Running Chick

Well, I did it. And I didn't freeze to death. Came pretty close, though. It was seriously cold out there. My fingers were fine, but I couldn't feel my toes until the second mile. It's a strange feeling, not being able to feel your toes when you run. Very strange indeed. Fortunately, I managed to avoid most of the wind nastiness by running with my back to the wind (my butt, however, was frozen) but the last 2 miles was into the wind. Holy, HOLY crap, it was cold. I'm talking burn-your-lungs-and-freeze-your-nostrils-together-and-want-to-keep-your-eyes-closed cold. A friend of mine suggested wearing my face mask, and I even dug it out of my ski bag, but then I forgot it at home. Doh. Well, anyway, my run ended at the BP station and I had the foresight to bring a few bucks with me so I was able to treat myself to a gas station hot chocolate while I waited for Josh to come and collect me. Usually I find them completely disgusting, but this one tasted soooo good. Ha. Totals for the week: 14.02 miles @ 11:03 I was originally planning on hitting 17 miles week, but my right hamstring was squawking a little bit after my Wednesday run so I decided not to run. It was okay today, so I made the right decision. Next week I'll have 18 miles for the week with a long run of eight. I hope it's warmer!

It's time to move on.

Have I mentioned that I hate running on the treadmill?  That's what I've been doing this week while Mother Nature tries to remember that we're not Antarctica.  Since Tuesday, high temperatures have been anywhere between 0 and 5, while the lows have been, well, low.

 Here's what thermometer on my car said last night around 7pm

It did say -11 at one point, but I didn't think to take a picture.

So, Tuesday and Wednesday I logged my boring and dull miles on the dreadmill at the local fitness center.  My runs were uneventful, except when I accidentally snagged the cord for my headphones with my hand, which sent my iPhone flying through the air to come down with a very loud bang on the mental front of the treadmill and caused everybody in the gym to stop what they were doing and look at me. Whoopsie!

Thursday morning I rolled out bed, took my first steps and immediately felt like I stepped on a sharp stone with my left heel.  Throughout the day, the pain got progressively worse until I could barely put weight on my left foot.  I was really concerned that it was plantar fasciitis, and I guess I'm unconvinced that it's not, but it seems to be getting a lot better as time goes on.  Yesterday it was about 50% better.  Today it's about 80% better and I'm walking without a limp.  There's still some pain there, but it's not the piercing pain that it was on Thursday.  I was supposed to run 3 miles today, but I decided to skip that.  I'm hoping to do some snowshoeing in Eagle Harbor tomorrow and test out the new gaiters I bought.  As long as my heel is agreeable.

I'm contemplating buying a new digital camera.  The one I have now is about 7 years old and it's pretty beat up.  I dropped it in my driveway a couple of years ago and the display got all distorted and fuzzy and sometimes that trickles into the photos.  It's also big and bulky when compared with today's cameras.  I'd really like to get something that's small enough to easily slip into my pocket or purse so I can take it with me all the time.  I've got my eye on the Olympus FE-330.  It's very light and compact and has all sorts of neat functions like digital image stabalization which is cool because I can't seem to take a picture that's not blurry.  It also gets Josh's stamp of approval in the resolution and optical zoom department.  I don't really know beans about that stuff, so it's always good when Josh approves.