About this time last year we were at the local brewery on Friday night and the subject of the Frozen Digger came up and subsequently I got nudged into doing the race. The Frozen Digger is a local 7 mile run through the dirt roads around the west side of Butte. It is a pretty hilly course and as the name implies, it is during the time of year when temps are still rather frigid.
I thought it would be great fun to attempt the Frozen Digger off the couch. My total disdain for running has always been a huge hurdle to me running with any regularity (or at all to be honest). After a couple of beers it seemed like a great idea to go ahead and do this event without having run at all for years...ohh wait, I take that back: on Friday night I did run on the treadmill for 3 miles because I was thinking of training with the wifer as she trained for her 1/2 iron man last year. That training would also fall by the wayside given my lack of enthusiasm for running and also the lack of time as I was trying to get mileage on the saddle to train for the Cascade Cream Puff (or maybe the Puff was just an excuse to dodge running??? - seems pretty masochistic either way).
Digressing back to the Digger....I woke up thinking it probably wasn't the best idea knowing full well that my body would PAY for this stupidity in spades. What urged me to do it though was that the wifer had been running regularly and there is nothing better than a little friendly marital trash talk to motivate. Before I knew it, we were at the starting line in temps that hovered around the teens and it was time to start running. Considering my training plan going in, my goal was to just survive and try to finish (and not have to walk any part of it). Soon enough everyone was trotting along and I could have sworn that people were floating through the air and in comparison, I felt like I was lumbering around with heavy limbs. After about a mile, the wifer passed me and she looked strong...I let this resonate in my mind for a bit and decided that this would just not do...at all! So I picked up the pace and tried to look fresh as I passed her up. Soon after passing, the course changed and it would be rolling uphill mini suffer-fests for the next 3 miles. About a mile from the finish, all I could think of was that the suffering would soon stop and that I just wanted to finish - regardless of whether the wifer was ahead or behind me. At about this point a couple of seasoned runners passed me up chatting away as they cruised by. For a brief moment I despised them with every fiber of aching muscle as they seemed like they were just getting warmed up!
I eventually crossed the finish line and immediately felt the body telling me it was not happy - the muscles were already starting to hurt and at that very moment I realized that the real pain was to come over the next couple of days. I did earn family bragging rights for the race and the missus was none to happy that I managed to get in ahead of her. For the moment it seemed like the temporary pain of the race was worth it. She got her satisfaction though in the days to come as I could not walk up or down stairs, or get on/off the couch since my legs muscles were revolting from all the abuse. She did not hurt at all and she was getting her sweet revenge by watching me have to use my arms to help weight and unweight my legs as I hobbled around.
Fast forward a year and the Frozen Digger is this Saturday - as usual, the only running I have done is chasing a dog or running in haste from point A to point B...This year my ego is in check and there is NO way I am getting talked into doing that event again...Especially off the couch...not to mention the missus would kick my butt this year - so I will savor my brief moment of victory and family bragging rights knowing full well that those would be lost if I was dumb enough to put myself through that again.
I thought it would be great fun to attempt the Frozen Digger off the couch. My total disdain for running has always been a huge hurdle to me running with any regularity (or at all to be honest). After a couple of beers it seemed like a great idea to go ahead and do this event without having run at all for years...ohh wait, I take that back: on Friday night I did run on the treadmill for 3 miles because I was thinking of training with the wifer as she trained for her 1/2 iron man last year. That training would also fall by the wayside given my lack of enthusiasm for running and also the lack of time as I was trying to get mileage on the saddle to train for the Cascade Cream Puff (or maybe the Puff was just an excuse to dodge running??? - seems pretty masochistic either way).
Digressing back to the Digger....I woke up thinking it probably wasn't the best idea knowing full well that my body would PAY for this stupidity in spades. What urged me to do it though was that the wifer had been running regularly and there is nothing better than a little friendly marital trash talk to motivate. Before I knew it, we were at the starting line in temps that hovered around the teens and it was time to start running. Considering my training plan going in, my goal was to just survive and try to finish (and not have to walk any part of it). Soon enough everyone was trotting along and I could have sworn that people were floating through the air and in comparison, I felt like I was lumbering around with heavy limbs. After about a mile, the wifer passed me and she looked strong...I let this resonate in my mind for a bit and decided that this would just not do...at all! So I picked up the pace and tried to look fresh as I passed her up. Soon after passing, the course changed and it would be rolling uphill mini suffer-fests for the next 3 miles. About a mile from the finish, all I could think of was that the suffering would soon stop and that I just wanted to finish - regardless of whether the wifer was ahead or behind me. At about this point a couple of seasoned runners passed me up chatting away as they cruised by. For a brief moment I despised them with every fiber of aching muscle as they seemed like they were just getting warmed up!
I eventually crossed the finish line and immediately felt the body telling me it was not happy - the muscles were already starting to hurt and at that very moment I realized that the real pain was to come over the next couple of days. I did earn family bragging rights for the race and the missus was none to happy that I managed to get in ahead of her. For the moment it seemed like the temporary pain of the race was worth it. She got her satisfaction though in the days to come as I could not walk up or down stairs, or get on/off the couch since my legs muscles were revolting from all the abuse. She did not hurt at all and she was getting her sweet revenge by watching me have to use my arms to help weight and unweight my legs as I hobbled around.
Fast forward a year and the Frozen Digger is this Saturday - as usual, the only running I have done is chasing a dog or running in haste from point A to point B...This year my ego is in check and there is NO way I am getting talked into doing that event again...Especially off the couch...not to mention the missus would kick my butt this year - so I will savor my brief moment of victory and family bragging rights knowing full well that those would be lost if I was dumb enough to put myself through that again.
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