New Year’s Eve Run

Our last group run of the decade!!  It seems like such a huge deal when you say it like that, but in reality, today’s run was like every other run we take, except this one was on a Thursday and we had to beat it home so the guys could leave for work.  Thus, no stopping at Vic’s for coffee.

I have one word that brilliantly sums up today’s run on the Coal Creek Trail: COLD.  It was Cold.  Bun-numbing, finger-numbing, bone-chilling cold.  I was severely under-dressed for the 10 degree run (running tights, wicking shirt with fleece lining and an outer jacket that doesn’t have any warmth to it, as well as my new gloves with a wind guard mitten-thingie and SmartWool hat) and never broke a sweat.  My fingers stayed cold the entire time, as did my butt and legs.  For some reason my feet didn’t freeze even though we were running on snow.

We all had YakTrax on our feet, except for Marcia who has these nifty screw-shoes.  The YakTrax were great on the packed snow and gave us some added security, especially through the underpasses that have a nice layer of thick ice.

There wasn’t much talking on the run because of frozen face muscles.  The first two people to the turn-around kept moving, so our group was split a little more than normal.  I snapped a photo of Sarah at this point; she was standing directly in front of me, blocking the sun.  Note the glow around her head and the ice frosting!

I didn’t finish the run with the ladies because I took a short-cut that lead me directly home.  I didn’t want to finish with the group and then have another mile to go.  After five miles I had had it, and wished desperately for my cell phone.  If it was with me, I would have called Bill and had him come pick me up, just to get out of the cold. 

About 30 minutes after getting into the warmth of the house my legs were alternating between hot and cold pricks of fire.  I finallycouldn’t stand it anymore and  jumped into a hot bath to warm up my legs.  About an hour later I got super tired, so took a nap.  I know all this is a direct reaction to being so super-cold; my body was expending a ton of energy trying to keep warm, which is why once I was finally at a “normal” temperature, I had to shut down and recouperate the energy loss. 

Now, it’s 12:30 pm and I feel like I’ve wasted a full half-day.  I’m planning on taking the kids bowling this afternoon, then it’s home for a family dinner and probably some board games (Blokus anyone?) to celebrate the last day of the year.

Happy New Year, everyone, and I’ll see you all tomorrow!!