I’ve really got to work on my running playlist. Right as I hit the halfway point on this morning’s training run, the band Speedway started singing “I can’t turn back” into my headphones. Sorry, Speedway, I can turn back and I will because I parked my car at the running store. After I’d run 22 minutes and 30 seconds in one direction, I needed to turn back to complete a grand total of 45 minutes.

I can tell that the training program is working because I ran for three-quarters of an hour today like it ain’t no thang. It was work, but it wasn’t impossible and at no point did I feel like collapsing or stopping at my apartment on the way back. However, running conditions could have only been crappier if I’d stumbled in dog doo. The trail was covered in so much snow that other people’s footprints were the only proof that it was there. I couldn’t see the road at all. It was like driving in a downpour by following the taillights of [...]

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Most Saturdays I don’t care what the temperature is at eight o’clock in the morning. Most Saturdays I am snuggled in my bed debating whether to have oatmeal or eggs for breakfast. Most Saturdays I’m not starting my half-marathon training. Last Saturday was not most Saturdays. I woke up at 7:30 to check my computer’s weather widget for the temperature and my eyelids peeled up to my scalp when I saw this:

Crap! I got dressed anyway, in my newly purchased sweat-wicking pants and sweat-wicking pullover fleece from Target. I also put on a light-weight jacket and my wool coat and stuffed my hat and mittens in my pockets. Then I drove to the running store where my training program is hosted, all the while thinking I would get my training schedule and free T-shirt and then go home because only a group of cruel-hearted bastards would make anyone run in these temperatures. Surely the leader would stand up and laugh and tell everyone that the real running would start next week because it would [...]

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The weather widget in my computer’s system tray rearranged my monitor’s pixels like this Saturday:

While I haven’t had time to shop for all the cold-weather running goodies you guys recommended, I decided that 43 degrees was warm enough for me to attempt my first outdoor run of the winter. I put on my yoga pants, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a light-weight jacket and headed for the trail. Then I turned around and headed back to my apartment.

No, I didn’t quit before I started. I had to grab a knit cap because my ears were already cold. Then I went for a run and it rocked! I ran 3 miles at a 10:09 pace, much faster than my Irish Festival 5K pace of 10:31 back in September. So even though I’m about the same weight as I was then, and perhaps a pound or two heavier, I can outrun potential thieves and villains much faster now. Cool! My fingers were cool too, freezing for a mile and a half before they warmed up, so gloves [...]

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