It was -23 F in Minnesota. The Polar Vortex gave me perfect conditions to test out some gear before my first appt at 8:30am. I knew that if I didn’t get out the door early, I would miss my opportunity to train today. What a morning, not much of a wind factor yet, the moon was shining, the icy snow crunched underfoot.
I kept doing body scans in order to see how things were working. My legs were cold on the thighs so need another layer. My feet didn’t warm up until ½ hour into it but that is OK. My arms need another layer too. Good – all of these were tolerable and fixable.
My biggest issue was my goggles – they fogged up and then froze. I had just a peep hole to see the road. I tried adjusting them but my bare hands didn’t last long in the cold. There were so many things on my head to fiddle with– face mask, baklava, hat and goggles. I realized that all of these need to work in concert to keep me warm and my skin protected while giving me the ability to see where I was going.
It is good to know what doesn’t work now rather than on race day. I will try a different combination on my next training run.