I get spring fever something terrible. After last week’s warm and sunny weather, I was not prepared for yesterday morning. I got up at about 5:40, got dressed, sleepily chewed on half a cereal bar while doing my pre-run knee exercise. Then I put on my coat and gloves and stepped onto the porch.
It wasn’t the chill in the air or the frost on the cars that caught my attention. It wasn’t even the fresh snow on the ground. My porch was sheltered so I couldn’t feel it, but the howl of the wind between the houses gave me pause. In fact, I said “nuts to this!” and went back inside. I took off my gloves and unzipped my coat and thought about the treadmill. Of course using the treadmill at this hour meant waking my household a half an hour before anyone else was due to get up.
At this point I gave myself a stern talking-to and reminded myself that I have run in MUCH colder temperatures than this. I told myself I just had to figure out which direction the wind was going before I decided on my route and I would be fine. So I zipped up my coat, put on my gloves, and headed back out the door.
It was an interesting morning to run. Fortunately, with the frost, all of the road grit that should have been blowing around was mercifully frozen to the street. I only ran into one other soul, and I am sure he was out because his dog thought it was a good idea. When I was running into the wind, I felt like I could just lean on it, but it was a nice boost when I was running with it. The majority of the time was spent with the wind blowing at one side of me or the other, and it really wasn’t so bad.
In the end I was almost bang on my regular tempo pace. As grateful as I am to have the convenient option of the dreadmill when I need it, there is still nothing more refreshing and invigorating than running outside.
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