My friend Lori sent me this beautiful “hand-warmer” mug as a surprise. I knew I had to run tonight, but I was puddled in the lethargy of a post-Thanksgiving work pot luck lunch. So, I grabbed that beautiful little mug and fixed myself some green chai  laced with my homemade almond milk hoping it would provide a little pep. I read the NYT and sipped my tea until I started thinking that maybe I didn’t really need to run after all. I mean, it’s cold outside. I’m running a 5K on Thanksgiving. I ran a 6-miler on Sunday. I could probably take the day off – it being the holidays and all.

But this face was staring at me……

So I called on my coach to pull me off the bench….

You have two choices for dressing for a run in winter.

• A) Be warm when you walk out the door and overheat later or
• B) be cool when you walk out the door and be just right later.

Tonight I opted for Option A because I just didn’t feel like being cold. Thank heavens I did because it was much colder than I anticipated. It was only 37 according to the Weather Channel, but that dadgum wind was fierce. The streets acted like funnels for the wind coming off the lake, and I thought I was going to freeze to death. I slipped my hoodie OVER the hat I had on, and zipped myself up in a cocoon of fleece. But my ass was in the deep freeze! Nothing I could do but RUN!

If I ran down streets that were perpendicular to the lakefront, the wind wasn’t as bad, so I changed routes midway. Once I got out of the wind, my eskimo swaddled upper body started overheating. I took the hood off and stuffed the gloves down my shirt. But my ass was still freezing! Nothing I could do but keep running. Since I was running half mile splits, I figured the faster I ran the faster I would get home and could go sit on my cooktop.

You can see I was motivated….

Faster and faster and faster I ran. Ashok thought we were racing some unknown invisible foe. I ended up right at my house, and I bolted for the front door. Brrrr…. that was a cold one, and it’s not even below freezing yet! I think I’d better figure out a way to insulate the junk in my trunk a little better, or it’s going to be a long winter. (I’m still not totally thawed.)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, y’all. Get out and exercise before you eat all that stuff, will ya?  Now excuse me while I get a snack.