I Can't Put My Arms Down!

Leave it to my luck that the first real week of training, is the week that temperatures plummet to single digits.  It's a good thing I was antsy to run after my sick hiatus, otherwise it would have been realll hard to get out the door this week!

Tuesday was my first run back since being sick.  Since I took the whole time off I was sick, it had been eleven whole days without running.  I was worried that I was going to die from losing fitness, but it actually turned out to be a good run.

It was bitterly cold and the first half of the run was into the wind.  I'm not kidding you guys, my face felt like it was going to fall off.  The wind was just brutal!  We got in 3 miles and, freezing temperature aside, I felt fantastic the whole run.  Definitely on the slow side, but I'll take it considering my 11 day break!

Yesterday I had a personal training appointment at the gym I go to, so I decided to stick around after my appointment to get in my miles on the treadmill.  Now, you all know my feelings about the treadmill.  The ONLY reason I willingly chose to run on it yesterday was purely convenience and time's sake.  And, as predicted, it was just as boring and brutal as I remembered.  I literally had to pep talk myself to get through 20 minutes.  1.5 miles?  Sounds good to me for today!

After reaffirming my hatred for the treadmill yesterday, it was time to embrace the 10 degree weather today and get used to the bitter cold.  It was even colder today than Tuesday so I got extra serious about my layering to stay warm.

this is what 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts and 2 pairs of gloves looks like.
i'm ready for ya, mother nature.

I was so layered up, this is what I felt like:

Even with a 12 inch thick barrier of clothes, it was still a darn cold.  I ran with Emily and she was chatty the whole time which was fine by me because my lungs were too busy shrinking in the cold to talk.  Because of the roads we ran on, we had to stay on the sidewalk about 80% of the run and naturally, the sidewalk was nicely layered with snow.  We pretended we were just running in the sand along the beach, and the sound of our feet crunching the snow was the waves of the ocean.  That fun lasted for oh about 30 seconds.

We got in a little under 4 miles at a 13 minute pace exactly, and let me tell you... I feel like I worked my butt off for those miles and that pace!  Running on snow always makes for a solid workout.  Right as we were near the end, we were both ready to be done and complaining and as we were running by a restaurant, some lady yelled to us "you girls are great!"  It's like she knew we needed some positive energy!  Thanks for keeping us going lady!

Tomorrow is a rest day and it is much needed.  Saturday will be my first long run in... a long time.  Seven miles are on the agenda and the temps are supposed to be in the 20's -- heat wave baby!  See ya after the seven!