Man, is it cold outside

Ok, so l ran last night...in 13 degree whether with a windchill of 3. Now, I'm not asking for pity, this whole endeavor is my idea, and pleasure. But come on ma nature, give a guy a break.

I've run in the cold before, even rain and cold. But this was new. It actually began all right, which was weird because usually the beginning of a run in the cold is rough. My joints are all stiff and I don't feel loose, etc, etc. This time was different, I felt great in the beginning. Then the weather started to take its toll. First, my face went pretty numb and started to feel all tight cuz my skin dried out. Then, and this made it most difficult, my legs started getting cold. Now, I had like 4 layers on top, so that was fine, but I only had tights on the legs, so watch out. These are good tights too, Pearl Izumi fleece-lined that I got for cycling, and are coming in handy now. None-the-less, my upper legs turned into masses of granite that shook every time I took a step. After about mile two, all this had set in and became fairly uncomfortable for the next 3 miles. My feet and hands stayed very warm(thank you adidas and thorlo), and my head was fine(good, warm, moisture-wicking hat). It was just those legs.

Oh, and my nose, and any of you that have biked or run know what I mean. Heck, I'm sure everyone has had this happen. My nose hair froze everytime I breathed in! I hate that. It doesn't hurt. It is just one of the most annoying feelings in the world, kind of like static electricity on your arm hair(which also happens in the cold). Ok, enough of my griping. It actually was kind of fun when all is said and done, I did the whole run, no stopping, so it gives me hope for the rest of the winter. I just have to come with a way to protect the nose hair, maybe get a new balaclave, we'll see. As for the legs, well, thing I'm gonna have to suffer through, it's tough to run in multiple layers of pants, unless I want to walk like Gumbee or those walking ginger-bread men during the Macy's parade. Yeah, not so much.

Hopefully, I'll be meeting with the people at Horizons soon to brainstorm for some fundraising stuff, I'll obviously keep you posted. Everybody take care, and stay warm.