Learn something new

I love running in cold weather. It always makes me laugh a bit when people talk in the fall about slowing down for the winter and what other things you can work on until you start running again in the spring. For me, I go out and run in the cold. I like it. I prefer it to running hot in the summer, where I sweat constantly and just get overheated.

Yesterday I went out for a run, which has not been happening lately. I decided since we were expecting a snow storm to layer more than usual. I put on a pair of lycra pants under my running pants, then did my normal top - cold weather long sleeve, running jacket, then added my heavy jacket because it just seemed COLD. LOL! I finished it off with a headband and gloves.

What did I learn? I learned that those lycra pants were amazing! Normally, no matter how far I run in the winter, my thighs freeze and do not warm up. The rest of me will warm up - that heavy jacket would have been removed had I not been going for such a short run and the gloves helped my hands warm and may have come off too. But, wow. That extra layer of clothing on the legs made such a difference! At the end of my run, I told hubby I need to buy a few more pairs so I can layer up this winter. I'll need it for when training starts for The Love Run in January.

Have you learned something new about running lately? What do you wear when you run in these colder temps? Or, if you're in a warmer clime, what do you wear to keep yourself from overheating?


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Decisions...decisions...

Two weeks from today is the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  13.1 miles of sightseeing the city of Philadelphia.  Gives all new meaning to seeing the city on foot.  ;-)

Yesterday's run started out at 27*, which I have a feeling might be similar to conditions come race day based on the last two years (hubby ran the half in 2009 and 2010).  I wore the new running pants and shirt I purchased at Target to try it out (a cardinal rule of running is never wear anything you haven't worn in a training run during a race).  The clothes themselves worked out fine.  I wore a fleece jacket during my run because basically it had zippers on the pockets, which helped me carry all sorts of junk during my run.  LOL!  And I realized it was just the right amount of clothing for the run.

But, here's the thing.  I don't want to wear a fleece jacket.  While I liked the extra pockets, I am hesitant to wear it...plus it's green and my pants and shirt are blue.  Yes, I'm that superficial.  LOL!  So, I've been debating these two options:

Arm sleeves

Cold weather shirt

Now, I have a cold weather shirt like above.  My thoughts are to wear it under the short sleeve blue shirt I'm wearing.  I like the idea of the arm sleeves though because if I do get warm as I run I can take them off.  Of course, the shirt means there's no chance I could lose it if I get hot.  Though I have little chance of pulling the sleeves up because it's a tight fit on the arms.

Of course, I could just suck it up and wear the fleece jacket even though it doesn't match.  It has the fabulous extra pockets and I can roll the sleeves up if I get warm.  

What to do...what to do...