Saturday, February 6, 2010

Feb 6: 20.5 Mile Long Run in the Snow

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win." - Tom Fleming's Boston Marathon training sign on his wall

I stepped outside for my run around 3PM and it was so bright out that I went back inside and got my sunglasses to shield the intense whiteness. I also had on my ninja mask again, and put on the Yaktrax which are AWESOME in this type of weather. I finally headed out and ran to route 28, turned right and saw no cars. The snow was packed down from the plows so I was getting excellent traction with the yaktrax. I wasn't sure how long I was going to run today. But I had a feeling I was going long. I was running purely by feel. I ran towards QO road and saw several traffic lights out. Some of the areas(including Beth's) had no power. Thankfully my house didn't go out of power. I ran on QO and stopped when an ambulance went by(since I had been running in the road). I saw a few people walking. It was like a changed world. Everything was still. Everything stopped. I ran towards Kentlands and decided to zigzag through there a while. No stores open. I kept my pace moderate. In the Kentlands, there were more people shoveling. One guy who saw me run by said, "Now that's dedication." I thought to myself, it's just another run. But it is being dedicated that gets me out the door. After about an hour, I meandered out of the Kentlands and ran other places before turning down QO road again to run towards Beth's house to check on her. Unfortunately, she and her family had been out of power since 1AM last night!! I was worried she was cold. Her street hadn't been plowed, so they couldn't get their cars out anywhere! It was a helpless situation. Or was it? I reached her neighborhood, and to my discovery, about halfway up the long hill to her house, it was plowed, but then the rest UNTOUCHED. WTF. So I stopped running and trudged through the snow step by step towards her house. Almost..there. Jesus. This was some storm. Finally, I saw her Mom shoveling outside and saw my sweetie poor Beth freezing and her Dad. I told them half their street is plowed but obviously not all the way up the hill. Since Jono(my brother) and I had shoveled our driveway this morning, we were able to get out of our neighborhood(well in the Trailblazer). So I told them we could drive there to pick them up and take them to our house. They would have to walk through some snow to get there but it was definitely worth it. They were happy I came by and I was happy to see Beth. I chugged some Gatorade and went on my way. Later on Jono and I drove there to pick them up, so now they are at our house thankfully. But my run ended up being, as I thought it would be, a 20.5 mile long run, moderate though. After I ran to visit Beth, I ran back through other neighborhoods and eventually towards my neighborhood. I felt good even though I kept the pace moderate, towards the end I ran faster though which felt great. Good to get in the long run today. As the sun came out I smiled. Total Time: 2Hours and 23 Minutes.

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