This one was for Laura . . .
I have a great colleague named Laura. Laura has run the Boston a few times, always for charity and always training with a quiet, steady excellence that I found impressive and inspiring. All runners, of course, have their quirks, and Laura shares one with many other strong runners: she can’t stand to run indoors. I was always amazed by the way Laura got her mileage done outside through the long Boston winter no matter what Mother Nature threw at her. Oh, and she had a demanding job in the brokerage business, meaning her runs were often in the bitter, icy dark of that long Boston winter.
I on the other hand, don’t mind the treadmill. I like the fact that it’s never icy. I like the fact that it creates a mechanical way to push my speed. It’s softer on my joints and bank. And I get cold easily, so I have to plan winter runs carefully with lots of layers to make sure I don’t freeze up early and get irretrievably stiff. I’ve done 10-11 miles on the treadmill no problem. I’d rather run outside if it’s decent, but whatever.
Recently when the our group training schedule called for a group run on the Charles of 13 miles, I was pretty psyched to run with everybody after missing several due to injury, travel and illness. Until I saw the forecast. The Internet Weather Dude was calling for temps that weren’t merely cold. It was going to be frigid. I set my alarm clock with trepidation and laid out a veritable Noah’s Ark of clothing (2 of every kind!). I posted on facebook a plea for some moral support, and got lots from my friends, and even a couple of donations. THANK YOU!! When I woke up (see video below) the thermometer outside my kitchen window delivered the news without elaboration: 4 degrees. Off I went, walking like a penguin to my car.
The team convened in the Back Bay, and we got lots of encouragement from Coach Rick and a visiting sports pyschologist, Grayson Kimball. Rick and Grayson made the excellent point that every tough challenge you meet in training is money in the bank when you get to race day. I learned this lesson the hard way in my first marathon, the Baystate, back in October, in Lowell, MA. I trained diligently for that race, but I was a little naïve about conditions and tended to cherrypick my weather. If Saturday was rainy, I’d do my long run in the Sunday sunshine. Unfortunately, race day came and we all went out there and ran in a northeast gale, that began with low 40’s temps and steady rain and finished with driving rain, 30 knot gusts on the nose and dropping temps. It was snowing shortly after I received my medal and the shiny blanket, which sustained me as I hobbled and shivered my way back to the parking lot. While I did OK that day, I am quite sure I would have done better both mentally and physically if I had trained more often in cold rain.
So if Coach Rick said it was OK to run in 4 degree weather, I was going to give it my best shot, and I headed out into the cold sunshine. As it turned out, the effort was well worth it and, believe it or not, a lot of fun. We had some awesome support from Heidi and Katy on the coursewhich was great because my water and coconut water froze in my bottles as I ran. The sun kept me happy, and my layers kept me warm. Fortunately, the winds weren’t too bad, so my feet hung in there great. I ran for a while with my wonderful teammate, Naomi, (sorry the video of you didn’t come out, Naomi!) and enjoyed running along the river in Boston, where I used to run casually in college, sometimes dreaming idly of running a marathon someday. Knowing I had friends who were with me in spirit made all the difference! And Laura, this one was for you!
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