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Run: 7.5 miles
Temp: 25 degrees w/ moderate wind

This weekend I had to brave the cold again. Didn’t wanna but I also knew that my body was it’s own personal heater and it wouldn’t be that bad. With an achy stomach and almost zero motivation, I gave myself little time to think & talk myself out of it before heading out the door!

Plus, I got to wear my fun winter running gear, always a bit of a motivator. I’ve found myself googling “what to wear” in various degrees for the past couple months so I figured I’d put one of the resources I’ve found here as an easy go-to from SuperSkinnyMe:

She actually had it listed down to -29 below but…there is no WAY I’d be outside in that! The coldest I’ve ever run in is probably a few degrees above zero and that is hellish.

Dealing with low-twenties, as I did this weekend, is much more do-able — enjoyable even. Once you start moving, your body keeps you where you need to be. But I’m always worried about the layer situation. Will I get hot? Is a hat too much? I don’t want to worry about carrying extra clothes.

Yesterday was an absolutely perfect situation. I did not get overheated or need to take anything off for my run. I checked the chart above and went with this on top:

What do we see? Lots:

• Layer 1: Long-sleeve dry fit Mizuno running top
• Layer 2: short sleeve dry-fit Tough Mudder from Under Amour (I think)
• Layer 3: Long-sleeved half-zip Nike pullover with thumb holes. This jacket a little thicker than some of my others, which is why I chose it. I liked the half-zip to get air once I started getting kind of hot. 
• Gloves: Thicker Nike running gloves
• Head: I’m wearing a Nike headband/earwarmer. A hat would have been too hot for me.
• Shoes: Mizuno running socks (not thick) & Mizuno running shoes
• Music: Bose headhpones baby & a great playlist (listed in this post!)

*I am wearing a lot of Nike but it was not provided to me. Just happens to have the best stuff at the Sports Authority across the street from my house!

I especially loved my gloved hands being looped into the thumb holes of the jacket. I used this the first few minutes especially to keep my hands warmer. As time went on, it was a bit much but all I had to do was slip my thumbs out and get a bit of a breeze. Perfect – hooray for thumb holes!

Love the little key holders in the gloves!

Oh and here’s another shot of the shirt layers:

On the bottom, I’ve just got some generic black stretchy pants (not my favs though) and I’m wearing Mizunos of course! It’s just about time for a new pair but I’m going to wait a bit — don’t really need them until training seasons begins — which will be in June.

Oh, speaking of which, I’m contemplating doing the Chicago Marathon for real this year! I’ve got my eye on that and Kiawah Island Marathon (good excuse to get to Charleston!). Will I do Marine Corps for the fifth time? We shall see. Also been thinking about Steamtown, PA since I’ve heard so many good things!

So…this was a silly little photo shoot and here are some outtakes:

Oh, about that playlist! Like you, I’m always looking for new songs to add to my playlists. I have about five pretty long, really good lists that I use on shuffle for runs when I feel like it — which is about half the time.

Here is what I was pumping up with this weekend (skip the first song, it’s slow, but I am in love with it right now!):

All in all, this run was hard. I’ve not been feeling well the past few days and thought this would help. Though my body felt good to have run, my stomach was not happy the entire time. I somehow maintained an 8:45 pace and was ecstatic to be done. I had planned to do 10 miles but 7.5 was more than enough.

And, yeah, strength training sure didn’t happen — so hard to do anything more once you get in the house! Before this run, I was SO unmotivated and did not want to go. But, I got it together and did it anyway. Just remember, if you are feeling unmotivated today, you CAN do it. All you have to do is start moving. Sending you vibes of strength, energy and inspiration!