We had our first FROST advisory last night. And I was planning on running like usual at 5am this morning. The outlook for the rest of the week doesn't look much better with few morning temperatures above 42.
I kept adding layers as I got dressed this morning because I knew I would be cold. I had originally planned to tough it out with just a shirt and a long sleeve but that idea went out the window when I woke up to a cold house. I put on a light jacket, grabbed my gloves and headlamp and headed out into the cold.
I forgot that it takes longer to warm up when its colder out. It has been a solid 5 months since I have had to deal with cold and I rather enjoyed the warm summer mornings. My legs felt sluggish and tired but eventually I woke up enough that I started to enjoy my the run.
Most mornings I see the paper boy out delivering papers and he must think I am so crazy. Unlike me, the paper boy always takes the same route so I always try to guess where I will see him during my run. This morning he was quite late (maybe he overslept) and I saw him on a road I didn't expect. These are the silly games I play in my head while running in the morning half awake.
I avoided all the hills this morning. I just was not in the mood to battle them, it was enough I was battling the cold and the wind. Most of my usual routes have a least one hill included which makes avoiding them slightly difficult.
My morning runs have become so routine that often I hardly remember what happened during them just hours later. Although to be honest, there really isn't much going on at 5am anyway. Most of the run is spent watching out for cars or watching the ground so I don't step in a pothole.
I finished up the 5 miles I had planned and stepping into the warmer (than outdoors) house never felt so good. I am not ready for these cold mornings but I think they are here whether I like it or not.
