Hmmmm is it 10 degrees out or is it just me?

So.... Thursday night I once again tried my hand at another brick workout. I really do enjoy these workouts. I only wish I could do them with ..... well a temperature above 10 degrees. You know, no matter how well you dress that first half mile is a true test of will. You step out that door, head towards the street, and start to think... "wow.... my face is freezing, glad I put some Vaseline on.....and my nose is burning with each breath.... maybe this isn't such a good idea." You move forward due to self motivation alone, you focus on that which you drives you, the thing you're striving for, your reason for running in the first place. you head out only because you feel you need to, you're the only who would truly know if you didn't pound the pavement today, no one would think you the weaker for not running in 10 degrees..... Seriously most people don't want to walk to their cars when it's that cold.

So you head out into the snow.... yes there is snow on the ground where we live... not much today, sidewalks covered in about and inch or two in places. Just enough snow to ruin your stride as you attempt to keep a good pace up hill. The bitter cold burns your lungs at first with each breath, any exposed skin burns as you trudge out into the night. We headed out clad in our reflective gear, glowing arm bands and head lamps. For a while I felt like a Clydesdale in one of those Budweiser commercials, with every breath a billowing cloud of steam left my mouth and was illuminated by the head lamp, temporarily limiting my vision to a bright white cloud of steam, as if running through a thick fog. We talked about if we were crazy, and if we were under dressed. I had some cold spots on my wrists where I only had two layers on. One thing you typically don't think about if your a "warm" climate runner, or a treadmill grinder is those darn shoes are not the best in the cold... lots and lots of cold comes in through the nice venting material that was designed to keep your feet from sweating too much when it's warm....

It was interesting.... about 9 miles on the bike and a 5 mile run afterwards. My only complaint is the snow on the sidewalks. With every step your feet tend to slip out from underneath you and as I said earlier the harder you push to run up a hill the more your feet slip, and the more steps you have to take... you can't just lengthen your stride, you have to shorten your stride and quicken your turnover to run faster you can move over the snow.... in theory.

Hope to see you all out snow shoeing with me soon!