Someone needs to light a fire under me...

I went in to run with the Striders this  morning and Paul was kind enough to stay home with the boys.  It was so cold!  19* and windy too.  And me without my running hat...still.  I have turned the house upside down looking for it.  No doubt I will find it one day in some weird unlikely place that I stuck it in a state of extreme sleep deprivation.  Actually, I'm a little worried that I threw it out with the Christmas wrapping paper, because the last time I saw it was Christmas Eve.  At any rate, my ears and forehead certainly missed it today. 
Paul ran a 10K trail run yesterday and got two cute little raw bars in his goodie bag.  I had one just before the run.  I can tolerate eating before a run so long as I'm not running more than 10 miles and/or am not planning to run very fast.

For 3 years of my life I was strictly vegan, so I've eaten a lot of various raw bars.  This one was pretty good as far as these things go, so long as you don't mind that pruney chewy grain flavor that they all seem to have.

Only 3 people besides me showed up to run.  We did 6 and they must have been sick of my bloggy whining about not being able to keep up, because they took it easy on me today.  We ran an easy pace and I was able to chat the whole way and had no trouble staying on pace with them.  Oh how I've missed running with a group!  It makes the run go by so much faster, and I was able to catch up on all the latest gossip (whew, there were some doozies too!).  I certainly have been out of the loop.

I stopped to pick up dog and cat food on the way home, and totally got side tracked by Christmas clearance.  75% off!  I am powerless to resist!  Stocked up on lots of wrapping paper, ribbons, and a very nice wreath for our door next year.  I'm always freezing after a run in the cold, so I also got some dark chocolate gingerbread hot chocolate. 

 

This stuff has an awesome flavor to it!  The gingerbread mixed with cocoa is surprisingly wonderful!  I can't say it's completely warmed me up yet though.  I'm probably going to have to stand by the wood stove for a while, then head upstairs and stand in the shower until my skin is burning.  And then wear lots of layers the rest of the day.  Anyone got any good tips for getting warm after a wintry run?  Brrrr!