I knew days in advance that the forecast was calling for snow on the morning of my 18 mile run. While not ideal, I thought it would be ok. It might even be peaceful. What I was picturing was gently falling flakes indicative of a typical late fall/early winter snow in the Midwest. I was even uncharacteristically positive minded about the endeavor as you can see in the photo below, right before I started running.
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| Hopeful, optimistic and expecting a "Normal Rockwell run" |
That did not last long.
From the very first step, snow was pelting me in the face. I had thought putting on a visor would keep the precipitation out of my eyes. Turns out that doesn't really work when wind is blowing from every direction. where was the Norman Rockwell run I had envisioned in my head?
I ran the first 3 1/2 miles solo on my way to meet up with some brave and kind-hearted friends who agreed to run part of the way with me. My heels hurt from the very first step and I realized I was probably nursing a pretty decent case of plantar fasciitis, a runner's nemesis. The snow was stinging my face, my feet hurt and I had hours of this ahead of me. I honestly didn't know if I would make it the whole way. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Thank goodness soon I would get some company.
I couldn't have been happier when I saw my friend Barb running towards me with a bottle of Gatorade. Well, I could have been happier if it was 70 degrees and sunny, but I'm trying to be realistic here. Barb joined me as we ran to a local park to pick up my friend Jessica and her teenage daughter Kiersten. I stopped at Jess' van and she handed me some Sport Beans which I washed down with some of Barb's Gatorade and then the 4 of us set off.
It was nice to have people around me chatting and laughing. It took my mind off the slushy trail, my wet clothes and my aching heels. Our little group ran together for 4 or 5 miles and even enjoying a few brief stretches of clean pavement. This wasn't so bad after all.
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| This isn't so bad with company! |
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| A bunch of runner-sicles |
Before I knew it, it was time for Barb, Jess and Kiersten to leave me and hand me off to my even braver friend Angie, who would be running the remaining 11 miles with me. Now Angie should be given a medal for what she endured for several reasons: 1) she had absolutely nothing to train for and was running with me just to be nice, 2) the weather was about to get really bad, and 3) I'm really stubborn determined.
So I'm now about 7 miles in, already soaking wet, have 11 more miles to go and now the weather is starting to get worse. We get to a park shelter and set down my bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water that Angie brought me. Jess hands me a few more Sport Beans before she takes off. Angie and I set off chatting, well at this point, Angie is mainly trying to convince me to take one of her hats because she's sure I'm gonna catch pneumonia. (Don't worry mom - I've apparently got surrogate moms out here.)
We did see a few things that amused us as we ran along the trail. The most intriguing to me was this little guy. After all, it was only at 9:00 am on a snowy Saturday morning near a college campus. Who is ambitious enough to have built a snowman by that point?
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| Who builds a snowman this early in the morning? |
As Angie and I put a few miles behind us my cold, wet clothes and shoes are now starting to get heavy. Finally I asked Angie if it would be ok to make a small detour from the trail to run to my house so I could go in and change into dry clothes. She said, "I was HOPING you would say that!" so off we went in search of clothing that didn't drip. Once at my house, I changed my socks, shoes, shirt, jacket and hat for dry versions and we took off for the remaining 8 miles. A couple weeks ago was the first training run during which I stopped to buy a snack. This was the first training run that involved a wardrobe change.
We headed back in the direction we came from and found our way back to the shelter where I stashed my drinks 7 miles earlier. Keep in mind I set them on a park bench that was covered by a shelter. This is what I came back to.
Now the wind had picked up substantially. It was biting and made for whiteout conditions at several points. We also narrowly missed by inches getting hit on the head by a five foot long branch that had cracked and fell onto the trail right in front of us. To add insult to injury, the accumulating snow on the branches was getting knocked off in chunks now and it felt like the trees were pelting us with snowballs. Several times Angie and I looked at each other and shouted over the howling winds "This is INSANE!"
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| This is insane. |
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| Really insane. |
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| The branch of death |
I managed to get another 2 miles or so before my new shoes were completely soaked. By now I had to go to the bathroom so we sought out the warmth of the train station restroom. It was going to be great - there they had heat, and flushing toilets, and water fountains. The thought of these things kept me going for the half mile to this mecca of modern conveniences. As I ducked into a stall, Angie stood in front of the hand dryer and waved her hands under the hot air in an attempt to warm them up. Once in the heavenly warm bathroom stall I went to pull off the various layers of wet clothing but soon discovered every time I looked down, snow would drip off my visor and onto my bare legs. Not a pleasant surprise.
Post bathroom break, we only had about 2 and half miles to go. We. Could. Do. This! It was becoming clear that the temperature had dramatically decreased by this time. I decided to run past my car so I could pick up some gloves that I left in there. I also getting hungry and looking forward to breaking into the banana I had stored there. It was hard to break off bites because it was almost frozen.
We ran on. Angie tried to get my mind off how miserable we were by asking me what I wanted to eat when we got done. The prevailing idea was a cheese pizza. (Sadly, I never got said cheese pizza. Maybe next time.) We were ticking off more and more distance and the wind was blowing harder and harder. Angie starts asking me if I'm doing ok and if I "just want to be done" and stop right then and there. I decline, thinking this madness has got to end at some point.
Mercifully it does.
Angie helps me scrape the snow off my car and hops in for me to drive her back to her car. It's only about a half mile away but we've both gone far enough on our feet. As I prepare to drive out of the parking lot, I look in the mirror and see how ridiculous we look.
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| We make snow look good |
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| This is the face of determination....and snow |
Thus ended probably the most miserable marathon training run of my life. I honestly don't think I could have finished it without the help of my awesome friends Jessica, Barb, Kiersten, Angie...and my friend Jeffrey who was desperately trying to get there to meet us for the last few miles. I feel like these folks earn even more badass points than I do because they didn't HAVE to be out there. They didn't have a marathon to train for. They were simply there because I needed them. And they answered the call. I am so grateful. Thank you all.
Oh - and when I got back home and checked my phone for messages, I discovered my niece Addison is a lot like her aunt. Turns out she doesn't like running in miserable weather any more than I do.
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| Addison is NOT impressed. |
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