First outdoor run

Obviously something in the last week or two has changed inside of me. Seems the desire to have a goal and complete it has made me into some sort of machine when it comes to getting my run in. My partner and I had decided to do an outdoor run tonight for the first time. She hasn't run in over a year, and I have never run outside, so at least we were both on the same level playing field. In the last 24 hours I have come down with a not so pleasant cold. Overall, nothing serious, but a bit of congestion and a runny nose. Something like this normally would stop me from doing any sort of activity, not so much for fear of getting worse, but because I wouldn't want to get out of my warm bed or jammies to do anything.

How times have changed.

I did decide not to go to my step class this morning, because I knew that would probably take all of my energy for the day, and honestly, I really wanted to give the outdoor running a try. So I stayed low with the kids today, and I managed a bit of a rest in the afternoon to "charge" myself up so I could do it.

I met my partner at her place and we geared ourselves up to go out. Weather wise, the temp during our run was approximately -5 degrees with a brisk wind behind it. So a little chilly, but not horribly cold. I am however, an indoor girl, so this was beyond anything I had ever done before.
We set ourselves off and began our program. The first half was decent. We were downwind and downhill, making things easy on me. Trying to dodge sidewalks that were still covered in ice was definitely a challenge. We kept talking and just plugging along waiting for the little ringer bell to signal our next walk/run. As we came around the second half, we were now uphill and into the wind. My poor snotty nose was leaking like a faucet, making me a pretty ugly running partner. Thank god my partner doesn't care what I look like:)

The last phase was tiring for me. Having never run outside, my pace was slightly slower than on the treadmil, and I wasn't used to this cold air lodging itself into my windpipe. Every so often I would have trouble catching my breath, only because the breath before was freezing cold! We laughed and giggled our way back to our starting point, which ended up being almost right on the beginning of our cool down.
Somehow, I had managed to run outside.. in the cold.. in the winter.

I had a chuckle to myself when we had finished. Everytime I left my own house in the winter and I passed by someone running on the street in inclimate weather I would always think to myself.. "God! Why in the hell would you ever want to go out running in this kind of weather? You crazy yuppie runner!!"

Somehow tonight.. I became one.