I had Christmas down in Africa

Straight No Chaser's "The 12 Days of Christmas"... fun song to listen to, kind of annoying to replay in your head, over and over again, during a run.

What does it take for me to comfortably run six miles in 14° weather? Time to Break. It. Down.

1. Shoes
2. Socks (no need to layer here; my feet never get cold during a run)
3. Underwear
4. Underwear #2
5. Brooks running tight
6. Under Armour running pant (any more layers on the waist and I’d lose circulation in my lower half)
7. Under Armour ColdGear long sleeve shirt (worth its weight in gold)
8. Thermal long sleeve shirt
9. Short sleeve t-shirt
10. Wind breaker vest (nice high collar keeps my neck warm)
11. Mizuno knit gloves (look simple, but the best running gloves ever)
12. Nike tech gloves
13. Jersey hood (stole it from my dad; I think it’s meant to be worn under a hard hat)
14. Mizuno knit ear band (just bought this one, doesn’t slide down at all, matches my gloves, love it)

14 items. I didn’t realize it was that many until now. Ridiculous.

Pros of winter running: I love the crisp air and how easy it is to breath. I love running while the snow is falling. I love the way your muscles feel tight and springy at the onset of a cold run.

Cons of winter running: Layers upon layers and the time required to get them on. I miss throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and being out the door in seconds.

Last night’s run was a success. As always my hands warmed up quickly and I shed the first pair of gloves, packing them into the front of my pants to further arm myself against penile frostbite. After about four miles I shed the second pair of gloves and my face started feeling too warm, so I pushed the hood up onto my forehead. That was funny because the moisture in the fabric from my breath froze immediately and the hood was stiff the rest of the time.

The route was out and back. My plan was to run semi-comfortably on the out and improve by at least a minute on the back. This is always a struggle when I run into town because I’m running downhill out and uphill back. So when I’m most tired I have to force myself to run faster. I succeeded by running the back side 1:30 faster.

The reason for pushing myself to run faster on the second half? I’ve been reading into a new training philosophy. My old methodology was to do my maintenance runs at a comfortable/moderate pace, long runs at a easy/slow pace, and intersperse speedwork sessions once every week or two. This allows my legs to feel more rested and energetic. The philosophy I’ve been reading stresses frequent hard runs; faster long runs and maintenance runs. The idea is that instead of letting your legs rest and refresh, you train yourself to run on tired legs. Some people are even using this method to train for marathons with a long run of only 16 miles. Instead of training your legs to run 22 or 24 miles, you train yourself to run on tired legs for those last ten miles. I’m not saying I plan to use this method when I train for my first marathon, but I’m intrigued by the concept.