Yesterday's Run

I have an awesome treadmill in my home and on many days, it has saved me from the voice in my head because I am able to go upstairs, turn on Pandora really loud and run for a long time. Upon further contemplation I realized that any race I run will in no way look like the black, flat belt of a treadmill, moving at the same pace all the time, with no hills to speak of. Yesterday I decided to run outside, even though it was 50 degrees outside with high winds. 50 degrees? So what right? High winds? Come on. When I was training for the Bolder Boulder in college I would run in 28 degree weather with ice on the ground. It took awhile to find my cold weather running gear, but find it I did and put it on.
Long sleeve Nike turtleneck? Check.
Underarmor sports bra? Check.
Fleece tight pants that doubled as my first layer of snowboarding pants? Check. Love those pants by the way.
Really cool ankle socks by Asics? Check.
Shoes? Check.
Fleece ear cover headband? Check. I have really missed wearing that thing. It's cute.
Ipod? Check.
Ipod armstrap? Nope. Couldn't find that sucker anywhere, the result of which was that I carried the Ipod in my hand, something I will never do again. I like that armstrap because I also put my phone and housekey inside it. Phone didn't go with me yesterday and key was tied to my shoes. Oh well, husband told me yesterday that by God, he WILL find that armstrap because we are NOT buying another one. (We're saving for a house, otherwise we probably would go and make a frivolous purchase such as that.)

So, I get everything on and out the door I went. The cold was not bad, not bad at all. The little loop I was planning on running was about a mile and a half and I planned on doing about four loops. The only bad thing is that it's completely in the middle of the city, a car infested sidewalk loop where you need to watch carefully for idiot motorists. However, it's close and convenient to the apartment. Give and take, you know?

I got a pretty good speed up and about half a mile in, the wind starting blowing in gale force. I was physically moved to one side. I made my first right turn and realized I found the direction the gale force wind was blowing in. Right at my face. So, I bucked up and tried to keep the pace up as best I could. After another half a mile in, it felt like someone had lit my calves on fire. It wasn't a gradual thing either, it was like hello!! Luckily after about two minutes it was time for me to stretch anyway, so I worked those calves out and although they still had some smoldering embers in there, the fire was mostly put out.

A little aside here: my calves NEVER, NEVER burn when I work out on the treadmill. I believe this to be because it's always flat, so I must from now on put on some sort of incline when I run inside.

I got back on the loop and realized quickly that another part of my body was on fire; one that I couldn't stretch out. My throat. Oh no. It must have been the wind because by the time I got back to my starting point, my nose started to run profusely and the throat was intolerable. I had to stop, after only a mile and a half. I know, I know. I feel like I listened to the little voice, but dang it, it's just so much more convincing when you're throat is on fire. I told the voice I was going to be pissed if it turned out to be just a dry throat. It's not, and now I'm pissed even more because I am verifiably sick with a cold. Oh well. Today was originally a rest day for me, but I had decided yesterday that I would work out again because of a schedule conflict on Thursday that threw off my workouts. However, it's back to being a rest day because my throat and nose have their own thing going.

It's okay though. I'll get back out there.