as actually crossing the river. I did use the heating pad in my right hand, and it was a godsend. My mp3 player was also a godsend..i ended up listening to Celia Cruz for the last few miles or so. I basically ran and ran until the Garmin said I had run 10 miles. By that time it was about 5 to 9am, but whatever. I went inside and stretched, drank some water, ate some crackers and attempted to take a shower in 5 minutes (it ended up being more like 10). After getting dressed, throwing my stuff together and grabbing an apple from the fridge and an ice pack from the freezer, I ran out the door. Since it was Saturday, the shuttles weren't running so I had to walk to E38..so by the time I got there I was more than fashionably late (try 9:40). Oh well..by that time I had already had an adventurous day, and it was great. :)
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