Baby, it's cold outside!

Like, right around freezing--and that's before you factor in the wind chill.  Which makes running a brisk adventure after work.

But I'm equipped for it now.  I've got my layered running outfit, plus knit gloves and headpiece to keep my hands and ears warm.  I rather long for the days when I could run in just shorts and a t-shirt, but no doubt come spring and then summer I'll remember the cold with equal nostalgia.

You wouldn't think that asphalt is noticeably softer than concrete.  Or I wouldn't anyhow.  It certainly wouldn't feel soft if I fell on it.  And yet...if I run for very long on the sidewalk, I begin to feel it.  The outside rear of my calf muscles begin to burn.  Sometimes I get twinges in my knees.  But if I veer into the street and run on the asphalt, none of that is a problem.

So I run on the street wherever possible.  This keeps me quiveringly alert for traffic, given that I'm running at night.  I stick to streets with as many streetlights as possible and to neighborhood streets, with the exception of DIvision or 39th, the two high-traffic roads that bound two sides of my route.  They make up the middle third of my run. I don't cross those streets--those are the ones where I run along the sidewalk until I turn back into the neighborhood and can get back on the asphalt.

I get back to the house breathing deeply but not heavily, sweating and warm despite the cold--and full of energy.  I wasn't terribly excited about going out tonight, but I'm glad I did.  I always am.  It's good for me and it makes me feel good.  Win/win!

P.S.  New icon!  (I'll be using it to identify posts in an lj writing community.)