Running in the cold, already =(

I ran on the treadmill last week and had some hip and knee pain, which I don’t think is a coincidence. So I was determined to run outside last night after work, even in the dark, even in the cold.

I had to psych myself up all day to do it. As soon as I started wrapping up at work, I started trying to trick myself with “This will be fun! It will be so nice to get outside!” self-talk. Even though it was getting dark already on my drive home, I kept it up: “It’s not that cold! Running outside will be so enjoyable!” Before I could talk myself out of it, I bundled up and headed out.

It wasn’t fun, but it was tolerable. I was slow and for some reason even with a buff my chin was randomly super cold. The wind was cold on my face running into the wind, but running with the wind wasn’t bad. My legs and body were fine. It was OK. I got it done and headed home.

Yuck.

The terrible thing, though, is that it was “only” a real feel of 24 degrees in the middle of November. If I have to use this many mental tricks to go out for 40 minutes mid-November, I don’t think I’ll be running outside come February. Ack.

It was uncomfortable but I didn’t die. Which... is a pretty good mantra to have for any athletic endeavor, anyway.