TOO COLD, CONT. (anything for BACON)

Well, fellow runners and readers, I rarely post two days in a row.  Primarily because I don't have time and also because I don't want to bore you with too many stories.  But today, after my experience on the road, I feel like a little follow up to yesterday's post is necessary.  And, if I'm being completely honest here, I now have BACON on the brain (thanks a lot, PegLeg1983).  So, here's the low down:

TEMP: 5℉ (-9℉ w/ the windchill)
WORKOUT: 2 mi warm up, 8 x 400@5K race pace w/ 400 recovery, 2 mi cool down
MOTIVATION LEVEL: ZIP
SANITY LEVEL: LESS THAN ZERO

Come hell or high water I was not going to do this workout on the dreadmill.  So, I bundled up, covered my exposed flesh with Vaseline, and headed out....again.  You can imagine my devastation when I got down to the track and it looked like this:

Nothing was happening on this puppy today (though I did give it the old college try).  What the hell was I going to do?  Here's where I get bonus points for the BACONATOR award; along with extra points for stupidity.  I took out my phone, removed my gloves, absorbed the shock of frozen fingers for a sec, downloaded the MAPMYRUN app, suffered from a bit more shock here, pressed "begin workout" and mapped out a 400 so I could do the workout on the road next to the track.  Talk about 'village crazy', RunningFire11.  Today, I wore that crown with pride.  But, still, I banged out those 400s like nobody's business.  It was me, the road, the trees, and 5 measly degrees. And NOTHING else.  Not even the squirrels.

I couldn't help but feel like will.i.am and apl.de.ap were talking about all 3 of us as they sang "We're gettin' dumb."  I'm pretty sure the Winchester policeman who drove by me and slowed down during my 4th repeat shared this sentiment.  I am proud to say I got every single 400 done.  I had to stop and tie my shoe once.  That was rough.  But otherwise, once my feet warmed up, it wasn't too terrible.  I cooled down faster than usual as I could not wait for the ridiculously large and expensive coffee that I would be purchasing for myself as a reward.  Here I am on my last turn before home:

That look is both elation and pain and maybe a little shell shock.  All I have to say is thank the LORD for music.  There is no way any of this was happening without it.  I got inside, shed my layers, put some new clothes on and got ready to head out.  I did take this last shot just to prove how insane this whole situation is.  Note the windburn (and shine from the vaseline).  Not the most attractive shot.  But, remember, I'm going for BACON here.

So there it is, folks.  The true story of a crazy, swine-obssessed runner who can't stand the treadmill and has officially gone off her rocker.  Thanks for listening.

Listen to this: (or whatever it is you need to get you through this weather)

Keep It Up - Blackbird Blackbird