That Fucking Hill

Fall is here. I love fall. One thing I do not love is having Raynaud’s Syndrome. It’s a condition where small blood vessels in the fingers and toes narrow and cut off blood flow in cold temperatures, or with stress, but mine is when I get cold. As I’ve said before, I am a sweaty ugly mess after my morning workouts, like soaking wet, and if I don’t get out of those clothes fast enough there goes my circulation. Trying to make my bed while not being able to feel my fingers is miserable. All I can do is hop in a hot shower asap to bring life back into my hands.

There’s a marathon coming up and I did the 10K last year, which was a huge goal for me to accomplish at the time, and it was miserable outside. It was pouring down rain, windy as hell, and freezing. I wore gloves but man, my feet were soaked and my toes were numb. There was a section of that race that was uphill and holy crap, I ran the whole thing, it was the toughest race I’ve ever done. I’ve missed all the early sign ups this year because I’m holding out to see what the weather’s like. If it’s good, I may do the 10K again, just because I want a new metal to put up in my gym. Originally, I was wanting to do the ½ but after I’ve been incorporating more walking and hiking into my routine, I can tell it’s just way better on my body. If I do the ½ I know, I know I will be out for a few weeks, however, I think the ½ bypasses that fucking hill. In all honesty, I’m not ready for a ½ right now.

This past Sunday was my first “run” back on the treadmill since my last ½ marathon, which was five months ago. To train for a race I like to do the “run + walk” classes on the Peloton. I managed 5.5 miles but my hips are killing me today. Is it really worth the recognition to put your body in so much pain? There are a few women that I recognize at our local races and you can tell, they are runners, that’s probably all they do is train to run. Do they ever hurt? I don't know, maybe I’ll just do the 5K and call it good?