BAA Bans Cheeseburgers?!

The word is out and everyone's all a-buzz about the hefty restrictions put on runners and spectators for this year's Boston Marathon.  Many have argued that the controversial list of banned items is too restrictive and will not only have no real benefit of added security, but will take away from the experience of the runners.
The following list of banned items is taken directly from the BAA website (as well as emailed to each participant):

Prohibited items for official participants: The following items are prohibited from entering any Marathon venue, including the course, Athletes’ Village near the start in Hopkinton, start or finish area, and all officially-sanctioned Marathon events:

• Backpacks, any similar item carried over the shoulder, or handbags of any size
• Glass containers
• Any container capable of carrying more than 1 liter of liquid
• Strollers, including baby strollers
• Suitcases & rolling bags
• Personal hydration system products (such as CamelBak®, Thor®, etc)
• Weight vests or any sort of vest with pockets (Note: lightweight running vests are allowable)
• Costumes covering the face or any non-form fitting, bulky outfits extending beyond the perimeter of the body
• Props (including sporting equipment and military and fire/gear and signs or flags larger than 11 inches x 17 inches)
• Any item larger than 5 inches x 15 inches x 5 inches

What's important to remember is that this restriction list isn't limited to the course itself.  It includes all "marathon venues", which could include the start area, finish area, or anywhere in between.  It's sad to think that no one with children will be allowed to use a stroller, or bring a diaper bag, to the race.  I remember last year, I may never have survived if Julia's husband Tony hadn't strolled up to us with their kids, given me the shirt off his back, and handed me his kid's peanut butter sandwich.  You know what I think they should ban? Sports beans.  I get annoyed listening to them rattle in runners' pockets like little mini maracas for 26 miles.

I'm pretty bummed about the costume restriction.  Not that I would wear a costume, but as a back-of-the-packer, I sure get to see a lot of them!  Remember all the cheeseburgers I saw last year?  I can only imagine all the runners right now that are frantically trying to redesign their cheeseburgers into something more form-fitting, like maybe tacos?  And what about the guy with the Pesky Pole hat?  I know I complained about him last year but now I'm worried I won't see him.

I'm also pretty disappointed about the restriction on props.  Again, not that I would ever bring one, but it's extremely inspiring seeing military and fire personnel running or marching the course in full gear and oversized flags.  I'm going to miss that a lot.

It goes on to say: 

Anyone on the course for any distance who has not been assigned, or is not displaying, an officially issued bib number from the B.A.A. is subject to interdiction. The B.A.A. reserves the right to remove any person from the course who is not displaying an official bib that has been assigned by the B.A.A. Similarly, units or groups such as military ruck-marchers and cyclists, which have sometimes joined on course, will not be allowed to participate.

Banning military ruck marchers is just a bad call.  It's un-American, and overall bad karma.  Here's a juicy tidbit from a Runner's World article:

Last year when the bombs went off near the finish line, members of Tough Ruck...were among the first responders to help the wounded. Carlos Arrendondo, a Tough Ruck volunteer who is credited with saving the life of Jeff Bauman who later went on to positively identify alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was also at the scene.

I caught a clip of the newly elected Mayor Marty Walsh addressing the issue of bandit runners.  His comment was, "If you don' have a numbah, don' even botha runnin'.  Ya gettin' pulled off the coss".  (This guy's accent is so thick and awesome, he could have starred in Good Will Hunting).

And my personal worst:

New for this year, there will be a “no bags” policy for the 2014 Boston Marathon.

Frequently a marathon, especially a point-to-point race, will have a bag check option.  Each runner can fill a bag with some essentials that they will need after the race.  Usually, and most importantly, clothes.  But also specialty food items, especially if you have a sensitive stomach and can't rely on whatever the race provides.  I remember last year how carefully I had stocked that bag with everything I felt I needed to have a good post-race experience, only to be blocked from getting at my bag after the race.  I remember how hopeless I felt, like a refugee.  The thought of feeling like that again makes my stomach turn.

