I must remember to dress for the run that I am going to finish not the run that I am going to start.   The problem that I tend to have is that like most people I really don’t like to be cold. The problem is also that it’s cold, it’s just not freezing anymore.   Therefore, when planning my running clothes, I am thinking about the temperature not what it will feel like when I’m running.   Hopefully Spring will come and this won’t be a problem for much longer!

Yesterday was one of those mornings that I had poor planning.   I was scheduled to run right after the children were dropped at school.   I was going to meet my cohort Dawn at the park to do intervals.  I thought the park would be good for two reasons.   The first being that I could drop things off at my car as needed.   The second was that even though I was hoping not to, I was expecting a call from the school nurse.   Middle guy had been out of school for two days under what I consider suspicious circumstances.   He had a stomach issue, yet there was no proof.    I could not tell because of the way he was running around the house with his brothers or the way he was eating.   He told me that he threw up.   Again, there was no proof but I let him stay home.   On day three, he was out the door.    I told him if he didn’t feel well to go to the nurse and I would pick him up but make sure that he brought all his books home to do his work.    I arrive at the park and the phone rings.   I didn’t even get out of the car.   I do believe that this day, he may not have felt right and maybe the previous days his stomach was off but not to the extent he should have stayed home.   Anyway,   no run at the park.   Such is the life of a Mother Runner.

We get home and I get Middle Guy situated.   Then must play with puppy who is awake and confused.   Finally everyone but me settles in for a nap giving me time to go for my run at 11:30.   I don’t go to the park but plot out a course and plan to run my tempo run on the roads.    I start off good.   Not too cold.   Not too warm.   After mile 2 where I was pushing it a bit, I’m warm.   No car in site to leave my pullover fleece.  I wasn’t thinking that today’s run called for me to push the pace and run 8:20 miles.  Although I did hit that pace, I didn’t keep it.  I was still pushing it.  I stop on the side of the road to remove the fleece, but  now I must run with it wrapped around me.   Good times, but at least I am not over heating anymore.

Next time I will use the handy dandy little page from runners world that takes the thinking out of it.

http://www.runnersworld.com/what-to-wear

If i had done this, I would have been fine as I ended up running in just what they said.

While running though, I did think that I was hitting close to my targets.   I know I was pushing it.  Maybe not 8:20 but definitely under 9;00.   The problem is that I didn’t us the lap button on my Garmin.   Therefore I ended up not really knowing what I did.  Although, I did look at my watch while running and do feel good about my run.   So who knows.   At least I got it in.

How do you dress for the changing season?