Feeling Hard Core...

L-R: Heidi, Me (in my cute Lululemon earwarmer that Selene gave me... her door prize from the RLAM event 2 weeks ago) and Selene...rosy cheeks and all 

This morning was my scheduled long run with my sweet friends, Selene and Heidi.

Selene was my Girlfriends Half training buddy and we did all of our long runs together. Heidi is my new mid week running buddy. The three of us have done long runs together for the past 3 Sundays, gearing up for our "Hot Buttered Run" this next Sunday.

So, we met at 7am for 8 COLD miles. At least, cold for here in the Pacific NW. But, it WAS dry, which is always a bonus in November! When I got out of my car, the thermometer was registering in at 26 degrees. We did our 8 miles on the frosty trail. After about 2 miles we were feeling warmed up (as in, not shivering). We were each in our tights, gloves, earwarmers/beanies and a few layers. I had two long sleeves and a vest on :) Around mile 3.5 I shed my gloves, and at mile 5 I shed one layer of long sleeves. it.was.COLD.

We finished our 8 miles, and when getting back to the cars, Heidi realized, she'd lost her car key somewhere on the path (probably at our halfway point, 4 miles away!) I had to scoot to make it to church by 9:30, so Selene took Heidi to the spot (by car) and thankfully, they found the key, exactly where we thought it likely fell out. When I hopped into the car, it had warmed up a whole 4 degrees, and was now a toasty 30 degrees.

I went home, and after 10 minutes in my toasty car, my bum and love handles were still cold to the touch when I got into the shower! My skin felt all itchy, like when you're hands are really cold, and you THINK it would be a good idea to warm them up under hot water. So itchy it hurts. My stomach turned dark red, almost purple! It was VERY cold.

But, I do have to say, I'd rather run in the twenty something degrees than heat :)

We had a great time, as usual, chatting and making the miles go by quickly....love running with these girls! I am feeling like today, we were "real" runners. Hard core runners :)