Why Do We Do This?

That was the question we asked ourselves upon finishing our 15-mile run this afternoon. I mean, we are no longer training for a marathon. The Pineland Trail Challenge 50k is far away. Our next upcoming race is the Classic 10-Miler. So, why were we running 15? Well, why not? I mean, it's better than sitting on the couch, isn't it? If you remove the fact that my right leg was begging for mercy about halfway through (silly ITB! Hopefully Shannon will be able to do some more massage magic on the leg tomorrow!), and Snowman was commenting throughout the run that he might throw up the oatmeal he ate for breakfast (I don't know that a huge bowl of oatmeal was the wisest pre-run choice!), then 15 miles/2:16 of exercise is good for you! Oh yes, and we're planning on running 3 laps (18.6 miles) of the GAC Fat Ass race on January 10. So, there we are.

We didn't quite get the early start I was hoping for, and finally headed out from the field house around 12:30. Snowman was nice enough to join me on a road run this time, as I was feeling a bit wussy and didn't want to run 15 miles on the trails today. We headed out down Rt. 123 toward Pennelville. The Pennelville fields were covered with a frosty layer of snow and ice, and the trees were still encrusted in ice. Their branches shimmered in the sun, and every once in a while let loose a smattering of ice pellets down onto the ground below. We heard a number of generators humming out on the quiet roads, a sure sign that all power has not yet been restored to some of these outlying roads. We took the road down to Simpson's Point, and took a moment to enjoy the view of the water.

The route wound us out and around, down to Maquoit Bay. The wind was whipping off the ocean and it was quite cold, especially because by that point we were about 8 miles into the run and had worked up a sweat. We had the option to cut off a few miles soon after, and as neither of us were feeling perfectly perky, perhaps it would have been the best option. But, as neither of us wanted to be the one to give in, we kept on going :-) The final miles were a bit of a grind, but all told, despite our complaining, it was a good run and I was glad we got out. It also certainly meant that I deserved the yummy oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies that I just ate!