Winter Arrives

My Honda's under there...somewhere.

   There are a handful of Canadian running bloggers I follow on a regular basis and they, already, have had to come to grips with winter in Canada. Yesterday, it was my turn.
   My part of London got dumped on overnight Saturday, to the tune of about 70 centimeters (slightly over 2 feet), even though the east end of the city only officially got about 11 centimetres. Looking at the weather radar first thing Saturday morning was interesting--one narrow lake effect blizzard knifing in off Lake Huron and, basically, just hitting my part of London. We're so lucky. Glad the boys were with us this weekend or I'd still be shovelling!
   Of course, I knew winter was coming. I didn't expect it all at once but that's beside the point. Funny thing is, as I was shovelling yesterday I couldn't help but think to myself cool, I get to run in the snow again. 


Patio furniture--that's the table on the right.

   Last winter, my first as a runner, was filled with many memorable cold-weather runs and I survived them all. This year, I see no reason not to continue enjoying them. At the same time, I also now have access to a treadmill, courtesy of the local Goodlife Fitness centre. Nice to have an option! The only thing is, you don't hear about too many runners who are in love with their treadmills, so I think this might be a last resort more than anything else.
   Last year, I also promised myself some running tights for when the weather got like this. I had been running in old baggy sweatpants and that just wasn't cutting it at the time. Well, it looks like another month or so of baggy sweatpants as I can't really see footing the expense for tights this close to Christmas (did I mention I was poor? yes, in a much earlier post), I try not to let my running break the house budget too much. Hmmm....they would make an awesome present, though....
   So I look forward to hearing all your winter wonderland running tales! Hopefully I won't hear about too much actual frostbite or nasty falls! And, at the same time, I will also enjoy all the pics from places like Florida, California, Texas (apart from the occasional arctic blast they seem to get there) and Africa. Maybe someday I'll be off somewhere warm this time of year........
  

In Which Me Asks Myself "Am I A Real Runner?"

Me: Good Morning, how are you?
Myself: Oh, not bad thanks, how are you?
Me: Hey, not bad at all. Was wondering if you could help me with something.
Myself: Go ahead, shoot.
Me: Okay...now I know I've asked you before but I was wondering if you could maybe tell me again...
Myself: Yes?
Me: I was wondering. Am I a "real runner"?
Myself: Oh, for goodness sake! AGAIN? (sighs)
Me: I know, we've talked about this before...and I thought I had a bit of a handle on it...but...
Myself: Okay, I don't mind doing this one more time, here we go. "Do you run?"
Me: No
Myself: What? Any other time I asked, you said "Yes".
Me: I know...(anxiously)
Myself: So what's different now? Are you injured?
Me: No, not really.
Myself: Well then, is it just a really busy time of year and you haven't had the opportunity to get out there?
Me: Don't think so, it hasn't been any busier than last year at this time and I was running tons back then.
Myself: So is it just a motivation issue?
Me: Not sure what else it could be. It feels stupid cuz I remember all the times I was desperate to run but I couldn't. And now that I can run....I'm not! I hear about all these injured runners out there and it's almost like hey, wanna borrow my legs, cuz they're perfectly fine and I'm not usin' them anyway!
Myself: Hmmm. How's your weight?
Me: Yeah, it's going up a little. I don't run and that's what happens...
Myself: So are you watching what you eat?
Me: You bet. I watch it on the plate, I watch it onto my fork and then I watch it go into my mouth.
Myself: You're funny. Not. What's the snacking like, still doing the celery and peanut butter thing?
Me: Yep. And then I do the ice cream thing, the chip thing, the chocolate bar thing, and the buttered popcorn thing. And lord help me if there's leftovers from dinner...
Myself: Oh. My. God.
Me: I know. It's bad, isn't it?
Myself: You bet. I don't even really know what to say or suggest doing differently. So do you miss it, the running?
Me: I do, I used to live for the run days and was always sort of at loose ends if it wasn't one. And now I pretty well couldn't care less. So that's why I asked you again if you thought I was a real runner. It's almost as if I can feel it all slipping away.
Myself: Okay, here's what I know. Running will always be there for you. As much as you might not always be there for it, it will be like the most faithful and forgiving girlfriend you could ever wish for. It will pass no judgement and will greet you with open arms whenever you choose to run again. And when you do go back to it, cuz you and I know you will, it will once again give you back more than you could possibly give it in return. 
Me: You're sure about that...?
Myself: No doubt about it. And as to that "Am I a real runner" thing you keep springing on me, I don't think there's a runner out there who at some point didn't have that very same question, possibly over and over again. And I think a lot of them maybe even stopped running altogether, for whatever reason, and wondered what role it played in their lives. And then...because they were a real runner...they ran!
Me: Okay. (pause) Cool.

Yes, It's That Time

   I went for large chunks of late spring, the summer, and early fall without being able to run on any kind of regular basis. There were a variety of reasons for this and at this point the reasons have been exhausted.
   So you'd think I'd be out every day running my little heart off and jumping for joy at the same time!
   Well, I'm not.
   Don't get me wrong, I love the idea that I'm able to. For what it's worth, though, back when I was running regularly I was also into the routine of it, both logistically and motivationally. I knew ahead of time what days I would be running and I planned the rest of my life around that. Motivationally-speaking, the fact that I was making steady progress also helped greatly to make sure that I was getting out there, maybe even on days when the weather was crappy or I was already tired.

   Nowadays, it's little difficult because I've lost quite a bit of what I'd gained over the winter and there is very much a starting all over again kind of feeling. That's a bit of a mental setback, for sure. It's a little hard having to work your butt off just to get back to where you were before.
   I also miss having stuff to blog about! When you're injured, you can sometimes at least blog about your injury and how it's progressing (or not), how the latest doctor appointment went, what the newest therapy tool is, etc. When there is no longer a viable injury to discuss, no races have been run and no real training regimen to comment on it's just a touch difficult to blog. Sort of like today!
   I have gotten out a couple of times this past week and it was rough. The running has not been terribly easy and I have only been doing 5k runs to this point. I used to be able to run a full 5k without stopping but not now. So that is a goal, for sure, either to run them faster or to run them without stopping. I never seem to be sure when I head out whether I want to simply run the whole way or whether I want to beat the last time I posted. It seems as though I can run hard for spurts, then walk, and get a decent time. If I run slow enough, I can run the whole thing but the time then suffers.
   At this point, I'm inclined to go for the fastest times. At some point this pretty well has to end up with me running the whole way, doesn't it? Gonna be a lot of work but that's okay.