Butterfield Canyon Training Run 11.22.14

Ruthie & I - the Altra Paradigm Twinners

I really must have lost my mind... SERIOUSLY!  Since my first season of getting into triathlon, I have been a wuss about training during the winter months.  Sure, I've run a couple times here and there in freezing temperatures, but then I went into hibernation for the rest of the winter.  But, I've decided to push myself and break down these mental barriers I've put up about training in the winter.  Most of the push is due to my wonderful running groups, The Run Aways and Run4Fun!  I tell ya (and Ezra can attest to this), that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE GROUPS!  I have never had such a great, more supportive group of friends to run with and who constantly motivate me to be better!   Alas, we've been running snowy trails, running through bitter cold wind, and on icy roads... All to build up our mental toughness, as well as our bonds with each other.

This Saturday, we originally planned to go 13.1 miles up the canyon.  The weather was calling for rain and snow.  My friend, Heather, said if it rained, she was going to bail.  The weather forecast kept pushing the time for the start of precipitation back further, so we decided to go.  Our friend, Denise, also offered to bring some cupcakes, so how could we resist?

We met up at the mouth of the canyon at 8:30am.  The wind lashed us to the bone.  We waited for our whole group to congregate so we could take our "before" picture.

After we took the picture, off we went to tackle the mountain.  Most of us had planned to go 8-10 miles.  With some of us running the upcoming Thankful 13 half marathon, some of us decided to taper and run a shorter distance.  The wind was not on our side today.  It continually howled throughout the morning, and only got worse the further up we went. 

We even reached a part in the road covered with snow and ice.

Heather and I decided to take it easy on the ice, knowing what clutzes we could be sometimes (ie Coyote Hollow - we pretty much hit just about every rock and root there was on the way up.  Thank goodness we didn't face plant!) 


We finally caught up to the faster group, who were singing "Happy Birthday" to our friend, Dave, as Heather and I arrived.  We ran into Brian, who was running 17 miles that day.  He said he had turned around because the wind got too cold for him to want to continue. 

We decided to take a few moments to assess our next moves.  Do we continue?  Or do we turn around and head back?

 

Ruthie did a good job of convincing us to go just one more mile.  So, up we went.  But as soon as we headed up, sleet came down upon us.  That ended the idea real quick!  Back to our cars we went.  Yay downhill!

Sleet then turned into rain.  I don't mind running in rain, but cold rain?  Not so much.  It's winter, and we're running in rain.  Yuck.  But you know what?  I didn't mind so much because I had all my wonderful running friends running with me.  It definitely made it more bearable!

Marisa & I enduring the rain

My hands were freeeeeeezing by the time we got back to our cars, but I felt great!  I had so much fun!  Then Denise brought out the cupcakes!  It made the agony of the cold, wind, sleet, rain, and ice all worth it!

haha... had to get a pic of my friend, Alberto, enjoying his cupcake in the bitter cold!

Thanks Denise!  Thanks, Dave, for giving us a reason to celebrate with cupcakes after a cold, wet, icky run!  And thank you Run Aways & Run4Fun for getting me out there on a day in which I would have slept in!  Love you all!