Monday 16 January 2012

Ramp Up to Big Sur- Week 15




I can hardly believe- 15 weeks! With freezing cold temps that dropped in for a visit and fresh snow it is nice to think that spring is only a few weeks away. Knowing that I have a lot of mileage still to do creates a "huge" reality check- insert deep breath here!  The flights are booked, we have a cottage booked for the week, the remaining prep is all about the mileage. This is where the game gets tougher.... this was my last week of 19K and then it is up and up from here! Phew! I got this!!! I keep playing in my mind my goal for this race and more importantly my prep for this race! This time around its all about the mileage and the mental preparedness. On my long running day my "only" task that day is to get my run done. Everything else has to take a back burner. 

Running in bad weather creates character they say.... well last week brought me upwards of 60KM winds this week bring on Old Man Winter..... oh yes -18 that felt more like -23! Oh my! Now the cold was one thing now throw in wind pelting you with ice. At one point I felt like my eyeball was actually freezing. To stay away from the elements as much as possible we zigzagged through residential areas up a block over 2 back around 3. I can only imagine what my GPS map looks like. It was a tough run and each of us in the group were starting to freeze so we called it off at 12.5K. As I mentioned before it is all about the mileage so after a rewarding breakfast and a few hours to warm back up yep you guessed it .... out the door I went. This time it was -15 still feeling around -20. But this time the sun was out and the wind had relaxed. Although it was still a chilly run my mileage was completed and I enjoyed the scenery of watching the fresh snow lit up by the beautiful sunshine! It's all about the small things when you are winter running. 




My mantra for this race- "This is the place where I'm going to find out how good I can be"