I just got back from my first outside run of the year.  My thermometer said it was 42 degrees out, so I tried to dress appropriately.  I had my winter running pants on, and my long sleeved winter under armor (which doesn't look nearly as flattering as you might think).  Unfortunately for me, my only good pair of running shoes in the inventory right now are summer running shoes, which means that they have a mesh type top to keep your feet cool.  That's great during the summer, but not great when it's cold out.  Then I remembered a lesson I learned long ago somewhere... if your feet are cold, wear a hat.  You can actually lose as much as 50% of your body heat through your head.  So wearing a hat can help keep the rest of your body warm.  And what do you know... it actually worked.

The run was actually pretty good.  I went about 3 miles, and had to jump a number of puddles and ended up with wet socks, but that's just part of the fun I guess.  The one thing I wasn't expecting was how hard the run would be on my lungs.  I've been doing some cross country skiing this year in much colder weather without issue, so I thought I would be fine.  Wrong.

I've been hacking for the last half an hour now, and probably will for at least another hour.  The cold air is definitely hard on ye ole lungs.  It was just so sunny outside though... that I couldn't imagine not doing something in that.  Spring is approaching... I'm juiced to get into triathlon training... and the days are getting longer.

Bring it!