So let me be really honest with you- training for a marathon in the mid-atlantic region during the winter months (November- March) is a nightmare. It's dark from 4:30 pm- 7:30 am. It's often between 20- 35 degrees. There's a lot of wind. And snow. And freezing rain.
Last night, I ran with a headlamp and a reflector vest- it was only 6:30 pm. This morning's run started at a balmy 16 degrees. My sunglasses fogged up and then condensation actually froze on the inside of the lenses making it virtually impossible to see through them.
I took them off and then my eyelashes froze.
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| Headlamps are kinda cool. |
Naturally, finding any little bit of anything that will motivate me to leave my warm bed/house/car and run in the tundra is greatly appreciated.
Enter the #runchat Holiday-to-Holiday Scavenger Hunt. Basically, it's a scavenger hunt for runners. Find certain things on your run in a certain timeframe and be entered to win awesome, runner-friendly prizes. All you need to do is tweet or instagram pictures of those items with the hashtag #runchathunt. This holiday edition runs from Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas. You can learn all the rules and regulations
here.
This is just the remedy for those winter running blues! Since there's over 30 miles on the training schedule this week, I have been excitedly planning routes where I think I'll find some of these items. So far, I have five:
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| "Port-a-potty" |
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| "Runner I don't know" at the Shippensburg Turkey Trot! |
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| "Inflatable holiday decorations" |
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| "Body of water"- Lake Four Seasons, Drums, PA |
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| "Snowman" |
This really has been so much fun! I can't wait to find the rest of the items- it helps the miles to go by quickly and just helps the run be so much more enjoyable. I'll keep this post updated as I find the rest of the items.
Hope your holiday- and your running- has been awesome!
***Update: Found four more items at yesterday's Christmas Dash for Cash (12/7)!
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| "Animals on a farm" |
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| "Mile marker' |
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| "Railroad" Bonus- with a train!! |
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| "Santa (or someone in a Santa hat)" |
I love this idea! I'd have to drive a way to find railroad tracks, and were I live everything is so commercial that there really aren't "local" coffee shops - just Starbucks, but it sounds fun!
ReplyDeleteIt is really fun! I don't have a coffeshop in town either...I'll have to make a special trip during all the holiday travel to find one! :-)
DeleteThis sounds so fun. It def will keep my long runs more interesting. No matter what I start to get bored with my run around mile 10. Physically they've become a lot easier but mentally I'm ready to be done, so I want to see how many I can get on 1 run!
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly what you're saying! I struggle with long runs mentally as well! And this has been REALLY fun- try it and let me know what you think! :-)
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