Cold weather run- 0, Katie- 1

Something tells me that perhaps I should have started running outside a little farther in advance than ONE DAY before my first 5k of the year.

This past winter in Boston has, in all honesty, SUCKED. So much snow, ice, cold winds, freezing temperatures... in other words, the place as a whole completely rocked against my outside running. Any running that I've done since mid-October was done on the treadmill at the gym and, ohhh how I despise the DREADmill. Every once in awhile is fine, but when you know that your workout for the day is going to be hopping on a belt and staring at the wall for 40 minutes or so, it makes it so less exciting to prep for.

Anywho, the big 5k is tomorrow morning, and it occurred to me yesterday afternoon that I should perhaps entertain the idea of an outside run this morning, just to see how the cold might affect my body.

Y'all, it was UGLY. I was literally maybe a quarter of a mile into my three and a half total when I was gasping for air. The wind was whipping around (and against) me, I felt like my lungs were on fire, my nose was drippy (it happens), and my legs felt like stumbling pieces of lead. I kept going and figured out the spots on the track where the wind was at my back and made it through the first mile, after which I WALKED. One mile into my run. This was so frustrating because I know that my body is PHYSICALLY capable of running consecutive miles, but MENTALLY things just weren't connecting. Walking during a run plays with my head big time, as if I've completely blown the run and let myself down because I didn't push myself to keep going. In my defense, pre-cold weather, I was running 4-5 miles around my old faithful track without stopping. I'm aware that that's a warm-up run for many of you antelopes and cheetah-esque sprinters, but that was a big deal for me, and about as far as I got into my training before I slacked off. My motivation for my runs lately has been my dad and how far he's come with his leg, so I mainly tell myself that I'm running for my dad each and every time I have a workout.

As I walked my quarter mile around the track, I came up with my little game plan-- jog the curves and sprint the straights for the next 2.1 miles. Not only did it make the time fly by, but the slower jogged parts really let me up the ante for the sprints... and that felt really good. At one point I caught a brief glimpse of my shadow... and I TOTALLY looked like a runner! Like good form and everything! Giddy, indeed! I finished 3 miles ran in 31 minutes and had my half mile worth of walking, which I don't count towards my miles ran.

All in all, I was glad that I got out and did it. Tomorrow morning would have been one heck of a rude awakening if I just showed up in my Kiss Me I'm Irish gear, expecting to sprint off through the pack (pack, 6000 people... whatev), only to be walking a quarter of the way into it thinking "What in tarnation is up with this cold?! And my lungs! They are on fire! Why can I not feel my toes!?" (and no, not once did any/all of these questions run through my mind today). I'm pretty pumped to get this first race of the year under my belt and keep training for bigger and better things. I'm hoping to run several more 5ks throughout the spring, and hammer down a 10k at some point this summer, with my first half marathon following up this fall.

In other news, one of my fav celeb couples have some pret-ty exciting news...

IT'S A GIRL!!

Oh, don't give me that look. Everyone has their vices and one of my mine is celebrity gossip. You've gotta give the girl some credit. She's married to the ultimate man's man (oh, how I sigh, Mr. Beckham) and has produced THREE adorable boys for the man. It's about time girlfriend has someone else on her side.

After all, when your boys' soccer games become the place to rock outfits like this:

... it's obvious that girlfriend CLEARLY needs a little girl to tote around to dance class and baby fashion shows. Baby Posh will come out wearing Louboutins, mark my word.

Since I've already jumped from running to Posh, I might as well talk about the Meat Sacrifice. So far, so good. I haven't really craved any meat yet, but I AM feeling really hungry, like my body is 100% aware that it's not full all of the time. My mission this weekend is to start trying to figure out how to fit more protein into my diet, avoid tofu, and not survive wholly on beans. Brian has been supportive, although I've only cooked a vegetarian dish once, and he ordered his own takeout the second night. While excited, I'm also mindful of the fact that we're only 3 days in. Tomorrow I have a mushroom rigatoni dish planned, and veggie fajitas for Monday night. Tuesday is leftovers and then as of Wednesday after work we're off to Chicago for the weekend!!

My lovelies, I leave you with this:

Have a happy rest of the weekend! I'll be back tomorrow with a full report from my 5k/pub crawl.