For everyone's sake, I really do hope that the race this year is successful and most importantly safe.  But at what cost?  I just wonder how much freedom we have to give up to feel secure.  One of my favorite things about running is feeling free, being able to just float down the street, letting go of stress and the daily grind.  Last year I remember everyone saying "Thank God you're alive, thank God you're safe", and running isn't supposed to be dangerous or life threatening.  I hate the thought of needing to put such tight security around a running event, and I pray this doesn't become the new normal.  Because the thing is, I really love cheeseburgers.

Two of my deadliest things

I thought I'd end the week by highlighting a couple of my most dangerous running things.

1. Laundry
I try to keep up with laundry, especially lately with the amount of sweat I'm producing thanks to Boston Marathon/Triathlon training. Who's idea was it to train for two major events at once?

Here's a glimpse of the gear I've sweat through just since the Hyannis half marathon on Sunday:

That's nine, count-em, nine shirts. Two swimsuits, many sports bras, various shorts, and too many socks to fit in the picture.  (For your sake I didn't include underwear.  You're welcome).  In fact, during my 7 mile treadmill run on Wednesday, I actually paused and changed into new dry clothes!  Forget Tide Sport, Tide with Febreeze, or Tide with Downy.  There's so much sweat baked into these clothes, soon I'll need Tide with Penicillin.  

2. The pony tail

I've mentioned a time or two about how dangerous my pony tail gets when I'm running.  My pony tail creates such a stir it practically needs its own zip code.  Anyone within a 2-3 treadmill distance of me at the gym is in jeopardy of getting sprayed by this sweat nozzle, and now that I have my own treadmill at home, the poor cat has never been saltier.  If you think I'm exaggerating, I finally have it on film.  Here's a little mash up I made of the finish line photos from the Hyannis half marathon.  You can see the amazing arc my pony tail takes, and I think if you could pan out enough, you'd probably see the spectators looking up in the sky wondering where the rogue rain shower is coming from.

Have a great weekend!

Hyannis recap

This past weekend was my fourth running of the Hyannis Half Marathon, and it was by far my favorite one yet.  The weather was an ideal 46 degrees and sunny, with a light breeze.  After all the rotten snow and cold and ice of this winter, this run was a real treat!  A bunch of us headed down to Hyannis on Saturday and spent the night in the hotel right at the start line.  It's a huge convenience to stay right on property and I highly recommend it!  We got to the hotel just before the race expo closed, grabbed our goods, and then checked into our rooms.  We were all starved so we headed out to dinner, but then got turned away from two restaurants because of long waits, and ended up at a quiet bar and grille.  We were a little skeptical because the place was nearly empty, but the food was great, the beer was great, and it was very reasonably priced! 

Chicken parm, yum!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, with plans to get changed and meet back up in the hot tub.  I had a bit of a headache and decided to lay down for a minute, which turned into getting under the covers, and then realizing Twilight Breaking Dawn was on, and that was the end of my interest in the hot tub!  I think I was sound asleep by 9pm!

Sunday morning we all met up in the lobby for breakfast.  We had all been worried about Julia, who had gone to a chiropractor earlier in the week for a calf issue, and walked out of there with a bruise covering the entire bottom half of her leg.  It was (and I mean this with love, Julia) completely disgusting and horrifying. She had only just begun bearing full weight on the leg, and hadn't really run in a couple weeks.  We were calling it her corpse leg, because it really looked like it belonged in a morgue.  Julia went over to the Spaulding booth at the expo where they were offering kinesio taping, and they fixed her up with the most amazing tape job:

Her leg looks like a Jackson Pollock painting!

 My breakfast consisted of a half bagel with peanut butter, a Starbucks breakfast blend, two doses of Pepto, and then a honey stinger waffle right before the race.  That all seemed to do the trick, it gave me the perfect balance of energy without tummy troubles.  Every time I run past a porta potty without stopping is like a personal victory to me!

