Tis the season....

Well those 64 degree temps are gone. :-( Winter has set in and we are lucky if the high temp hits 50 all the sudden! This means 5am runs are in 30 degrees and under. Talk about lack of motivation! It's really hard for me to let Hattie out at 4:30am when the 25 degree wind chill slaps me in the face as I open the door.... and turn around and not crawl into my warm, cozy bed. I guess this is to be expected since we are 1 week from Christmas :-/

Saturday we got lucky and had some warmer weather than expected. I did a 5.2 mile run from the rec through town. This was supposed to be a 7 mile run and I felt great and have no doubt I coulda gone 7, but the temp was dropping (it was 14 degrees colder 46 min later) and a cold rain started hitting me at mile 2. I had on shorts and a t-shirt. But hey.... 5.2 miles is better than zero miles. I had a nice enjoyable run & it made me regain some much needed motivation.

It was too hard for me this morning though. I skipped. I was going to meet Lana at the rec for 8 miles. Unforseen circumstances rose to the occasion, therefore I did not get any sleep. The sleep I was enduring felt like.... half sleep. Or sleep in a dump truck going 80mph. So at 4:30, I think I was still half sleeping and knowing I hadn't taken in any food since lunch the day before... I didnt feel like 8 miles was a good thing for me. I did happen to meet her there last night for a bit of weight lifting and a swim attempt! Yep that's right folks.... I actually DID attempt to swim this time. It was not pretty. It was not as ugly as last time, but it was not pretty. I actually made it to the other end of the pool for the first time without stopping! I know that's pretty pathetic but I am completely intimidated by the water. I've never liked being under water... I feel like I am suffocating. I've got big issues. Almost everytime I come up for a breath of air, I get about 1/10th of the breath in only to realize I had water all in my throat and so BOOM! It stops my breath and decides to strangle me. DIDN'T TAKE! So there I am gasping and wheezing for air! And thinking "I need to go home. This sport is not for me."

Today at lunch I managed to slide in 4 miles - 36:29. I was proud of myself for getting out and not being lazy. So now.... it's reward time! I get to curl up on the couch in my pj's with a cup of starbucks hot chocolate that Mary Beth gave me for my birthday! Speaking of that... here are some pics from last Thursday.