In the Iowa Tundra

Iowa City Greenspace Trail

Today marked the first day of the 16 week training plan for the Illinois Marathon on April 25th.  And to kick it off, I left the house at a balmy 0 degrees for an easy 5 mile run.

First, let me say that it really was a pleasant day despite the temperature.  I've struggled a lot with the cold over the past few years and it seems to be finally worked out... mostly.  The key as far as I know, is leaving the house with as many layers possible.  I try to find that point where I feel like a child bundled up like a body with little sausage links sticking out and back off just a bit.  A hat, a Buff wrap around my neck, three pairs of gloves (the key being to find pairs that are still functional after sticking one inside the other ala turducken - a thin Saucony glove in a Head glove from Costco in an old generic pair of flip top mittens (like the Olympic runners do... when they want to look as dorky as possible), three running tops, a wind breaker, two pairs of socks, and lastly, three pairs of pants (two long-leg running pants and an old pair of sweat pants with a large hole in the crotch).   I have a small dream to one day grace the cover of Runner's World in my old winter running sweat pants.

With that, it really wasn't as bad as it could have been.  I'll still long for the comforting 50's of April, but I'll take what pleasures I can get.

I am getting over a cold and that was less than pleasant.  For the first mile, I was able to catch my stride, hit that perfect moment when you feel like you can run forever and just look out over the scenery and enjoy.  The remaining 4 miles was a combination of wiping my nose on the gloves (they're old and I don't care to toss them in the washing machine), wincing as I wipe over the same spot I did several minutes ago which has turned into a frozen grater, and coughing up everything that my lungs can produce.  (I apologize if that's too much information, but that's the truth of the situation and we can both look back at the end of April and reflect on how it really started).

In the end, it was a nice enough run, 10:37 pace (not the best, but not the worst through snow drifts).