We stopped just before the race for a quick photo op, then headed into the corral.

The "before" shot

My plan all along was to treat this race as a training run, since it was my longest run so far this season.  To help me stick with my plan I wore my fuel belt and started pretty far back in the corral.  I wanted to stick to 10 minute miles (or so) since that is my long slow distance pace.  Some people say they get too caught up in the race to treat it like a training run, but I've been pretty disciplined this season on my road to recovery, and I really felt that I would stick to my plan.  I started off the run with Ron, so that was nice to have some company.  It was good for him too, since he's had some leg issues lately.  Each of our miles were between 9:35-9:45, so we were cruising along a little faster than I expected but still totally acceptable.  At about mile 8.5 I decided to take a short walk break to pull myself together a bit, take a good drink, and settle in.  Ronnie kept running, and I walked for about 20 seconds and then continued on.  The rest of my run was great, and I did stop one or two more times for short walk breaks.  At mile 11 I started listening to my iPod, because I'm planning to do that towards the end of Boston.  For some reason mile 11 seemed to take forever, but then I hit mile 12 and it seemed like instantly I was at the finish line.  I was thrilled to cross the finish line feeling so good, strong, and not tired or nauseous!  This was my best long run yet.  I wish all my long runs could be races!  My final time was 2:11 with a 9:55 pace, so I was very pleased to meet my pace goal.

Happy finishers!

I was thrilled that my foot held up so well on this run, and never really got too tight afterwards.  The next morning it was tight, but no worse than any other shorter run.  My quads were (and still are) a bit sore.  I did a 4 mile recovery jog on the treadmill yesterday and then an hour of cycling, and the cycling really seemed to help.  So, to everyone who was anxiously wondering if it was possible... the answer is yes, it is possible to run a half marathon with a longest run of less than 11 miles, and substituting several runs with snowshoeing and cycling!

Olympics & winter training at its worst

Tomorrow I head to Hyannis for the Hyannis Half Marathon.  This will be my fourth appearance at this race, so I'm pretty excited to carry on the tradition for another year!  Training for it has been a bit of a challenge, but with several 10-11 mile runs under my belt at this point, I think I'll be okay.  My plan is to take it easy and treat it as a training run, and most importantly to just have fun!  I'm thrilled but skeptical to hear that the weather is actually looking promising: 40 degrees and sunny.  This breaks Hyannis tradition of reliably crappy weather, so I'm curious what rogue storm will blow in and surprise us!

Did I mention weather, and how challenging training has been?  There have been snowstorms every other day it seems, and it's really made my training a challenge.  I've missed several runs in the last couple of weeks due to weather.  I hate to seem like I'm making excuses, because I know so many other people that have still managed to get out in the dark, the cold, the ice, the snow, and yet for one reason or another I just can't do it.  At least the good news is I've gotten in a ton of snowshoeing, which is excellent cross training!  Every time I snowshoe in the deep snow I can feel it in my hip flexors and glutes, and that's exactly where I get sore after long runs.  I'm not a fan of snow, but I may as well take advantage of it while I can!

With Jackie!

Mom sporting the vintage shoes!

I'm not totally full of excuses.  I did make several attempts to get my runs in on the treadmill at the gym.  I ran into some problems here too though!  Sunday I got to the gym an hour or so before it closed, figuring I could get in 6-8 miles on the treadmill.  There's a 30 minute limit on the treadmill but I figured no one's going to be at the gym right before it closes on a Sunday.  Right?  Wrong.  While I'm running, suddenly everyone wanted a treadmill and when the line was 4 deep waiting for a machine, I finally relented and jumped off.  I only ended up getting in 4 miles.  On Monday morning I went back to the gym, swam in the pool, and then changed to run on the treadmill.  They were all taken and several people were in line waiting.  I waited as long as I could, but had an appointment and ended up having to leave without even running.  Any idea how frustrating that is?  For me, it was frustrating enough that after my appointment, I went straight to Sports Authority and bought a treadmill.  No joke.  It got delivered yesterday, and I splurged for the $70 assembly fee.  By 5PM last night, my treadmill was all set up and begging to be used!

