The Winter That Was.

Last year was my first year training for the Boston Marathon. It was a very mild winter, with barely any snow and only a few sub-freezing days. It was the Winter That Never Was. I remember repeatedly saying, "Wow, I picked the best year to train for Boston!" I said that up until the record-breaking 87-degree race day. So with that irony in mind, I'm actually embracing this winter's weather, even if that means I get ridiculously overdressed due to the wicked cold temps.

This coming Saturday was supposed to be the "Love Your Liver" run, one of two major training runs that are held on the Boston Marathon course. We would have been bussed out to Natick Center where we would have run the last 16.2 miles of the marathon course, finishing at (or next to, if you're superstitious) the actual Finish line which is permanently painted on Boylston Street in Copley Square. Alas, the run has been cancelled due to real, hardcore winter weather. Here is the latest prediction:

That not only cancels the Love Your Liver run, but it also eliminates the possibility of being able to run a safe long-run on our own on either Saturday or Sunday. Even if the roads are cleared for driving by Sunday afternoon, that still means that we runners have to run in the narrower roads, as sidewalks may not be cleared or are just non-existent in some areas.

I was discussing this with my co-worker and fellow Run For Research teammate Connie at work today. Another co-worker, who is not a runner, and who may have just been mocking us, said, "Just run tomorrow morning instead." Well I thought that was a brilliant idea, so that's what I am doing. My training plan from my coach called for a 35 minute run, so it's not a big deal to turn that into a 3 hour run and then go to work for 8 hours, right?

Reason #293 why I love my Run for Research team -- the insane emails back & forth between my teammates when a training hiccup like this happens.
Exhibit A. Both emails below are from my teammate Lisa.
1:49PM: I can't believe you're going to do a long run by yourself, before work. You are HARDCORE!!!
2:03PM: OK maybe I'm crazy, but can I join you tomorrow morning for the long run?

Exhibit B. Emails between me and teammate Jennie.
Jennie: Sheri wants to run 10 or 12 tonight. I'm all nervous now. Am I ready to run 10 or 12? I haven't eaten more than saltines in the last 2 days, I'm definitely not hydrated enough.
Me: You can do it! 10-12 is only 2 hours of running.
Jennie: it's morphed into maybe 14 1/2 miles! with Scotty and Scott Luther and Kim and Heather! It'll be great :) 

1 runner + crazy mileage = Dreadful
2 or more runners + crazy mileage = Fun!