Revelations

I realized 3 important things about myself this afternoon:
I am a runner
I am a blogger
I am from Wyoming

All three came about as I was out for a run. I think, before I left, I would have called it a jog. That's the first important point. It was intended to be an "easy 4-miler" as prescribed by my training plan. Yesterday I ran a long, hard, fast and hilly tempo run that really trashed my legs. I was hemming and hawing about whether or not I should actually go for this run, or if I should skip it and run it tomorrow. I took a look at the weather report. Today was overcast and had a slight chance of rain, but tomorrow it's supposed to snow again. That, paired with the fact that I'm a measly 3 miles away from logging the first 200 miles of my training, motivated me into my sneakers and out the door.

A mile into the run I heard thunder cracking. I thought, "Hmm. Maybe I should have worn long sleeves." Then it started to rain... possibly not all that bad except for the 20 mph wind that accompanied it. So here's the thing: I could have turned around right then and there, but I didn't. I thought, "I want to get to 200 miles." I headed down Sparrowhawk Hill. By the time I reached the bottom, it was snowing. Snowing. And blowing hard into my face as I turned to muscle my way back up the ridiculously steep slope. Then I thought, "Well, I got myself into this mess. I better just run faster." By the time I was about 1.5 miles from home it was hailing. My face hurt, the wind stung my cheeks and threatened to push me back down the hill and what was I doing? Blogging in my head. No joke. It's what got me home.

By the time I'd thought through all the weird, cold and intense weather I've already run through, I felt like I was pretty hard-core. I also realized that I NEVER would have run in these conditions in Oregon. I would have used weather as my excuse not to get out every time. I also would have been ridiculously bundled up. Here in Wyoming, though, I've run in a tank top and shorts when it's only 38 degrees. The biggest thing about Wyoming weather is that it changes quickly. I've become the queen of layers (except of course today), I've accepted strong winds, and I'm deciding to embrace the transitions between scorching sunshine and stinging snow as character building - or maybe character breaking-down. I think Wyoming weather is actually, in a strange sort of way, forcing me to become much more flexible and go-with-the-flow than I've ever been before. Or maybe it's Eleanor... the world may never know.