16
16.
As in 16 degrees.
Yes, that was the temperature outside this morning when KT and I embarked on our morning run. My alarm went off at 5:00am and I hoisted myself from the perfect comfort of my bed. Since our heat is on a timer and isn’t scheduled to come on until 6:30 (I really need to talk to Mr. Dawn about that…) it was absolutely frigid in our little house. I stammered around in the darkness trying to remember where I had set out my running close the night before. I finally made it both to the light switch and the thermostat which made the whole getting up and waking up process much easier.
The past week, most of my running has be in temperatures in the 30′s and I got used to dressing accordingly. A long sleeve shirt, fleece, pants and tall socks combined with my running hat, ear muffs, neck gaiter and gloves. I have felt very warm and comfortable. The problem this morning was that I didn’t take the time to check the weather before I got into my car (which had been parked in the garage all night) and headed over to KT’s house for our pre-dawn run.
After turning left at the one stop light in our fair village, when I saw the current temperature posted on the Village Offices: 16 degrees. Oh shoot. At the last minute before I ran out the door, I grabbed my lightweight down jacket just to wear on the drive there and back so I wouldn’t be chilled. When I stepped out of my car and into the blistering cold wind, I realized that I would not be taking the jacket off AT ALL.
The run itself was not as bad as I imagine it could have been. The first two miles just sort of breezed by without me really paying attention. Then out of no where I felt a slap, right across my face. It knocked the wind out of my lungs and my eyes went all blurry. It took me a second to realize that we had rounded a corner into a direct head wind. Oh. My. Word. My eyes started watering and then freezing around the corners. My gloves, which up until this point have been my favorite, do a great job at blocking the wind, but for some reason today they just couldn’t hold up to the low temperatures and my hands started to get really cold.
But nothing, I mean nothing, was as bad off as my legs from my hips to my knee caps. The one other time KT and I have run in sub-twenty degree weather I made sure to put a wool base layer under my running pants. This time, not-so-much. On the up side, it was like taking an ice-bath whilst running. Yes, I do indulge in an occasional ice-bath. Usually this treat is reserved for post-long run fun-ness, when my legs are traumatized and slightly inflamed. No need for that today, the ice-cold wind took care of everything. My legs were litterally tingling as I ran along. I was pretty sure they were still function because I was moving forward and my ipod kept counting down the miles…
We made it to the end. Four miles total. Added to the 6 on Sunday and the 2 on Monday, we’re up to 12 for the week. Go Team!
