Notes
I didn't want to go. I wanted to just lay in bed. With a -2F wind chill, it was going to be frigid 5K ending in sweating to the coldies. Lame, I know. And, that is how it turned out. The wind was out of the northwest. On the outbound leg, going up along the lake into the wind, my not yet warmed quads froze under my jeans. After I warmed sufficiently, I began to unzip my light windbreaker and the fleece jacket under it. Then, I unzipped it some more. Two thirds of the way through, I took off my gloves as even my hands were beginning to sweat. By the end, I was even pulling back my wool stocking cap so the sweat on my forehead could either evaporate or freeze. It snowed yesterday. The frozen snow crunched underfoot where it had not drifted. With wool socks under my NB MT110, my feet were toasty. As I backtracked and looped around that section of street, I saw the cool pattern made by the lugs in the snow, mingling with the prints left by other people and sometimes their dog or a stray cat. A set of footprints had a walking stride longer than my slow, shuffle running stride. I play hopscotch to balance their prints with mine. It is more quiet when I run in the street, but I return to the sidewalk and leave prints of the herd of NB passing through. I shed my outerwear in the garage and start to cool down, finishing in the shower with cold water on the back of my calves as I continue a cadence bouncing on my toes. As usual, though I am tired and slightly sore in places, I am more glad afterwards than if I had not gotten my run in. I think that is a good trend to build on. The rest of a cold bright day beckons, though with a bit more protection from my place of observance.