I don't know why there's a sombrero in the corner.  Now I feel compelled to wear it.

It's super fancy too.  I didn't really need a lot of bells and whistles but they sure are nice to have!  This one has a built in fan, iPod connector, and a huge speaker.  It also has "quick speed" buttons that are very convenient, to instantly bump you to a different speed without having to continuously press the increase/decrease button.

I know everyone complains about the agonizing runs on the "dreadmill", but I couldn't be happier with my decision to buy this.  Having this treadmill just lifted a huge stress off my shoulders.  I never have to worry about it being too cold, icy, dark, early, late, or hot to run, and I don't have to stress over not getting enough time on one of the treadmills at the gym.  I finally turned the tables, and took control over something that has been getting out of my control.  I ran 4 miles last night and 3 today, and I feel spoiled running on such a nice machine!

I've really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of snow.  These athletes are amazing to watch, and it's awesome seeing all the countries competing peacefully against each other.  I love watching the back stories about the athletes, hearing about how many of them have had to overcome serious obstacles to reach their goals.  It's inspiring, seeing all the work they've put into their training throughout the year, so that on race day they make it look easy.  That translates well into marathon and triathlon training!  My favorite sports to watch are the snowboarding events.  It's so exciting seeing all their tricks, but it's a dangerous sport.  I'm not talking about for the snowboarders.  I'm talking about for me, running on a treadmill, watching the snowboarders.  I get so into it, I'm running on the treadmill, I'm dropping my shoulder, I'm tucking my elbow, I'm rotating, and before I know it I'm tripping myself and nearly corking myself right off the side of the treadmill.

And finally, in my last blog post I mentioned how I signed up for the cycling program Torture Trainer Road.  After re-doing the 8 minute test with the power meter set up, my FTP (cycling term meaning functional threshold power) was reduced from the default 200 down to 146.  I think I should have been depressed about this, but I was delighted, because it meant they would scale my workouts down accordingly!  My triathlon training program (I know, I still owe you a post on this) calls for some pretty high volume cycling each week, so I'm thrilled to have this software kicking me into gear.  I'm pretty certain there's no way I'd be completing 60-90 minute trainer rides without it!  Here's what a completed workout looks like on Trainer Road:

Tough stuff

In other completely unrelated news, I got new glasses!  I ordered them through Warby Parker.  I really like this company, because for every pair of glasses they sell, they donate another pair, and the prices are very reasonable.  They even have a home try on service, where they'll send you five frames to try on and return.  I'm a big fan!

Stay tuned for next week's blog post, where I can tell you once and for all if it's possible to train for a half marathon almost exclusively through snowshoeing and cycling!

Don't Ask Me...

Over the last few days I've made a few teeny weenie mistakes, all of which were harmless and only result in some good entertainment.  I've never claimed to be an expert of any kind, so if you ever think of coming to me for advice... don't say I didn't warn you.

