Gninword On

The cold came to NZ yesterday.  Straight up from Antarctica cold.  And we were scheduled to run 3+ miles in it. 

We watched Thor the night before, the one where they battle the Frost Giants from Jotenheim.  I’m wondering if that’s what brought this cold spell on, and if so, well I don’t apologize because at least it’s stopped the rain!

(We were watching Thor to get the backstory on him from The Avengers.  However, the director of Thor does not have one tenth of the awesomeness that Joss Whedon has in his pinky finger (director of Avengers) and so we thought Thor was a bit cheesy and trite.  Glad Thor, Loki, and Dr. Erik Selvag got a better go of it in Avengers.  Ok, Geek Time over!)

Usually on nights when the weather is anything less than perfect, it’s me who is begging to be let off the hook for exercising outside.  Last night the roles were reversed, shockingly.  Here’s how the negotiation went, after at least an hour of screwing around at home after work and putting it off:

J: Should we go for a run?

Me: Ummmmmmmm, it’s cold outside.

J: Ok, we won’t go, I don’t really want to.

C thinking: But we had a “day off from everything” last night, if we take tonight off then it devalues that.  But I don’t reeeeeally want to go either.

C: Ok well we don’t have to go.

J: Nah, we’ll go, let’s go.

C: But you’ve let me off the hook before when I didn’t want to go, so I will honor your request this time.  We really don’t have to go!!

J: But you want to go, don’t you?

C: Kinda.  But we don’t have to! 

J: Nope, we’ll go. 

C: Ok fine.  *huffs off to get dressed*

And holy crap I put on so many clothes for that run.  Running capris and dri-fit pants (thanks Mom!) over that.  Thick black running socks pulled up to keep my calves warm.  A tech running shirt, long-sleeved tech running jersey, and a fleece jacket.  A toboggan hat.  If I had gloves, I would have put those on.  (BTW – it seems like every other day I figure out some new piece of gear that I need.  Today gloves, tomorrow the world!) 

I was prepared.  I was not going to be cold.  What can I say, I was a Girl Scout.

I was damn glad of all my layers once we got out there and the breeze was blowing.  You can’t really call it a wind, because it’s Windy Wellington where a wind is something that blows all your clothes off the line and the hat off your head and your umbrella inside out.  Nah, it was just a breeze, but enough of one to chill any exposed bits to numbness.  Artic blast, I think they call it.

We did encounter a real wind once we got out towards the point of the peninsula; it was a nice wind pushing us along on the way out and on the return, it was a nasty nose-freezing headwind.  Someone needs to invent the nose-warmer, for serious.

Details: 6.74km; 5 min hill warm-up, then 10 min running and 1 min walking, repeat 3 more times, cool-down walk home.  Time: 45:23.  

Shrimp Fried Rice like a champ for dinner after.  We are winners.

I’ve started another blog (Wellington on the Run) to keep track of my training as I work towards running a 5K, then a 10K, and also some triathlons thrown in for fun.  ”Fun” being a relative term, because I have never been a runner in my life. :)  

I love how runners and athletes in the US have all really gotten together and become a community as they strive to lose weight and get fit a la Ben at Ben Does Life, and I would love for New Zealanders to get into blogging too.  There are so many things to be shared about running/cycling/swimming/other “ings” around the Land of the Long White Cloud, like awesome races, trails to tackle, and great places to refuel after a great workout.  Come on Kiwis, let’s make some noise on the Internets!