Well, Pants

On Monday night, after recovering from the Shred, I packed my gym bag so that I could run at lunch on Tuesday. I even remembered to pack my Garmin and my visor!

Except when I got to the locker room and unpacked my stuff I found I'd packed three shirts...and no pants.

And I was really looking forward to running, too.

Thwarted by my apparent inability to pack, I went back to my office and pledged to run after work instead. In the cold. And dark.

Except I keep forgetting I live in an urban-ish area where it's never truly dark. When I got home I pulled on my running tights for the first time this year, dug my fleece ear band out of the closet, and went outside into the below-freezing temperature.

The street lights made it easy to see where I was going and I decided to do two laps around my neighborhood for an even 3 miles. I left the headphones at home so it was just me and my breathing as I ran quickly so as to spend as little time as possible in the cold air.

Leaving the headphones at home, though, doesn't mean I left my phone at home. Nope, just the opposite. I recently discovered an iPhone (and other smartphone) app called Glympse. It's a GPS tracking app that lets you invite other people to see where you are and where you're going. Jason and I used it during my 10K on Sunday and it worked like a charm. So I fired that up when I left the house for my run so Jason would always know where I was. You know, just in case. I almost always carry my cellphone with me but I think this gives Jason and added piece of mind that if something were to happen he'd know exactly where I was.

Although, really, running laps around my neighborhood is not all that exciting. I startle the occasional commuter walking home lost in his or her own thoughts. I get to see the specials at the local grocery store. I enjoy seeing the Virgin Mary outside the Catholic church all lit up in the night. But last night I ran hard and fast to ensure my lungs didn't freeze into one solid block.

When I got home and uploaded my Garmin data I found I'd run negative splits and averaged a 9:12 pace over the 3 miles. I also checked out Garmin Connect to see if it would create maps and other data similar to what I used to get from Bones in Motion. Sadly, it only creates a link to my run for the blog and not the actual map or table codes. Oh well.

So even though my running day started out "pants" due to lack of pants, I'd say it ended up pretty good.