It’s official.  I’m crazy.  I mean like certifiably insane crazy.  I just ran 18 miles in the snow.  For anyone reading this outside the Greater St. Louis area, I might need to clarify what I mean by snow.  It’s March 24^th, right?  And we are having the blizzard of the year!  I’m quite sure we are breaking records with this. For a place that claims that they don’t need to be prepared because they never get snow (which is ridiculously incorrect), we are in the midst of an estimated foot of snow.  It started at about 6 am today and is expected to continue until 6 am tomorrow.  School has already been cancelled.  Is that even possible with April a week away?  I guess so because we are having our own 2013 version of Snow-mageddon.

So, if you happened to be out today, and saw any of the 25 people crazy enough to be out running in this mess, I was one of them.  At least 20 of the others are all friends of mine.  I’m glad to know I’m in good company in my craziness.

As weird as this will sound, I needed to get out there today.  Aside from the fact that I needed to do a long run for training purposes, I was feeling pulled in a million different directions this morning.  Emails, texts, phone calls…it seemed like everyone needed something from me and they all wanted it right at that moment.  I just didn’t have it in me to take care of everyone else’s requests.  I have a tendancy to allow myself and my feelings to get buried under the expectations of others, so I know when I start feeling buried, that’s when I need to take care of Lindsey.  I put away the laptop and tucked the phone into my spybelt (I didn’t plan to check it during my run, but in light of the weather, I figured it was best to have it with me).  I strapped on the Yaktrax and I set off into the blizzard.

I’m not gonna lie, that was a tough run, both physically and mentally.  I typically have some kind of weird mental block on 18 milers.  20’s I can whip out without a problem and even anything up to 16-17 isn’t too bad.  But I hate 18 miles.  I absolutely loathe that distance.  Today I set out with 18 in the back of my mind knowing that I should go that far, but not really sure if it would complete it.  I think I got so focused on beating the snow, that I actually forgot how much I hate 18 miles.  I finished in around 3 hours.  I’ve run 20 and 21 milers faster than that.  One of those 20 milers even involved rain, sleet and crazy wind.  Oddly, it was exactly 2 years ago today, if I remember correctly, when I was training for the Nashville full that never came to fuition.

The first 10 miles today were great.  It was actually quite beautiful running out Old Manchester, all snow covered and lovely.  The snow plows were being very considerate and trying not to attack me.  Mile 11 was tough, I started to curse running.  Mile 13 was great, I thought I would probably make it.  Mile 16 was hard, and slow, and painful and reeked of gasoline from snow blowers.  I finished Mile 17 right next to my street.  I could see my house, my nice warm comfy house.  I wanted to stop.  I wanted to say “Well, that’s a wrap, time to get warm and dry”.  It would have been so easy to just call it a day.  17 miles in a blizzard, that’s plenty, right?  But those are the moments that truly test our character.  What do we do when things are hard?  When we’re tired and weary, do we quit? Cheat? Give up?  Or do we push through the cold and the tired and the soaking wet shoes to press on towards the goal?  Do we fight through the pain to accomplish what we set out to do?  There is a reason I always wear a bracelet on my left wrist that simply reads “Persevere”.  It reminds me that I can, and I will, in any situation.

At approximately 17.36 miles, a man in his driveway stopped shoveling for a moment and watched me as I passed.  I paused my music long enough to hear him say, “Now that’s dedication”.  Smiling, I responded, “Marathon training doesn’t stop for the snow!”  He smiled.

Seriously, marathon training doesn’t stop for the snow.  Life doesn’t stop for the snow.  Sure it slows down and school gets cancelled, but it doesn’t stop.  And neither should we.  Sometimes it’s a long, lonely, snowy, slushy, challenging road, but every once in a while, when you need it most, someone shows up with a word of encouragement and a smile that will pull you through that last half mile.

Now who wants to come over and shovel the foot of snow in my driveway so I don’t have to?  Any takers?  Anyone…?

View of the blizzard from my porch. No doubt it’s beautiful. But brutal to run in.