Ice Age

This morning, Paul and I had a 5 mile run scheduled with a group of people.  We were supposed to meet at a central location at 9:30 am (later than I like to run, but a good time for the entire group).  When we awoke, it was 7 degrees out, and the facebook messages were already pouring in.  Runners were backing out because they didn't want to brave the single digit temperatures.  Most of them chose to run inside on the treadmill instead.  Paul and I decided to keep our run outside (after all, we already had babysitters lined up - Nana and Papa), and one other brave runner decided to join us (our friend, David).  I donned my warm running gear and we set off. 

In the beginning, it was so cold that my toes were completely numb, even though I was wearing two socks on each foot.  But, as we began to move, we warmed up and the run was actually pretty enjoyable.  We joked the entire way about how crazy we were to be running outside, but we also had a great time keeping each other company.  At one point, Paul looked over at me and asked if I had brushed up against something.  Apparently, my hair was grey.  But, it wasn't something I had brushed against...my hair was coated in frost.  I was wearing a scarf and the moisture from my breath froze on the strands of my hair.  By the time we finished the run, I looked like this:

It was frigid and icy, but I'm still so glad we kept our run outside.  There was very little wind, which made the run more bearable, and it felt good to get some fresh air.  When we got home, I took a long, hot shower and drank a nice hot cup of coffee.  It may seem crazy to run in such extreme cold, but it's what you have to do if you want to be a runner in Upstate NY.