brrr!

This weekend's long run was set as a 3.5 - 4.0 miler... it was a very cold morning, that seemed to get colder rather than warmer. I had a sore shin from a long walk in inappropriate footwear. But we got ourselves up and dressed and over the Green Lake.

We did a brisk 5-minute walk, and then started our "workouts" on our iPods, setting the sensors for 3.5 miles. I felt very cold and brittle, like I wouldn't be able to run very far. I was slow, and kept trailing behind Wil. But on we plodded, taking three very short breaks as we felt we needed them.

I found myself waiting for a distance update from the sensor -- it told us when we had done a mile, when we had done a mile and three quarters, and when we had a mile and a half to go. Then nothing. I was sure it would tell us when we were a mile off, but it didn't. And that made me feel worried, like I'd never make it. I just kept thinking that this half mile was the longest half mile in the world. I even asked Wil to look at his iPod -- had we gone a half mile? Were we really in the last mile? Or not yet?

But we were in the last mile. In fact, we were almost in the last half mile, which the sensor soon announced. I love the glorious countdown -- 400 meters... 300 meters... 200 meters... 100 meters... workout complete.

We also discovered that while our iPods are similarly calibrated when we run, they aren't synched when we walk. So Wil was told he had a little bit farther to go than I did. But soon we had both reached 3.5 miles, and I for one was thrilled to stop. My shin was screaming, my hands were freezing, and I was tired.

With our warmup and the 3.5 miles we had gone nearly 1.5 times around the lake, but we doubled back on ourselves for the cooldown and stretch.

This week we have a lot of training, including a 4-mile run at the weekend. I hope I can last that long!