Birthday Warmup

Today was the coldest day of the year in Charlotte. I snuck out a little early to catch the last few hours of sunlinght for the day. I was itching to get a nice run in as I haven't done much this week. With 22% humidity, a high of 32 for the day, and sunny, it was cold and dry. I guzzled down a full liter of water before the run because I felt a little dehydrated and decided to run without any water.

I had on shorts, gloves, and I was testing out my new smartwool microweight long sleeve which I plan to use on the Marathon De Sable, and testing out the new Birthday Party Hats for the 50k next weekend.

I ran a frequent 11 mile out and back on a greenway in town. At the turn around I was at 43.5 minutes. At that time I felt great, the cold crisp air was refreshing. My mouth was dry, and my body wanted a little water. I kept pushing along and knew I would be running a PR today. I could tell the temperature outside was dropping as I saw large puddles more frozen on the way back. I got a few weird looks when people saw me in shorts. I ran back to the car in a 7:30 pace negative splitting the run and felts fabulous. I did suck down alot of sub freezing air which should condition my body for future cold runs. The temperature at the end of the run was 26 degrees.

Later today I will be celebrating an engagement of two friends who met on Kilimanjaro! This weekend is off to a great start.