My Husband Owns Running Tights and Other Strange Occurrences....

Strange Occurrence #1: My husband's new running tights came in the mail on Friday.

When running took over my life two and a half years ago, my husband was happy for me and tried to join in, but he just didn't like running. He was up to 3 miserable miles when he broke a bone in his foot in a non-running accident. That was that. I kept going and going, running 6 half-marathons and one full over the years. He dutifully drove me to start lines, waited patiently for me to finish, and offered all the love and encouragement for which I could ask.

Fast forward to November of this year and out of the blue, he decided to train for a half marathon in March. He said he wanted to understand and be a part of this thing that is such a defining force in my life. I think his exact words were, "I hate running, but I'm going to run a half marathon. For you." I told him I would "coach" him, but he had to do it for HIMSELF, not for me. Now he's up to 8 miles, has had his first blister, and is losing a toenail. Welcome to my world, Honey!

On a 17-degree run the other day wearing thin running pants, he was freezing. I told him that most of the male runners I know wear tights in the winter. He looked at me like I was crazy because he's seen these guys in tights (you know the BOLD ones who wear them with nothing over them showing off every aspect of their physique?). But I ordered them anyway. Now for the rest of his long runs, he'll at least be warm (though he still hates running). Plus nothing says "serious runner" more than training for a half-marathon while wearing tights! Now if I can just get him to like running..... (He does like the sense of accomplishment he feels after completing a long run.)

Strange Occurrence #2: Our Tennessee Blizzard

On Friday and Saturday, we got 6 inches of snow in Tennessee. We are officially snowed in! This is quite rare. We have many winters where the sleds never even make it out of the garage. Unfortunately, this was the week of the first training run for the new half-marathon training group I'm coaching!

I am leading a 12-week training group for the Country Music Half Marathon. I have 24 runners of all ages and ability levels. One has run a full marathon (something like 15 years ago), two did the training and ran the fall marathon with me, 5 are from my fall Couch to 5K group, and the rest vary in experience. With 6 inches of snow on the ground, we couldn't exactly run outside. I know for many of you, that wouldn't have been an issue, but we don't own Yak Trax or anything and frankly, we Tennesseans have NO IDEA how to drive on this stuff. Not a good combination. So, we had to do our first training run of 5.5 miles INDOORS on the treadmills and track at the local YMCA. Out of 24 people, 9 braved the icy roads and showed up, which was nice.

Strange Occurrence #3 Run Like a Mother

On a post earlier this week, Sara Bowen Shea, a contributing editor to Runner's World magazine, left a comment. Remember the issue with the running skirts reviews from August of 2008, I believe? She wrote those reviews and has contributed to several other articles since I've been an avid Runner's World reader. Her blog Marathon Moms was at one time part of the Runner's World website. Anyhoo, she has written a book called Run Like a Mother and is sending me a copy. I will read it and tell you all about it on here. For a former English teacher turned stay-at-home-mom and part-time running coach, anything that combines books, mothering, AND running is pretty awesome. Look for my review soon!

Despite the snow, I had a fantastic running week. I ran 25 miles. On Monday I did a tempo run, on Wednesday I did a long run, on Friday I did an easy run (indoors), and on Saturday I did speedwork (indoors). I don't know if I've hit all the MAJORS (tempo, long, easy, and speedwork) before in one 7-day period!