My second-worst run ever...

First of all... congratulations to Casey, for finishing her 20 mile run! She'll be gone for almost 2 weeks after this, and I will miss her terribly while she's away.

Now...let's talk about these "weather conditions" Casey mentioned below for a moment. Due to the ice storm in the Northeast that you may have heard about (or experienced first-hand) our group run was moved from the scenic, peaceful sanctuary of the Niskayuna bike path (where we have had all of our group runs to date) to the State Office campus... a 2 mile loop of arterial roads and overpasses that circle the office complex. As you can imagine, compared to the tree lined bike path with a view of the peacefully flowing Mohawk River, the honking and screeching of SUV tires and ice-slicked asphalt was a slightly less soothing environment. It was also a lovely 12 degrees out, with a windchill of about -80.

Only a brave few attempted to conquer the inclement weather, and with Casey's 20 and my 10 miles on deck, we chose to give it a shot. As Casey will attest to, I've been relatively good about keeping the whining and complaining down to a bare minimum during these Saturday morning group runs, despite the fact that they get me out of bed at 5:40am on my precious weekends and it's freezing cold out, which I hate. Unfortunately, this Saturday proved to be too formidable an opponent for my recent good cheer. About 1/3 of the way through lap #3, somewhere near mile 5, I called it quits, and just before mile 6, Casey agreed. I went back to my apartment complex and did another mile on the treadmill, and Casey went back out on Sunday, determined to get in her 20 miles.

The thing is, it wasn't even the cold temperatures alone that scared me away. We've been running in the cold, and I can handle it. It was the entire environment as a whole, which further proves to me that this running business is just as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Yes, my muscles hurt in weird ways when it's cold out - but that wasn't what stopped me. I've grown comfortable with the bike path - I know where the mile markers are, I know what is ahead of me and what's behind. The dog walkers, bike riders, bird hunters and fellow runners all afford me a sense of comfort and camaraderie...but pounding pavement in circles on a 4 lane roadway, even with my best friend in the entire world on one side and our ever-inspirational mentor on my other wasn't enough to save me.

I'm really hoping next weekend's run (which I will be doing without Casey, much to my dismay) is back on the bike path...

~RSF