Don't ask me how long it takes to ride a bike for 8 minutes.  Okay let me back up a bit.  Last month I joined a triathlon club, MRA Multisport.  I know I have a lot to learn and these club members are more than eager to share their expertise.  Trainer Road seems to be the drug of choice... It's a software program for cycling that gathers all of your vital stats to create a personalized workout.  I'm not really a gadget/data junkie, and wasn't planning to participate in this, but supposedly this is the single best way to improve cycling so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Plus, Kristen signed up for it, so that was the kick I needed.  She posted on Facebook about how she completed the 8 minute test, and how difficult and yet awesome it was, and how quickly the time went by.  I mean... I don't want to say anything, but really Kristen, 8 minutes is a very short period of time.  Of course it flew by.
On Saturday I had done my long run (more on that later), so Sunday was going to be an easy day.  I did a yoga workout on my BOSU to get in a lot of stretching, and then decided to finally go for it and sign up for Trainer Road.  Since I have triathlon training starting soon (more on that in a future post) I knew that this program would be ideal to help me conquer those long rides.  And even though this was my rest day, I figured what the heck... it's only 8 minutes.  So, how hard could it be?
Well, I'll tell you.  The 8 minute test is actually an hour long.  I should have investigated this more thoroughly before I started.  I should have noticed something was up when it said to start off lightly spinning for 5 minutes.  As it turns out, it was a series of short sprints, followed by periods of recovery, followed by a series of 8 minute intervals where you are supposed to pedal just about at your maximum effort.  All the while the program is capturing all of your statistics to make it an interactive experience.
It was the hardest "eight minutes" of my life.  The amount of sweat rolling off me was dangerous.  There was sweat on my bike.  On the floor.  On the couch.  On my phone.  On the laptop.  On the cat.  On the TV.
After I finished the workout, I realized I made a fatal error and forgot to set the power meter, which was a critical piece of information it needed to give a complete performance assessment.  So guess what, now I get to take the test again!

Don't ask me how to get to Boston from Hopkinton.  On Sunday, Ronnie was running the marathon route to get in one of his long runs.  He had expected to meet up with other runners on the course but ended up being alone, so he asked me how to get to Boston College from there.  Here's how it went:
Ronnie: Do I just stay on 135 all the way to BC?
Jill: Well no, you stay straight on that road all the way to Newton, pass Newton Wellesley Hospital, go over 95, then when you see a fire house on the right, take that right, and go up Heartbreak Hill which is really only a slight uphill and probably won't really even look like a hill.

Fast Forward 2 hours, Ronnie calls me from the side of the road, lost in Wellesley, who insists he's still on 135 but doesn't think this is the right way.  I pulled up a map and realized he stayed on 135, which took a right, instead of staying straight and merging onto route 16.  Luckily I navigated him back on course, so when he then got lost on Heartbreak Hill, he has only himself to blame.

Don't as me what the current weather conditions are, at this very moment.  Because that would require me to look out a window, and if I had looked out a window before I dressed for my lunch time run, I may have seen the awful road conditions and thought better about heading out.  But once I was outside, in my running clothes, there was no way I was going back in.  Today's 4 mile lunch run was probably the worst road conditions I've ever run in, and I felt like an idiot for being out there.  I'm pretty sure everyone else was calling me an idiot and worse.  At one point a police officer drove by me, and I expected to be pulled over and ticketed for being an idiot.  Cars were sliding and skidding everywhere, and I had zero traction because the roads hadn't been treated yet.  The only cool thing about it was seeing all my foot prints on the way back, and having the nice soft snow to run in was a cool bonus cushion.

Week 7 recap
Staying right on track...
Total miles ran: 19.25 (long run 10.25)
Total miles biked: 27.25
Total yards swam: 1,900 yards
2 Bosu ball workouts

The highlight of this past week was definitely my long 10.25 mile run, which is my longest distance since training began.  It seemed so easy compared to last week's 8 miler!  The coolest thing was when I was running down a side road in Upton, and I passed a lady walking a dog.  As I passed her, she asked me if I was training for the marathon.  "Yes, I AM!" I responded.  She wished me good luck.  That added a little pep in my step!

This week is shaping up to be a bit more of a challenge, trying to squeeze in my runs in between snow storms.  As long as I don't have to do a 12 mile run on the treadmill, I think I'll be okay!

