Motivation Found During Arctic Blast

With all the hype about an arctic blast coming to Texas (Thursday through Saturday), I was getting nervous about my weekly mileage.  Jan. 1 I had just set the goal to hit 500 miles by June 30.  I did not want to feel behind one week in!  I only run outside - 457 miles run in 2009, ALL outside.  So I was in danger of three days of not running!

So, in search of motivation for myself and the others freaking out about running (whether outside or on the oh-so-aptly-named "dreadmill"), I put out feelers to see if anyone would be interested in a virtual race with two results divisions: outside and inside.  I'd gather the times people sent me from Thursday through Saturday (the days of sub-freezing temperatures) and post the results, so anyone could use it as motivation to get out there.  I actually got a decent little bit of interest!

So the Arctic Blast Virtual Almost 5K was born.  I used Heels and Hills website to post the "rules" (if a non-race "race" can have rules, that is!) and will use it for the results.  Here's the info, in case anyone else wants to participate...

I have to say that without this, I never would have run tonight.  And right now I'm still motivated to run tomorrow morning and on Saturday!  And I wondered today if anyone would participate.  If they didn't, that's okay, I knew it would give me the motivation I needed.  And I thought that if it provided the same motivation to even just one other person, it was SO worth it.  But I've actually received many emails, messages, and posts today of people's times, so that's pretty cool.

Sarah and I went out at 7:15 pm. 

Weather Conditions:
Temperature: 23 degrees
Windchill: 16 degrees
Wind: 5 mph from NNW
Wind Gust: 14 mph

Bundled up, we completed 3 miles at an easy 11:59 pace.  Here's me, just in from my run...

 Here's hoping I find that same motivation tomorrow!