Cold Chicken...then strengthened resolve

The forecast for Saturday at 8am was 5-10deg, wind chill -10. Well, I have all this cold-weather gear. I thought, hey, I could write about what it's like to run in the cold. I don't care if I'm miserable. At the same time I thought, but if I'm writing that I pulled something because I couldn't effectively warm-up...that wouldn't be good.

At 7 sure enough, weather.com said that Lexington (the group-run meeting place) was 7 & -10.
So whatever I have that passes for wisdom, led me to go to the gym for a long indoor workout.
As I got out of the car and was about to cross the street to the gym, I noticed, hey, it's cold...but where is that 10-15 mph with gusts wind they were talking about. Calm and still. And just then a runner passed in front of me.
The hair stood on the back of my neck and I think I could hear the distant sounds of chickens clucking at me.
The workout in the gym was good, 7miles on a treadmill, 30minutes elliptical cross-training, then 75minutes in a yoga class. I thought the yoga would be a good stretching motivator...but it was half strength poses...and besides my muscles shaking...my brain was actually getting tired. If anyone ever tells you that yoga isn't tough, tell them to go workout an hour and a half and then take a class.

But Sunday is usually a rest day...but I got 3 rest days this week already, so I resolved to run outside regardless how cold.
At 8:30am Hopkinton temperature was 11, 3windchill when I went out. I wanted to do about 8 miles, with lots of hills, mostly downhills. Downhills are "easier" than uphills from a cardio perspective but they work different muscles: the front of the leg (quads), more than the back of the leg (hamstrings). And the Boston Marathon is a net -460 vertical feet, so downhill training is recommended becuase the quads take a beating.

So for the cold, I warmed up on the elliptical before going out. The run starts at my house and goes down 200 vertical feet and then climbs back up 175 feet to the starting line 3 miles later. Then down the marathon course for the the first 3.8 miles which drops 300 feet to the center of Ashland where I finished. Rolling hills but plenty of downhill to punish the quads. The cold felt good and icicles formed on me. I love the icicles. There's nothing better to feel than your 100 degree sweat freeze solid within an hour.