Training weeks 1-6 plus my favorite new toy

It's hard to believe I'm just finishing week 6 of my Boston Marathon training plan.  Maybe it's so hard to believe because I'm not logging nearly the same amount of miles as anyone else, or what I was doing last year at this time.  I'm trying really hard to grow wiser and healthier as I grow older, so I'm sticking to my own modified plan no matter what.  That can be tough to do when I see everyone else logging double digit long runs at this stage, and I'm just squeaking out 8.  I try not to compare myself to my peers so that I won't get discouraged, but it takes a lot of discipline.  With my modified training plan that I created for myself, my longest run will top out at around 16 miles.  This is going to make race day very challenging, but I'm stubborn enough to just gut out the last 10 miles, even if I walk a lot of it.  Maybe I'll stop and have a beer this time with the BC guys.

My training plan is a scaled down version of the Hal Higdon plan, with a few ground rules I set for myself:

• Run every other day whenever possible
• If I have to run back-to-back days, one of those runs must be at a very easy effort
• Try to hit the 10% rule: Increase weekly mileage by 10%
• Don't get caught up in other people's pace or distance
• Don't compare this year to last year
• Cross train
• Cross train
• Cross train

Here's how the last 6 weeks shaped up:
Week 1 total miles:
Run: 5.1 miles (long run 3 miles)
Swim: 450 yards
Bike: 16 miles

Week 2:
Run: 12.64 miles (long run 5 miles)
Swim: 2,600 yards
Bike: 5 miles

Week 3:
Run: 12.7 miles (long run 5 miles)
Swim: 3,800 yards
Bike: 10 miles

Week 4:
Run: 15.5 miles (long run 6.5 miles)
Swim: 1,200 yards
Bike: 0 miles

Week 5: 
Run: 19.2 miles (long run 6.85 miles)
Swim: 900 yards
Bike: 0 miles

Week 6:
Run: 18.2 miles (long run 8.15 miles)
Swim: 1,800 yards
Bike: 13 miles
Strength training: 65 minutes

Next week should be my first week hitting 20 miles, so I'm excited about that.  I need to do a better job of getting in the pool more than once a week, and as you can see I need to spend more time on the bike too.  I did a better job this week of using the weights at the gym, and I just bought myself the best new toy:

Have you ever used a BOSU ball?  This is my favorite new toy.  I used one a long time ago in PT after my hip surgery, and I remember how hard it was to balance on but how rewarding it was once I finally got the hang of it.  There are so many cool exercises to do, and trying to steady yourself on a wobbly surface while doing these exercises is a fun challenge!  I'm obsessed with it, and can't resist jumping on it every time I walk into the TV room.  I did the DVD workout this morning and by the time I was done I looked like I ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  There's a good chance I won't be able to get out of bed in the morning!

Ice Age

We're frigid, people!

This polar vortex has been the talk of the nation, and social media has been all a'twitter about it.  If you want to know the current temperature, look to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and you'll be inundated with dashboard thermometer pictures and weather.com screen shots.  And if you follow a lot of runners, the most common caption is something like, "Nailed my 10 miler in 8 degrees this morning (-25F wind chill)", or "0 degrees is still better than the dreadmill!".  Many of the photos are selfies, to further prove through visual evidence that they were, in fact, running in this frigid weather, and they do, in fact, have icicles hanging from their nose hairs.

I admit it, I posted one of those screen shots of the current temp.  But my caption was something like, "I'm so glad I'm not running today".  Clearly I need to read the Badass Running for Dummies* handbook again.
*This is not a real book. Yet.

Then you have Chicago being renamed "Chiberia", Niagara Falls freezing over, and parts of Minnesota recording temperatures lower than that on Mars (or was it the moon, I dunno...) and it's pretty clear that no matter what temperature you complain about, unless you live in Chicago, Niagara Falls, Minnesota, or Mars, you aren't impressing anyone with your tiny temperature digits.  This polar vortex has created a media frenzy, with endless comparisons to further emphasize the severity of the cold.  I heard that yesterday's temperature in Atlanta (where the summer Olympics were once held) was colder than Sochi, Russia (where this winter's Olympics are taking place).

