It's been rather chilly/cold in Florida lately {I know, I know, nothing compared to the Midwest, but cold is cold no matter where you live}. So, my Saturday morning group training required some layers.
My InSport Silver Running tights hold sentimental value for me and I've had them since I was 13 years old {what, why?}.
When I entered middle school in 6th grade, I couldn't wait until I was in 7th grade and was able to join the track team. I had watched all my babysitters, older girls in the neighborhood, popular girls in high school, etc. run track and I couldn't wait to be a part of the team. Along with joining the team, it was the cool thing to own a pair of silver running tights and wear them to practice and to the meets. So of course I had to have some too. I held onto them through high school, but they didn't get worn very often and since I'm not a big runner--have I mentioned that enough?--they are still in good shape. For some reason I've never been able to allow myself to get rid of them and I think it's because of the feeling I get when I see them. I'm reminded of my old town, Pella, IA, where I grew up and how important I felt in them. It was the first time I was a part of a real team and those are memories I like to have. Plus, who else has running tights they've had since they were 13?
And here I am running a part of a team. How fitting.
I had a tougher go with this mornings run for a few reasons. I have been slacking on my weekly training {see last post for excuses} and in the beginning of training I could get away with it when we were running 1 & 2 mile group runs, but now we are up to 5 miles and I can't fake it anymore.
Thursday after work I decided to go to the gym and get some running and cross training in. It was raining and dark outside so I headed to the gym. This evening, I had literally NO excuse not to go and it was the first time I had ever been to the YMCA not to work but to WORK OUT since I started working there in September. I was on the treadmill for a 2.5 miles with a 5 minute warm up and cool down for 30 minutes total. So all in all, I ran a solid 20 minutes at an 8.5 mile pace, and for me that's pretty good.
I've stated from the beginning I'm not a runner. I'm not here to show off the millions of miles I run or lie about it. If I ran 20 minutes without stopping, whether you already do that every day or not, I'm proud of it.
I'm here for all the non-runners, and those starting from the bottom.
We can do half-marathons too.
But my lack of training did keep me from doing well on this morning's run. I ended up walking most of it, partially because my legs felt weaker faster and because of the cold.
I have grown up with the cold, but I still hate it. I hate it for the normal reasons everyone else does, but I also hate it because I have Raynaud's Syndrome (also called Disease or Phenomenon)
Now what is Raynaud's Syndrome?
In English, basically, the blood vessels in my fingers and toes constrict in the cold causes a lack of blood flow, which leads to white/numb fingers.
I didn't realize I had it until high school, which is normal because it peaks at age 15-25, but it made sense how when I was younger I always seemed to get a lot colder and more quickly than my friends and my hands were AWAYS cold, no matter how many layers of gloves I wore.
I didn't even notice it until I was at track practice sophomore year of high school in March and a teammate pointed out how white my fingers were and what was wrong with me.
I turned to hear in surprise and said "what, your fingers don't look like this?"
I asked my mom about it when I got home-"oh ya, it's raynaud's syndrome, I have it too"
The gene is passed on through the mother {sorry future daughter}.
There isn't a treatment for it, it's just something you learn to live around. Like I can't spend too much time in the frozen food section of the grocery store, or I always have to remember to have gloves.
Basically they go numb very quickly and then take double the amount of time to get blood flow back. It's mildly painful and I tend to loose all control of them if they have been cold for awhile (like unbuttoning your pants after a day at Mardi Gras in St. Louis in February to try to use the porta-potty & have to call on the boyfriend for assistance). Sometimes it hurts so bad it makes me feel sick, but that is in rare instances. Like last year during the KC snow storm I took our dog out to the dog park to get some exercise. I layered up, but it's never enough. After about 20 minutes I just couldn't stand it anymore and made the trek back to our apartment. I could barely hold the leash my hands hurt so bad. Once I got into the apartment, I started feeling nauseous because my body was warming up, but my fingers and toes weren't catching up. I had to get out of as many layers as I could while needing to lay on the carpet until I felt better.
It stunk and I learned my lesson, just don't do that again.
Long story short, I don't enjoy the cold and it does cause a problem when I have to be outside. My body may be warmed up, but my fingers will always be behind.
My goal this week is to squeeze in more training and gym time because besides the fact that I want to run the whole 13.1 miles, I also want to finish in under 2.5 hours. Like I said, I can't fake it anymore.
Fundraising & Running Update
Miles: 5
Money Raised: $1,145.36
Percentage to Complete: 36%
Amount left to go: $2,054.64
Days till Race: 113
Visit my fundraising page to help get one step closer to finding a cure, every dollar counts!
