I'd really like to think that this morning was the worst of it and soon we'll start seeing real signs of Spring. Below zero after factoring in the windchill, we cloaked our weakness in the guise of common sense and decided it was just too damn cold outside for strain-prone day-after-long-run muscles. And what's the point of having nice bikes and fancy electromagnetic trainer thingies if you're not going to use them? So one nausea inducing hour of riding in place later, we didn't feel nearly so guilty about not venturing outside to run. I still don't understand why I can run for an hour with my heart rate around 170 and still feel pretty good, but an hour on the bike at 150 leaves me queasy and shaking.
Yesterday's long run (17 for me, 19 for J.) marked a ceremonial farewell of sorts. Way back in the Spring of 2000, I ran the Vermont City Marathon up in Burlington and stumbled across a fun little giveaway at their expo. SmartWool must have been a fairly new company at that point, because they were offering a deal where you could exchange whatever socks you were wearing at that moment for a new pair of theirs. As is sadly the usual case for me, I'm sure I was wearing a pathetic holey pair of worn out cotton bobby socks, so once I got over the embarrassment of handing them over, I was feeling pretty damn pleased with the deal.
So, flash forward seven years and there on the right, you will observe my beautiful pair of Burlington, VT SmartWool running socks. I still actually think of them as having extra padding under the heel and ball of the foot which is why I wear them for long runs, but the truth is that the fabric in those areas is literally translucent at this point. The holes in the toes have actually been darned back together on numerous occasions, but at some point it's necessary to face reality and accept the fact that life is transient and one's sock wardrobe is subject to seasons and change and all those other rules that apply to the world we exist in. It was just so hard for me even to make the move from those old familiar "3 pairs/$6" cotton ribbed socks of my childhood to the slinky polyester/olefin polypropylene synthetic masterpieces of foot technology that beckon to me at the checkout counters of running stores with their intimidating $12 a pair price tags. So to actually own a pair of moisture wicking, (formerly) cushioning, friction dissipating marvels and then face the hard truth that it was time to throw them away... I just couldn't do it on my own.
So thank goodness for Valentine's Day. I know I've found a truly stalwart partner in life when the man that I love gives me pink and red SmartWool running socks as a token of his affection. (In addition to other more chocolaty and silk and satiny tokens too.) The only caveat to my accepting the gift was...yes, you guessed it...the beloved old socks with their built-in toe ventilation system had to go. In the end, it really wasn't that traumatic. I still couldn't quite muster the strength to do it myself, but I left them on the floor by the door of the apartment and little elves whisked them away to their well-earned final reward.