W.W.F.D.(?)

So, when I went out on my balcony yesterday it was raining, borderline sleeting, and cold. Needless to say, I didn't want to run in it and the ensuing inner dispute actually culminated with the conclusion (I swear I am not making this up): "Well, Forest would run in it."

So off I went. (I gave Tessa the day off due to conditions, and she thankfully scurried upstairs and spent the next hour in a hot shower.)
Basically, in terms of weather, imagine Bizarro-Last-Week. I could tell from the ripples in the canals that the wind was literally constantly against me. If I switched directions, so did it. I turned corners, and it did too. (I even twirled in a little circle once and THAT induced a small tornado that uprooted a rose bush.)

I was working both a watch and the Nike(Plus) because I knew that the battery on my iPod was dangerously low and I wanted to be able to register my time in the event that it died (Note: This led to me periodically saving runs on the iPod and starting new ones so I wouldn't risk losing the whole thing if it didn't last. As a result, my 9 miles reads like 350,000 little runs. After my laptop crashed, I am officially Backup obsessed.)

ANNNNDDDD, at about three miles, it started hailing just as the wind picked up hard, meaning I was getting pelted directly in the face by sharp balls of ice. I ended up among a small group of runners, all of which (including me) were running with our arms up in a sort of cross formation, trying to shield our faces from permanent ice-induced disfiguration.

It was kinda funny.

Anyway, things calmed down and I finished without too much event, but Tessa had to follow me around the house placing towels under me in order to protect our newly cleaned floors. I was dripping water everywhere.

The Run:

Distance: 9.1 miles
Time: 1:08:37
Average: 7:32

Somewhere in there I had a really fast mile, because Paula Radcliffe piped up at one point (she lives in my iPod) to tell me I established a new PB in the mile, but when I checked it looked the same as before...Other than that, I was chirpy all day for running that well when things sucked so much, and we celebrated by spending the afternoon in the Netherlands.

The rest of the week's training went pretty well. The speed work is a bit tricky, and I have to write notes on my hand to remember how many laps I have to do at "Cruise Intervals" and how many I do at "Speed Intervals"(?!). Of course, sweat blurs the ink to the point that every number looks like it says either "stop", "slow down", or "Wouldn't you rather be drinking a beer?". I'm not sure exactly how many miles I ran, because I don't always bring the iPod to the track (I'm far too uncoordinated to make it work with everything else, particularly while deciphering my Rohrschach splits). Also, I might have to stop running with Tessa on my optional days, because my legs are on the verge of total revolt. (Don't worry, I'll bike):

Logged Miles: 23.51
Time: 3:03:48
Average: 7:48
Best Weekday Run: 2.1 Miles (14:52)
Overall Impression: Pretty Pleased But Fatiguing (PPBF)

Basically, the blog must be working. If it wasn't for the fact that I read constantly about everything Forest runs through, I would have spent all day either A) in bed, or B) drinking beer in Maastricht.

So cheers, Forest, for helping me run when the conditions are horrible. And cheers, PP, for making me want to be faster, and (as always) cheers to Sixpack, for inspiring me to slog through an ungodly amount of miles.
(And cheers to you too, Tequila, for your comments and general fantasticness.)