To know me is to know HOW MUCH I HATE BEING COLD. Hate. Its painful. I am an Arizona girl. Well, let me retract, because it snows in Northern AZ. I am an AZ desert girl. 80 degrees is my ideal room temp. 70 and its too cold.
I have been having a lot of anxiety about the cold weather coming up and how that will affect my running. (I had to look up affect vs effect on The Oatmeal to know which one to use.) I will not join a gym (too expensive) and I dont have time to do the gym thing. The only thing that works for me is running at home in my neighborhood. At 5am.
..and with winter coming, and with how much I hate the cold… see where I am going? 5 am is THE coldest hour of the entire day. I have been concerned that it would be too big of a mental obstacle for me. I know how silly this sounds, but this could be a deal breaker.
I have been keeping an eye on it and yesterday I checked the weather for this morning. 37 deg. [Insert exaggerated deflated body language here]. Okay Ginger. One of your biggest obstacles right in front of you. What are you made of?
I made a late night trip to Target and obsessed over every workout jacket there. I tried them all on, read the tags… and picked out one that seemed like it would keep the cold out.
I had to really psych myself before going to bed. And when my alarm when off this morning – I got up and got out there. 37 degrees, which is about as cold as it will be at that our most of the time here. And the jacket worked great!!!!! I am so crazy proud and happy that this will NOT be an obstacle for me this winter!!!
Ginger in Training 
I am super impressed! I am finally back on the workout train, but T/TH are tough because of work. I considered joining you on those days until this cold weather hit, and I LOVE cold weather…..but not at 5am when I just rolled out of my toasty bed.
Just remember, running in the cold is the easy part. Convincing yourself to wake up, get out of bed, get dress and walk outside, THAT is the hard part. Once you get out there, running is easy.
I convinced myself to stay in today….too cold… 🙂
Good for you, Ginger! Keep in mind that once your body warms up, it’ll feel 15-20 degrees warmer than the actual temp. You should always dress in layers in case you get too warm. I know, you’re saying “ain’t gonna happen” but I promise you that it will the longer you’re out there! Also, gloves for your hands, a hat for your head, and keeping your core warm is very helpful. For my run yesterday AM, I wore a short sleeved tech shirt, long sleeved tech shirt over it, capri tech pants, gloves, and my usual hat (not a knit, just to keep the sun out of my eyes once it was up!) I took the gloves off around mile 2-3 and the long-sleeved shirt off around mile 15-16. I tucked my gloves under my spi belt and tied my shirt around my waist. My only other advice is to make sure the clothes you buy have wicking material so your sweat will be pulled away from your body. That will also keep you warmer. I like running in cooler temps because it feels like the air is working with you and not against you, like when it’s so hot out. Congratulations for pushing past your mental block!
What jacket did you end up getting from Target? Looking for one to run in during these colder months. Which 1/2 marathon are you training for? I’m currently training for the Livestrong 1/2 on Feb 19.
Halle – so proud of you and Sarah! I live my jacket. It’s not high end, but it works great for me. I will check the tag when I get home and let you know.
Zooma half.