I'm horrible with movie trivia, but do remember a family friendly film put out years ago called Cool Runnings? It was about the first Jamaican bobsled team that went to the winter Olympics in Canada. They trained in the heat of Jamaica going down grassy hills. (It was funny and worth watching or sharing with your kids if they haven't seen it.)
Of course the appeal was partly the team doing a winter sport in a country that was so obviously hot. It was a paradox.
I feel a bit like I'm living a paradox with the running thing. I've always thought that I could never be a runner and I would really never be a runner in the cold. Even though it is technically spring, the weather in Illinois is cold. It was in the thirties yesterday and there was actually a very wet snow on the ground this morning.
But with an odd determination (perhaps like that of the first Jamaican bobsled team), three of us in the Tiger (transitional or really slow group) Catch the Wave running program ventured out into the weather yesterday. We bundled up and were warm after our five minute walk warm up and first interval of running 2 1/2 minutes and walking 1 1/2 minutes.
A necessity break took us into a downtown Normal establishment. Honestly, it felt like a sauna to us. My face was beat red and I was dripping sweat when I told Chris and Katie I was waiting outside.
To add to the scene, imagine huge drops of rain that pelted us as we headed back north on the trail.
After braving the cold and even the rain, we decided that maybe we really are runners. Only runners are crazy enough to go out in the elements, right?
We did a 3.15 mile trek. We estimated a 14-15 minute mile. Slow in the world of runners, but it made us feel like we accomplished something.
Wed. night when our group meets again for Catch the Wave, we are suppose to run 3 minutes and walk 1 minutes. It sounds challenging, but I think we were all feeling more confident after yesterday. I do need to get another run in sometime tomorrow....
Is there anything you ever thought you would never seriously attempt that you are working on or praying about working on?
