Ice princess heroine and blue fingers

On Tuesday at practice, Tom said that running in the cold is a lot like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer --- you only do it because you know how good it will feel when you stop.

This morning was different because the pain did not subside immediately after I stopped running. I think it took a good 30 minutes and several cups of coffee for me to dethaw after attempting an early morning run on the coldest day so far this winter.

I had a restless night of sleep -- probably because I was overly worked up about the menacing weather forecast. My eyes opened at 4:15 ish. Strange. I met Emily for our usual 5:20 am run. It was so cold. As soon as I stepped outside, I got a brain freeze -- kind of like the ones you got when you were a kid and drank a 32 oz. slurpee from 7-11 in 10 seconds. By the time I met Emily, I had trouble articulating words because my mouth was frozen. My hands were already getting numb just 1.5 miles into the run, even though I had my massive oven-mit-like mittens on! I unfortunately had to quit early and turn around after fewer than 20 minutes outside. I came home and it was only 6 am and I was wide awake, so I made blueberry muffins while trying to defreeze. I kind of wanted to jump inside the 350-degree oven with the muffins.

Emily stuck it out though somehow and racked up some major miles today. She is my ice princess heroine.

I was planning to make up some of the miles I missed this morning after work on the fancy treadmills at the Boston Sports Club that I just joined. But I think all the other runners must have been thinking the same thing because the line for the treadmills was 8 or 9 people deep. I had limited time and couldn't wait for a treadmill, so I jumped into a challenging spin class instead. I would have much rather been running, though. But I have issues with the cold. Perhaps I should try hypnosis? Coach Tom suggested I wear knee-length fleece socks over my mittens.

The 3K is this weekend. I am super psyched to see Lynn and Katie Famous and Katie Fobert and Romnesia tear up that 220 yard track and PR all over the place. By the way, did you know that 220 yards is a teeny bit more than 201 meters?

*megha