14 Degrees

That was the reading according to my car as I drove to yesterday morning's long run. This was by far the coldest day I had run in this winter. As I pulled into the parking lot to wait for my running companions to arrive, I tried to psych myself up for the drastic temperature change my body was about to experience when I stepped out of the car.

Living my whole life in Chicago and running the past 3 years throughout the winter, I was prepared for this temperature. Unfortunately, I seem to have some circulation issues which make me struggle in effort to keep my toes, fingers, ears and nose warm in this type of weather. Today, I had a doubled up on my pants and socks. I tripled up on upper body coverage and gloves. Add a balaclava and a big, thick hat and I was good to go, or so I thought.

Luckily, it wasn't windy today. No matter how cold it is, you can always manage...it's that wind that sometimes will force you to cut a run short (and we all know how much runners hate that!). The first few miles were chilly, but nothing too bad. I decided that I dressed a little TOO warmly on top...should've left the running jacket in the car. And with temperatures so low, ice began to form. It formed on my pants, below my knees. It formed all over my hat. My hair had icicles around it that made it look like strings of spaghetti. And scariest of all is that my eyelashes had developed icicles on them. No matter how many times you try to wipe those away, they just end up coming back. Your best bet is to just leave them there until they melt on their own accord when you get back into the car and crank the heat!

About half way through the run, we circled back to the parking lot to "drop off" those runners who didn't have quite as far to go today. It was at that point I was offered hand warmers. These nifty little things are designed to heat up immediately when you open the package. They are about 3 times the size of a sugar packet and they fit neatly into the second of my 3 pairs of gloves I was wearing. It took about 10 minutes for the heat to restore my fingers with feeling sensation. And I just moved these wonderful little items to the front and back of my fingers and thumbs regularly throughout the rest of the run. It made my run so much more comfortable. The only thing better at that point was going to be the cup of hot chocolate I would wrap my fingers around as soon as I had the opportunity.

I was thankful this run was over. Not for the distance, but for the fact that I couldn't keep my ears, nose and toes warm in the second part of the run. It made the last 3 miles feel like 10. I immediately reminded myself that we are now toward the end of January and very soon, the temperatures will be rising. Couldn't be soon enough.