Just say no to Man Tights

Hey all! Hope your week is going well and the best part is it's almost half over!! Come on weekend!

SO, back to last weekend. Sat morning was our 15 mile long run. Just like the rest of the country we were under "Winter Blast 07" watch and it was hella cold. I think it was around 23 degrees around 9:30 when we headed out to run. FAR too cold for me!! (And I know it's been a lot colder than that where a lot of you guys live but it's all relative! This is the South!!) As soon as we started out I knew it was going to be a LONG run - the wind was making me tear up involuntarily, making me voluntarily want to tear up! We ran the same route we ran last week, but added on the 4 mile loop we skipped. So, once again we ran from our house, past the Stadium, into downtown, up Music Row, past Belmont Univ, on to Athlete's House to refill our water bottles and enjoy some of their Gatorade and then out to a little 4-mile neighborhood loop before heading out. The great thing about this course is that most of it is part of the Country Music Half Marathon course. It's also great training for Atlanta because Nashville is hilly and so is the Georgia course. On our way out we ran into the wind, mostly uphill, around 10 min miles. On the return trip we ran with the wind at our backs, more downs than ups, around 9.30 miles. We split up to run our own paces for the last 1.5 miles and I finished my last mile sub 9 mins, uphill. Go me!! There's a long hill in Georgia from mile 23 to 24, so I'm working long ups into the last portion of our runs. That's really not hard because no matter which direction you head back to our house it's a long, steep uphill. It was a cold run, challenging course, and I felt good at the end. I could've run 11 more miles, even on such a brutal day. But there was one thing bothering me.....

I don't have a nice pair of running tights. They're so pricey and since we don't have very many truly cold days I've never invested in them. I have some lighter weight running pants and some super thick fleece lined running pants but no tights. Brent has TWO pairs of tights. So, Sat morning I asked him if I could wear a pair. He was nice and let me wear his good Mizuno ones. From the get-go I could tell they were a little uncomfortable in my non-man parts. As the run went on they were more and more uncomfortable, and my last miles were probably faster because I wanted to be rid of them ASAP. But wow, I had NO clue. Let's just say the degree of chafing I had in a very personal area was pretty unbelievable and insanely painful. Brent was a little sore and chafed in various places post run, but all weekend he started sentences about his aches and pains with "I know you're hurting more, BUT.....". Thankfully time and loose pants has greatly helped because I was NOT looking forward to the very embarrassing and personal visit to a doc for THAT one. I'm not sure what's different about man tights but I will never be wearing them again. And don't bother asking for pics, because there won't be any!

Sunday morning I was shocked to see a fresh coating of snow on the ground!! I quickly laced up my trail shoes, thanked Pippin for waking me up far earlier than I needed to get up, and headed out for a quick run. It was truly just a dusting - MAYBE a half inch - but enough for me to enjoy! I think it was 17 degrees or something ridiculous. I grabbed my cell phone and bundled up. In most spots in our neighborhood I was the first pair of tracks through the snow. Every once in a while I'd meet a dog walker - one called me "crazy" - but wasn't he out there too??? I looped our neighborhood and the lake at Shelby Park to make a quick 3.6 mile run. When I got back Brent was up so we took Pippin for a quick walk so Brent could enjoy the snow, too. By the end of my run most of it was already starting to melt!! There wasn't enough for a snowman but we did have a decent snowball fight.





















As much fun as we've had in our two tiny snows I am ready for spring and short sleeves and tank tops and yardwork!! And I'm scared to death about what our next heating bill is going to be!!!!!!!

My fave pic from Sunday's snow: These two boys headed to the park to sled on .5 inch of rapidly melting snow. It really doesn't take much snow here to create a sledding frenzy. I was the same way growing up.













Take care!
Rachel

WIDTW-
Sun - 3.6 mile run, .8 mile walk with Pips
Mon - 45 mins Killer Butt, .6 mile walk with Pips
Tues - 4.25 mile run, .6 mile walk with Pips