Venturing out into the cold.

Or so I thought. Before I went to bed Wednesday night, I got cold weather clothes ready and put them in the bathroom. I made a deal with myself that if it was 20 degrees or warmer, I would run before work. There is a hilly 4 mile (out and back 2 each) route that I thought would give me a good pick me up before work. I set my alarm for 4am, and eventually fell asleep.
At 4am, the temp was 18.9 degrees. Yep. 1.1 degrees COLDER than the 'deal' temp. So what did I do? You guessed it. I went back to bed. Tossed and turned with my decision for about half an hour, then drifted back to sleep for 45 minutes before my real alarm woke me. Of course, I was grumpy because I wussed out. For more than one reason, I need to get outside and run. At least once a week would be nice. I quickly decided that I would try to run AFTER work, getting in as much as I could before it got dark.
I got out a little late (20 minutes), but rushed to get changed and dashed out to Elsie (i named the truck L.C., after Lewis and Clark, since it is a ford Explorer..get it? i know. my clever-ness is aMAZing).
I wasn't sure where i was going to run, but I wanted to be in neighborhoods (not that they have sidewalks here or anything) since I was hoping for less traffic. I decided to park at the bowling alley and go from there. Once there, I could see a road that went out back toward a storage facility. Thinking that the out and back would be a quick warm up and test to see if i had on enough clothes, i went. and then found another road that ended up looping back to the main road (whew). Down the hill into the back side of White River Junction. Ran through town, then up the hill behind the Catholic church. Up the hill behind THAT hill, and finally on to flat again (this IS Vermont). Through the neighborhood and back to the main drag. Reversed the loop by the storage place, and back to the truck. Walked back to the storage place, and thought that the coupla hundred yards would be a fun sprint. so i did it. it was WONDERFUL to be flying down the road!!!!!! twas getting dark, though, so i headed home.
BUT..........since it was still early, i went to Watson Park, right near the house. In the summer, kids and adults use the field for ultimate frisbee, field hockey, soccer, and kite flying. in the winter......nada. i thought that running a few back and forth sprints would feel good. to my wonderful surprise, there is a well worn path around the field. just over a quarter mile loop per Garmin (p.b.t.n.). i managed to do 4 laps.

NEGATIVE SPLITS:
1st lap (exploratory lap) 2:26
2nd lap 2:14
3rd lap (not neg) 2:15
4th lap 2:06

oh, happy night. I think that I was easier to 'deal with' at home, too. You ever have days like that???? ahhh..
Running: it is cheaper than therapy.