Today the sun is bright and strong, but there's still a real crispness to the air. In fact, it gave me my own personal April Fools, even if in the end it works in my favour: I've started running in the mornings again, though I'm usually a bit of a wuss and stay in if I think it's too cold or wet. This morning however I was completely taken in by the brilliant sun and the startling blue skies that I slid into my running tights and was out the door about five minutes after waking up. HUGE SURPRISE -- it was FREEZING.
My legs were numb, my hands were red raw, my lips as they reflected back at me from parked car windows were visibly blue -- and that was before I made it to my main route. If you recall from my days of Victorian Consumption over the winter break, you might have noted I don't do very well in the cold. I love the winter, and I love the snow, but I love it when I'm bundled up. Not when I'm outside in what amounts to leggings and a thin sweatshirt.
Anyway, the sun shimmered away so I ran and ran, and then I switched to walking, and I walked and walked, and then I switched to running. And something miraculous happened. I ran. I actually ran -- not jogged or scuffled, but actually ran. I ran up hills and down, I ran across roads and through narrow passages. I ran the way I see real runner run.
I haven't been in training, as it were, since November so this is HUGE! I've been consciously taking it easy and switching between running and briskly walking; I've also been going every couple of days rather than every day, to ease myself back into it. I'm glad I have, but I'm also immensely pleased with my performance today. In the end I did a shorter loop than I normally do, as the cold really was biting, but I think if I remember to wear a pair of gloves next time I should be able to go for a full 45 minutes instead of just under half an hour.
