JJSB Rundate 15054: Midwest, February running = BLECH!

So, I haven't posted in a few weeks.  Not that there have been that many runs to post about.  This is possibly the worst time of the year in KC for outside runners.  It's dreary, sometimes icy, bitterly cold and the teasing spring is just close enough to drive an outside runner batty. 

I'll have to check my run history to be sure, but I think that this is probably my least active February since I began regularly running in 2011.  I only ran 3 times this month: Every Saturday.  Of course, it hasn't helped that I've been working late hours at my job while trying to keep up on other projects at home and still spend time with my family.  Often, I plan on running during the work day and then, by the time I roll into the garage at 7:00pm, heading out into a dark, cold night is the last thing I want to do. 

Another thing that hasn't helped, is that the nerve pain that was in my right arm in the fall, returned to plague me once again, only in my left arm.  All I can chalk it up to is stress, which I've had plenty of.  Still, it did worry me a bit.  There were some days when I couldn't run without searing pain shooting through my arm.  We're talking a really weird and horrible pain like someone is ripping nerves out of your body.  After running for a half mile or so with the shooting pain every time I took a stride, it would slowly fade until there was no pain at all.  Eventually, it began to go away and I currently see no sign of the pain.  But will it return?  I don't know. 

At any rate, this past Saturday, I was not only able to run, but was able to run in shorts.  This, in spite of a forecast for that day of rain, ice then snow.  It only rained a bit the night before in our neck of the woods and then the sun popped out Saturday morning and it actually warmed up quite a bit.  I don't think that it quite hit 50° but it was well into the upper 40's.  I could have swung a T-shirt as well, but I didn't get out to run until late afternoon and by that time, the sun was low in the sky, behind the clouds.  So, I wore shorts and a long sleeve running shirt.  The cold wind ended up being pretty tough as it seemed for most of the run that I was going against it no matter which direction I turned.  Due to the wind, gloves would have been a good idea but I wore none, so my hands ended up like ice cubes.  Still, it was a great run and I am thankful for it.

Now, as the days slowly begin to get longer and we are blessed with more light in the evenings, my hope is that I'll be able to get off of work earlier and actually be able to get some runs in during daylight hours,  Either way, I'm starting a 12 week training plan for a half marathon here in the Northland in May.  The schedule is pretty much running Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday every week so I've got that schedule to keep my focus going.  I'll decide if I'm actually going to do the half marathon before April which is the next cost increase for registration.

Here is the event:  Race for Hope KC: Half Marathon

I'm really hoping to run this and I'm sure I can be ready physically.  It'll just come down to whether or not I want to spend the money to register or be around that many people.  I'll probably do it.  I would really like to run in the area that they are having it because I've never run there but have always thought that it would make for a nice run and it would be something new.  We shall see.

Oh, and there were a number of great songs during Saturday's run including The Cure, Longwave, Concrete Blonde and this obscure and underrated band of Christians called The Throes:

"Song of the Run":

The Throes - Reckless Feeling

" 'To feel or not to feel' is the nature of my ways
The tangled stimulation casting rings outside my head."

Beautifully poetic lyrics just the way I like them!

Peace My Fellow Runners!