Holy crap it was cold this morning! I got up at five with the idea that I would get my booty out the door for my five miles of speedwork sometime around six o’clock. When I checked the weather, my jaw hit the floor: it was 35 degrees outside! That’s January weather, not October (and, yes, I know I’m spoiled with fantastically mild winter weather – hence my post title). Between the cold and the dark – sunrise was at 7:27 this morning, yikes! – I just wasn’t feeling the love of the run, so I dilly-dallied until almost 7 am before I finally got going.
I spent the first mile and a half laughing at the irony of calling this part of my run a “warm up.” There was no warming up to be had. My hands, face and feet went numb from the cold almost instantly and I kept wondering how in the world I was going to hit my mile repeats. I’ve been enjoying the cooler weather, but this was downright cold! I also haven’t done any very much speedwork for about the last six months. I used to be very conscientious about it, but it has really fallen by the wayside for quite awhile now.
I guess I shouldn’t have worried about it, because even my chilly legs still knew what to do when Garmin beeped at me to pick it up. I ended up spanking my goal time (7:52/mi) on both mile repeats (7:43 and 7:49). I couldn’t believe how wonderful it felt to run fast again. Fast for me, that is.
I realized today that I’ve also become very spoiled with my early morning traffic. Apparently people are in a huge hurry at 7 am, and can’t bother to wait for a runner to cross the street at a signal with the pedestrian crossing sign flashing at them. At one intersection, I was inches away from setting foot in the street, when not one, not two, not even three, but SIX cars made a right hand turn directly in front of me! There may have been some swearing and hand gestures, but I’m not admitting to anything.
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Have you entered my virtual race yet?? Click the icon on my sidebar for more info. I’ve heard rumors of wigs and moderately illegal shenanigans so far – I can’t wait!!!
Brrrr….it was super cold here too today! We had frost warning last night and had to cover up our tomato plants!!
Good job for getting out there though. You are much braver than I am!
I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do for your virtual adventure race!!
I hate to say this but I’m still so turned off by heat that 35 sounds darn good to me! I share your pain with the crazy drivers though. Lucky for them I don’t run with a gun.
Off to see what race you’ve cooked up!
We are getting the cold (and snow!) too, yuck! I am just not ready. Good for you for getting out there and running and speedy run!
speedy! good run 🙂
YIkes!! Looks like the people in cars are inconciderate everywhere!! Great run though!!
I wish I could run in the morning, but everytime I try, my body revolts and I feel like I’m going to die before the first mile mark. At night, though, I can hit 5 without even blinking.
Yeah, you really have to be careful with right hand turners. They pull up and look to the left and just go…so you need to keep your eye out as a runner. I now make an effort to NOT do that when I’m driving.
Cold enough (and windy) that I didn’t ride. I’m working from home, so hoping to jump on the trainer at lunch.
Cold is nice but it becomes tough to keep up the dedication. In general drivers don’t care for runners.
Great run…People in cars are often oblivious to runners and bikers…
I am not going to talk about the cold weather right now…you get 35 degrees in Jan??? I am so jealous!!
When I got into my van this morning it said 35 degrees too! I wore my winter coat to work! I am not ready for this crap yet:) Nice job on the speed workouts!
Happy Halloween:)
Good for you for getting out and doing your speedwork despite the 35 degrees! Those are fast miles too! I am so not looking forward to winter! I am a wimp about cold weather.
BTW, thanks for the positive and supportive comments on my recent post. I really appreciate it!