Adventurous

I braved the snow and (crazy!) wind today to participate in my third virtual run this month: Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K. I bundled up, put on my printable race bib, and headed out into the elements.

It was a beautiful day; it had just snowed earlier that morning so I headed out feeling great. Then, the wind hit. My nose was running faster than I was, my eyes were watering, and I couldn't catch my breath! But it came in spurts, so I was able to keep going and brace for the next gust of wind. When the wind wasn't blowing, the conditions were perfect! I was able to use my YakTrax that I got for Christmas, and I enjoyed the run. Here is what my race course looked like:

I crossed the finish line (in other words, my driveway) with a time of 26:40. Just about a minute over my 5K PR time - not bad for a snowy (windy!) winter run! I love the idea of a virtual run, and the race bib made it even more fun. Earlier this month I ran the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon (2:09:20) and the #TwitterRoadRace 5K (24:25 - but on a treadmill ... a little easier than an outside run!).

I am multi-tasking with this run today. Last week I took place in a football bet on the Giants vs. 49ers game (check out the rules here). I lost the bet, and had to run the difference in points of the final score of the game in miles, which was conveniently 3. I am not usually a football fan, but this sounded like fun and I was on the edge of my seat during the game. This bet is continuing into the Superbowl, and I am trying my luck again. I can't lose twice, can I?

I started a challenge with my two running buddies: to run every day for a year. Easier said than done! It was exciting at first, then it turned to annoying. But I think I have officially made it a habit, and it is becoming less of a pain than it was. Today's run marked day 83. That's almost 12 weeks straight! There are days when I go out grumbling, and days that don't make it over 1 mile, but no matter what, it gets done!

I am going to use this blog to share about my day to day running experiences, talk about any great (or not so great) races that I run, and to find out about other runners and races! Each day I will add something different that running helps me to do or become. Today, it was adventurous ... who knows what else running will do for me!