You wanna step outside?

I have never claimed to be very tough.  In fact, I'm a big time weenie.  The thought of going outside to run, as you may have noticed, has been something I have yet to really come to terms with.  Frankly, I'm terrified of running outside in the cold.  Will I be under-layered?  Will I be over-layered?  Granted, there are not a ton of questions to answer, but I keep thinking that going outside in the cold will be the absolute end of my desire to run.  It's cold, and cold has never really been something I enjoy.  At least not since I was like 11. 

But with Abilene now 12 weeks away, I needed to get out and hit the concrete and get my legs used to the pounding they are going to take.  And that meant going outside, into the cold, and toughening up.  Well, yesterday was that day.  I had to get in a 3 mile run, and I was bound and determined to do it outside in the elements.  So I went for it.  And it was cold.

To set the stage, I should at least elaborate on how I had to dress to make sure I made it.  I figured I would just pick out some clothes, and if they were enough, they were enough, and if they were not enough, I would warm up eventually.  I went with two pairs of socks.  I have some Under Armor fleece running pants, which I wore over a pair of flannel pajama pants.  I have a long sleeve Mizuno thermal wear shirt, and a track jacket to wear over that.  I did also wear a wool stocking hat and running ear muffs, as well as two pairs of gloves.  It was enough, fortunately.  I would freaking hope so, but since it was 22 degrees out at 11 AM, I did not know what to expect.  I guess I would find out.

Really, it went as well as I could have hoped.  For the first run outside in at least two months, off of the treadmill and into the cold weather, it went very well.  I tried not to worry about times in 3 mile runs starting in August, or some time last year, so there was no certain time I was aiming for.  I just wanted to get a feel for the pavement and not push too hard or think about times.  What I ended up with was a time of 25:26, which was under 8:30/mile.  A great start for me, since I'm hoping to put up some great times this year in the upcoming races.  I should also mention that the cold was not all that bad, even if the wind chill was 11 degrees, and it was something that I'm probably not worried about anymore.  Look at me toughening up.  So, until next time...later.