Brrr!

I have a new appreciation for all of you runners who are out there in the blustery, cold, snowy, winter weather. Today was not quite winter cold at 6*C, but it was certainly blustery, it was snowing, raining and hailing, and I can proudly say I am no longer just a fair weather runner as I went out and ran 16 kms in that crap!

My first 3 kms were a little loop and I was very tempted to just get back in my car and drive home, but kept on truckin' up THE HILL (almost made it to the top this time, only one little 40 second walk break), continued along the hwy towards home and again, was tempted to pack it in, as I was getting beaned in the forhead by hail stones, but had strategically left my house key in the car so that this would not be an option! I kept right on going and almost took a short cut to make it a 14 km run, but 16 kms is just shy of 10 miles, and that seemed like enough of a milestone to shoot for. Besides, there won't be any shortcuts at the half next month!

While running I was giving a bit more thought to the 4 lbs I lost last month and the insane meat cravings I've been having after 7 years of vegetarian/pescitarianism. This was spurred on when I ran past McDonalds and actually thought about rewarding myself on the run with a quarter pounder. Ick. Me thinks I've been concentrating on fitting running into my schedule, and have let meal planning and healthy eating slip. I used to crave burgers when I first gave up meat and soon figured out that was my body telling me that I wasn't getting enough iron or protein or one of the other food goodies you need to make a little extra effort for as a herbivore. I'm working on an additional goal for April to improve my diet. 3 Bean Veggie Chilli and a side of spinach salad with orange segments, anyone?