22 miles in - 22 Celcius

SUN 10:00

-22

We set out this morning for our 22 mile run, the last longer mileage training run before race day. As per our usual luck it was cold this morning and the wind was blowing.
We have run through some pretty interesting weather in this winter training we took on, from snowing and blowing to - 30 with the windchill. No change this morning, it had been nice all week and will be again this week but today it was cold.
The first 4 miles is always the hardest in the beginning, I have not been stretching as much as I should have been and my shins were not happy when I started out, they did work themselves out but it was off to a sketchy start.

This is where we ran today, the entire City of Thunder Bay just about,

 The worst part for me was mile 14 to mile 17, we were running down Arthur St which is a long straight road with lots of traffic, exhaust and was just a long wind tunnel, I was mentally tired through these miles but at the end of this road was where we were running to and it was a path out of the wind, it was a slow go along Arthur St. As soon as we turned off of Arthur street the wind disappeared and it felt like a totally different climate almost instantly my spirits lifted.

I took 2 Advil coming up to 17 miles as my knees usually get stiff after this point, but by mile 18 I felt like I was going to be sick, I thought it could have been the Advil bouncing around my stomach and mixing with the Gels I had been taking. After a little walk it subsided and on we went.

Once we hit mile 19 for me mentally it was over  ( in a good way ), I could keep going no matter how I felt, we had come so far with so little mileage left to cover, it was our last loooong run until race day, what a great feeling.

There is a road I cannot stand to run, it drives me crazy to run it, I will do anything to avoid it and today I was able to without sacrificing our run.

 The road runs just behind the Police Station at the end is the University, it is about 1 mile long, it is a very slow gradual incline it just seems to never end.

I began the counted down 21.98....21.99...... 

My food of choice after a long run is and .

I feel not so bad after the run, not as stiff as I did after 18 miles, perhaps Advil was the ticket.

Tapering to race day starts now.

Happy Running Everyone, however long you are running for, every step means something to me and it should for you too.  Be proud of yourselves no matter what distance you are running. Enjoy the journey.

                                                                          



March of the Penguins

Have you heard of the March of the Penguins, this is what the 10 mile training group reminded me of (without the mating part).
We gathered in a mass group this morning after many have not been out all winter, this one event gets people together to run, as does mating to penguins.



There was over 100 people out this morning and friends that I have not run with in a long time, it was overwhelming to see them all.

Can't you just picture these penguins in running gear. We are all there for the same goal to finish the Fire Fighters 10 mile road race in May.

We set out in our groups, mine is the slower than 10min/mile run/walk group, our leaders are Colleen and Gary, there are 2 leaders for most groups and they do a great job to make sure no one gets left behind.

I look forward to meeting up every Saturday morning for the next 17 weeks.

Start of Fresh Air 10 mile Training

Tomorrow is the start of the 10 mile training at Fresh Air Experience, I have run the Fire Fighters 10 mile Road Race 2 years in a row and I am looking forward to the 3rd. I ran the first one with my friend Susan and it was humid , unfortunately I looked like this coming across the finish line. It should say in the rules Do Not Tuck Your Shirt Into Your Sports Bra, live and learn.



The following year I sewed my shirt to my skort so there was no possibility of this happening again... He He He.
This was the 2nd year, I had ran the race, again with my friend Susan and at the 9 mile mark I wanted it over with, I ran the last mile faster then I had ever ran, my feet were turning over so quickly that I thought I would trip and fall on my face but I wanted it DONE!

This will be my third year and who knows what that will bring, there is a Buzz in the air where I work as there are a few people joining the training group to run for their first time. I love the excitement of new runners.
Each year we say to each other I cannot believe we are back training for the 10 miler again!

I should have started this sooner

Learn to Run Group where I started,

Where do I start, I named this blog after me, Warm Blooded, no matter the temperature outside 10 minutes into running and I am so hot. As soon as the weather is +5 C I bust out the skort. I have a quilt blog already but I don't quilt everyday so I blog every few weeks. Running these days is something I do, feels like everyday, so I thought why not blog about that. I used to journal allot when I was younger and loved putting thoughts on paper, just get all that out of your head.
I started running 3 years ago when I quit smoking and started eating, I quit December 18th, 2007, by March 2008 I had gained 30 lbs and was not happy with that. I joined a Learn to Run Clinic at the running room and I can remember when they had us up to running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute that this was life's hardest challenge. I thought this is not for me, I couldn't breath and hated the feeling. I thought I am not coming back to another clinic again. I thankfully stuck it out and here I am 3 10 mile road races, 4 Half Marathons and one Marathon cut short with 1.5 miles to go to the finish line, and I am still at it.

At present my friend Lynda and I are training for my second Marathon, we are running the Myrtle Beach Marathon South Carolina February 18th, so excited.