over the heel
It’s that time of year again…time to be chilly and to set apart the men from the boys. Or, the year-round runners from the rest of the crew who trained for fall marathons and will spend their winter sipping hot chocolate while looking at the rest of us like we’re totally NUTS. Which, admittedly, we probably are. Although tights apparently are the look for the season (and in NYC, you don’t even have to cover your butt!), many people don’t readily wear them in public, especially when combined with an equally tight shirt.
That’s where we runners are different. Head to toe Under Armour? Why not? I admit that my summer running clothes can actually be quite revealing (uh, sports bra and booty shorts? I’m sure small town Pennsylvania misses me for that very reason…or not), so being in tights doesn’t really bother me.
However, I have a very distinct way of wearing my tights. I started wearing them in high school for cold cross country and track days (especially when the track season started in January…Chicago winters are no joke!), and I actually still wear my first pair…I probably shouldn’t admit that…too late! From what I see, there are two ways to wear tights:
1. Like normal pants, with the bottom of the tights just above the ankle
or, the second method (better known as the right method)
2. Pulling your tights over your heels so they wrap around mid-foot.
Why do I prefer this method? Because I wear little socks and don’t want even half an inch of my skin exposed to the cold! Pulling my tights over my feet ensure that no part of my legs has to experience frigid temperatures. This usually works well for me since I’m not tall by any means, so I have plenty of length on my tights to accomplish this. However, when you wear the same pair of tights for eleven years (gah!), you get something like this:
Oops?
Maybe Santa should bring me some running tights for Christmas this year…in addition to all the other running stuff I’m asking for, obviously.
How do you wear your running tights? Do you get holes in your tights too? Or do you (GASP!!) run on the treadmill in the winter??
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It’s been cold outside…I swear it was like fifty degrees one day and then thirty the next. So much for acclimation…good thing I was able to dig out my trusty headband, which is pretty stiff from sweat from last year. I’m awesome.
On Wednesday, I finally made my return to the New York Running Company group run, which I’ve been MIA from since I’ve been working Wednesdays or doing my run in the morning if I have the day off. Betsy convinced me to go, so away I went in the freezing cold. The group turnout was a bit smaller than normal, and the girls dominated the long group. 
We started out at a good pace to the park and then picked it up once we got there…hovering around seven minute miles definitely made me feel like I was working! However, if I’m going to run a faster marathon, it’s what I need to be doing. This might hurt…
Wednesday, December 8
8.3 miles in 1:00:35, avg pace of 7:18
I’ll take it.
After that run, it’s no surprise that my legs were a wee bit tired today. Also, I didn’t exactly eat dinner last night since I was doing some baking instead (stay tuned), so I may have done a bit of carb-loading via sugar. Oops? It also appeared to be “only super speedy runner” day in the park, and people kept flying by me! If you’re the girl with super long curly hair…wow, I’m impressed.
Thursday, December 9
8.13 miles in 1:03:54, avg pace of 7:51
Hm, it felt much slower than that…oh well. Came home to a delicious bowl of chili…can’t beat that! Hope you’re staying warm.
