Cold Rain & Sleet

I had an amazing adventure run with Scottie and Marcus last night who are also running the Myrtle marathon in 2 weeks.  They were planning to run 21 miles so I decided to join them for the first 10.  On my way over to Scott's house it started sleeting and raining really hard.  I called Scott and Marcus to make sure they were still down to run and, as expected, they were.  We got ready to go and were giddy like little kids.  There is something so fun about running in the worst of conditions.  We also talked about how it makes us feel more like men (girls don't get this and I know it's really dumb but it's true...we want to feel like warriors...and we did last night)!  No lie, we laughed so hard during the first half mile we hardly had anything left.  That's what warriors do. 

We headed south on peachtree and turned right on Weiuca.  We felt on top of the world as we weaved in and out of cars on a stretch with no sidewalks (still pouring).  Then Marcus and I started talking about work and life; discussing the balance between being patient and grateful for your job but being proactive about where you are headed long term. 

As we approached Roswell Rd, dodging puddles, we started talking about getting together a few days before the race to eat lasagna and watch Chariots of Fire, a great running movie.  The girls have book club on the Wednesday before the race so we decided to do it that night.  Lasagna, bread sticks, salad, and an inspiring running tale...can't wait! 

It was somewhere over the next mile or two as we were running up a nasty hill on Roswell that it hit me..."I'm really cold, soaking wet, and I think the temperature is dropping."  We approached Peachtree again and took a left and now it was a straight shot back to Scott's house.  At this point we all got a bit quiter as we focused on each step. 

We finally made it back to the house and I felt as though my hands were going to fall off.  Some people think I'm dramatic but I'm pretty sure I had a mild case of frostbite.  Lindsay brought us a few towels and we dried off the best we could.  I was thinking, surely these guys are going to call it quits and save the next 11 miles for another day.  I was wrong.  They started talking about the next 11 and where they were going to go.  They fueled up with Gatorade, Sport Beans, and Wheat Thins.  We all talked about how cold it was.  Scott put on fresh dry clothes along with ski mittens (sorry Scott) while Marcus stayed in the t-shirt and shorts he'd been running in the whole time.  So, we all headed out the door but I was getting in my car and they continued to run.  When I passed them 30 seconds later I thought "They are warriors baby!"