On Winter Running

Happy Friday, ya punks! Who has a long run scheduled for this weekend? I doooo, tomorrow to be precise, and I have to be done, showered, and ready to leave for a day at the winery by 11:30 am. Ouch. I have somewhere between 4-5 miles on the schedule, which means I need to be out my door by like 8:45-9, woof. Plus side; the high tomorrow is 50, so it won’t be absolutely freezing at that time of the morning. Just a little bit freezing.

However, I’m kind of digging this whole winter running nonsense. Sure it’s cold, but only for a little bit in the beginning, and then it’s kind of nice. I like looking at the snow and ice, and I really like not sweating my face off and struggling to breathe in the DC summer humidity. Oh, and the best part of course is no chaffing! I really don’t miss hopping in the shower after a long run and cringing in pain as the water hits some area of my body that unbeknownst to me, has been completely rubbed raw. Anyway, so yeah I’m acclimating to this winter running stuff, and it ain’t so bad.

Yesterday afternoon I hit the trails for 3.5 miles. It was sunny and 33, which felt amazing, and I was peeling off layers almost immediately. I lost my gloves after .5 mile and my headband after 2, and probably didn’t need two long sleeve shirts. I was really making an effort to keep yesterdays run at an “easy” pace, so I’d feel good for tomorrow. I was hoping to stay around a 9:10 pace, but every time I looked down at my watch I was running sub 9. Oops, I really need to work on my pacing efforts. The bike path was still all covered in snow and ice and looking pretty, so I took some time to appreciate it once I finished running.

January 30: 3.5 Miles