Cold

It was really cold this weekend in Colorado.  Which is a bummer when there's fresh powder up on the ski hills.  I would have loved to have gone on Saturday (and missed the Broncos game - darn!), but this girl does not ski when the high temperature is less than 10 degrees.

I discovered, however, that I will do a 90 min run outside when it is 10 degrees.  Interesting. 

Essentially, this boils down to this: I really, really hate the treadmill.

After some whining waiting for the air to warm up from the morning's low of -2, I decided to run at noon.  Fortunately it was clear and sunny.  I'm pretty sure if it wasn't, I would have turned around and headed back to a treadmill somewhere.  More time was spent procrastinating, looking for things to wear.  Really, what do you wear for stuff like this? 

I ended up with this ensemble (no photo, sorry):

• Smartwool running socks.  I wanted my heavy weight pair of Wright Socks, but the sock troll must have taken them.  I figured they were wool, so hopefully my feet wouldn't freeze?
• Lightweight Nike running tights.
• Heavyweight (fleecy inside) Zoot tights as the top layer
• Brooks PureFlow 2's.  Almost grabbed my Newtons, but the Newts have a ton of light and airy mesh.  No thanks.
• Lightweight Terramar mock turtleneck zip up top (base layer)
• Mediumweight Zoot top (middle layer)
• Zoot running jacket (fairly light but is wind resistant)
• lightweight running hat with a ponytail hole
• medium weight gloves

I also packed my inhaler, as my asthma likes to act up on cold days.  Finally, I filled my 10-oz hand held water bottle with hot water, and shoved it in the pocket of my jacket.  Then I whimpered and hit the door.

My run was a 1:30 MAF run with a HR limit of 143.  I was supposed to walk the first and last 5 min. Those first 5 minutes made me question my sanity (mainly because I didn't bother putting on anything to cover my face).  But once I got running, things were shockingly ok.  Everything was nice and quiet, there was no one out except the bunnies.  There was water flowing in the stream next to the trail, and it was so cold that the water was steaming.  The steam then froze to the grass growing next to the stream.  Pretty!

Going out was just fine, coming back was a bit cold, especially the last 2 miles with the wind in my face. (brain freeze anyone?) My feet were shockingly warm and even a bit sweaty.  My hands were almost too warm but I didn't dare remove my gloves.  The hot water trick worked well and my water bottle didn't freeze.  Legs were a bit cold at times, but not too bad.  Upper body was perfect.  Unfortunately, I've discovered that my fancy new running hat really doesn't cover my ears all that well, so I'd have to tug on it (not super easy to do with gloves) or hold my hands over my ears (while running) for a bit.  I'm sure that looked cute.  I ended up getting 7.3 miles done and I didn't freeze to death.

The best part was that Will had our fireplace warmed up and ready for my return.  Sitting by the fire has never felt better.