The good news is the polar vortex has apparently shifted back up to where it belongs, but the bad news is that I'm still freezing.  I contemplated crawling into my sleeping bag while I ate my soup last night.

My runs over the last couple weeks haven't been too impacted by weather, but it can be tough getting the motivation to go outside and freeze when you're already inside freezing.  I've been sticking to my marathon training plan (which is a very modified version of the Hal Higdon plan), and so far I haven't missed a run.  I did run once last week during a snowstorm, which was pretty tricky.  The roads were very slick so I stuck to just running up and down my own road to stay safe.  My road averages about 2 vehicles an hour, and at least 1 of them is lost, so I felt safe enough running on it during the snow storm.  What I don't advocate is running on normal streets during a snowstorm.  I know I'm going to pick up some haters here, but running during a snowstorm on busy streets isn't badass.  It's foolish, dangerous, and reckless.  Not just for you, who could slip or twist something or get hit by a sliding car, but for the commuters and plow drivers and sanders and everyone else out there on the road trying to safely navigate through the snowy conditions.  I'm all about sharing the road and sticking to your training plan, but if you're a danger to drivers then find an alternative for just that one day.

Last Saturday, after the roads had cleared up from the storm, I met Julia for a 5 mile run in Uxbridge.  It was 20 degrees and blustery, and it was one of those days that it's a good thing I was meeting someone or I might have wussed out.  Our run was good, but there were several drivers that felt we shouldn't be out there on the road.  Some of the roads we were on had sidewalks which hadn't been plowed, but the roads were wide enough that there was plenty of room.  Still, we had some angry looks.  One guy even honked his horn and waved his arm at us to move over.  We were running as close to the snowbank as possible, it was a very quiet street, and there were no other cars coming.  Julia's Boston Marathon jacket didn't seem to gain any sympathy from drivers either.  We marveled at how quickly people forget about Boston.  These same people driving around with Boston Strong stickers on their cars are shooing us off the roads, apparently forgetting how that sentiment all came about, during a marathon, which we have to train for, in the winter.  Later in our run we had to cross over a narrow bridge, and although there wasn't a lot of traffic, naturally there would be cars everywhere once we got about halfway across the bridge.  A pickup truck coming towards us had to stop and wait for a bunch of cars to pass before he could get around us.  Julia and I both expected to get spit on, but we gave him a big wave and smile and he gave us a big wave back.  Maybe all is not lost with the world!

On Wednesday, Kerri and I went out for a 4 miler at lunch.  I knew it would be frigid and packed pretty much everything I owned into my gym bag.  I was way too bundled up and felt like I was running in a fat suit, so it was a much harder run than I expected.  It was 15 degrees out, and we had the wind in our faces on the way back.  As I undressed in the locker room I discovered that my legs were a very unusual reddish purple color.  I think maybe I need to invest in some pants with more wind resistance!  As a side note, I also noted that Andover drivers as a whole seem nicer than Uxbridge drivers.

Yesterday I decided to head out through the trail to run across the West Hill Dam and out on some flat roads in Uxbridge.  I was getting bored with going up my street and needed a change of scenery.  That turned out to be a futile effort, because there was so much ice on all of the trails that I couldn't even get to the dam!  Instead I ended up just doing some trail running on bare sections of trails, until I'd hit another glacier and have to turn around.  It was frustrating but not really that bad.  It was actually kind of a nice change of pace from asphalt and cars and constantly checking my watch, and I think my feet really appreciated running on a softer surface than the frozen pavement.

So, listen up Mother Nature.  I know last summer when it was 100 degrees every day and I was dying, I swore that I would never, ever complain about being cold this winter.  I also may have mentioned recently in a blog post that I'd take a 20 degree run over an 80 degree run.  But that wasn't supposed to be a personal challenge to freeze me to death.  Go ahead and warm up you frigid beast.