Run Outside? It's COLD!

My friend Jenny asked me if I have run outside yet. She is the inspiration behind the next several paragraphs of babble.....

I am tired of the treadmill. I sort of feel like a hamster on a wheel. So as not to complain too much, I will say 1) I am thankful for my treadmill. It has helped me to become a runner during a long period of winter 2) I am thankful for my husband who has been carefully painting our basement, one section at a time all winter. This has definitely given me something better to look at than white walls. 3) Our basement has a great view of a beautiful outside, so I'm thankful for that, too. 4) Also, I run a lot when Halle and I are home and everyone else is gone. I can't exactly leave her home alone while I run. The treadmill has helped me solve that problem. But as thankful as I am, I have run somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 miles on a stationary piece of machinery. I'm longing for the outdoors.

My biggest obstacle (besides the obvious cold weather) was not being able to track my progress. My treadmill tells me how far I've run, how long I've run, how many calories I've burned, and what my current running pace is. Getting out on the open road would leave me helpless! Well, enter Nike+. I played right into this marketing scheme. You buy a sensor for $30 that attaches to your iPod Nano. The other part goes into the sole of your Nike+ shoe. Great! Rather than fixing my problem, I added two more. 1) It doesn't work with the iPod classic (which is what I have). You MUST have a Nano. 2) My running shoes are Saucony's, not Nike.

I am now the proud owner of a new Nano. I have to admit, this thing is cool! It's so much smaller than my classic, which is definitely better for running. AND the sleek, new armband that I bought for $30 is made of Nike DryFit material which is way better than the old armband I had for my iPod classic! I didn't, however, run out and buy a new pair of shoes. I found a lacelid on eBay for $6.50. This little gadget attaches to the top of my laces and the Nike+ sensor pops right in. Works like a charm. OK, so I'm now in business. I'm just waiting for the warm weather.

I mentioned before that people run outside here no matter the temp. I guess I don't really know how to properly dress to run in the cold. I've always been challenged with running in the heat. But, my sweetie gave me some new Nike running pants for Valentine's Day. At Target the other day I picked up some Duo Dry long sleeve shirts from the clearance rack. I even found a nice Duo Dry jacket on clearance! Looks like I'm starting to build my wardrobe in the event that I get the urge to run outside.

Last Friday (3/15) the temperature was almost 60 degrees. Gorgeous by our standards! My mind started gravitating to an outdoor run. I mean, perfect running temperatures!

The warm didn't last--it was just teasing us. Rude, I know! Saturday morning dawned a CRISP 34 degrees. My running schedule told me that I needed to run 4 miles. I couldn't bear another 4 miles on the treadmill. I had been running outside in my mind for the last 24 hours. I decided to brave it!

I wore the following: Nike pants, a long-sleeve duo dry shirt, my duo dry jacket, silver glove liners (the ones I used to wear under my real gloves while skiing), and my headband thing that I wore for skiing.

Once outside, my legs were immediately cold. Especially once I started running. I thought that running would warm me up, but the wind cut right through those pants. The rest of me, however, was pretty much fine. I think my fingers could have used another layer. (I now have my eye on some Nike running gloves....maybe for next year!) I have a pair of hot chili's from my skiing days. I think those would be a perfect under-layer to help keep my legs warm. I plan to try this on Saturday. By the end of my 4 miles, I was sweating just a smidge. Not bad!

So how was the outside run? VERY refreshing! I can't wait to hit the trail again. I think the thing that I am the most amazed about is how much of Wheaton I covered in just 5 miles! I walked .5 miles to the prairie path as a warm-up. I took the prairie path to downtown Wheaton, and ran North on West Street to Northside Park. I hadn't run my 4 miles yet, so I ran around the entire Northside Park running trail (1 mile) and headed home via Wheaton North High School. This was just a tad over 5 miles by the time I finished (including my warm-up and cool-down). I can't wait to do this again!