Athletic Character Building (aka Running in Crappy Weather)

Winter, it would seem, is attempting to show its ugly little head...at the very least, it's feeling a whole lot more like late fall in the Midwest. A couple of weeks ago, Michele, Kerry (Michele's neighbor) and I were out doing our 17-mile training run in a pretty brutal wind (20-30 mph gusts), and we started discussing the "benefits" of training in the wind and other inclement weather. Michele used the phrase "athletic character building"--those experiences which one can call upon on other occasions when things aren't going so well to remind one that things aren't so bad. I don't have many of those experiences yet--at least I didn't until a few weeks ago when the weather started feeling more like mid- to late-November.

Aside from the 17-miler in the brutal wind (loved the last 5 miles into a headwind--that built up a LOT of character for me), I've now also run in the snow (Wednesday morning with Erin and Michele) and in a very blustery wind (20's and windy Thanksgiving morning--probably a ~10 degree wind chill). I survived them all and even discovered that running in the snow is quite peaceful and beautiful (the temp was good and, aside from constantly blinking to keep the snow out of my eyes, it was really pretty cool)--we took the normal route through the forest preserve and saw most of the trees covered in snow in the early morning. The run in the blustery wind was not as fun--my face was frozen and chapped by the time I got back to my parents' house, but after several applications of moisturizer, a long hot shower, and a couple of cups of coffee, I was back to normal.

I did another run Friday in a fairly decent headwind for about half the run--it was even a pace run, and I ran about 20 s/mile faster than I was intending--not sure if I was just trying to get back to where it was warmer or if I'm just that conditioned...have a feeling it's a combination of the two. Regardless, seems like that "athletic character building" is coming along nicely...hopefully it'll help me deal with the "wall" at Disney and with the whole mental strength training piece of Ironman training. In the meantime, I'll just do my best to suck it up, stay warm, and not complain about the weather too much...

Happy winter, all...