A Frigorific Run

I knew it was coming, but when I looked at my wireless frigorimeter this morning and saw that it was 5.4°F and 44% humidity, I knew it was going to be a frigorific run. But, I was prepared and pulled on my stuff and headed out the door to meet the group that was crazy enough to run this morning.

It didn't take long to recognize that I had overdressed. I had not run in temperatures colder than 12° and had been cold during those runs. Here's what I wore:

Layer 1:

Asics boxers
LS cotton-feel tech shirt
Lite wool socks
Lite wool gloves

Layer 2:

Under Armor Coldgear tights
Cheap poly-cotton sweat shirt
Balega Trail-buster socks
*Insulated gloves

Layer 3:

*Medium weight poly-cotton warmup pants
*Heavy fleece jacket
Acrylic knit toboggan cap with ear flaps
Etonic Jepara 2 SC shoes

Items marked with "*" are the things I would change. I think I would wear a light-weight glove -- maybe the convertible half-finger/mitten gloves. I would wear my light-weight wind pants rather than the knit warmups. And, I would go with my lighter-weight fleece. Yesterday evening, I tried to buy a head covering that would cover everything except my eyes but the VA State Police got to Dick's Sporting Goods before I did and bought all that they had (there were probably 75 of the coverings in the store on Thursday evening).

I had frost on my jacket before the end of the first mile. I think that means that my gear is wicking the sweat away from my body and that's a really good thing. When I finished and was cooling down, I passed some folks who were beginning their 10K training. One of the guys commented that I looked like I had been in the Arctic.

The run, itself, was pretty tough. My legs felt dead -- don't know if it was the weight of all the extra stuff or the short night of sleep or just one of those days. Ten miles is a long run but it's not like I don't do those on a regular basis. Our overall pace was 8:33 mpm, about what we were shooting for but it included 3 or 4 walk breaks for me. Oh well, it was still a satisfying run -- to do it in this kind of weather.

Run well, y'all, and stay warm,
Bob