Today, I did one of those one-way runs. Instead of looping back to the starting point, I started from home and planned to finish up at the Starbucks where the old running group – Chalupa – would gather for coffee after their run. Sharmila was going to bring me back.

At some point, I entered the Greenway trail and by my math, I would reach the Starbucks about ten minutes after the group had reached. You can then imagine my surprise when I saw the whole group posing for a picture in the trail. I did my best to photo bomb the picture with hands flailing and tongue sticking out!

Once I caught up to them, I had the familiar request “Aamader ekta chhobi tuley debey?” (Will you take a picture of us?) 🙂

Finished the rest of the segment and reached the Starbucks, predictably ten minutes after they had reached in their cars.

What was interesting is that I was able to get it done closer to my speeds from about 5 years back (10 minute mile). There were quite a few hills that I found to be fairly arduous. But made it at the end without having to stop. I am not sure what was so different today.

Amitesh, Samaresh and I braved the cold of Atlanta – minus 6 F with the wind chill to put in a run like we had started doing nine winters back. (We have not run together for over a year now)

Last night we decided to run on the coldest day to relive those memories. We chose to start from the same Starbucks we used to run from those days. And followed it up with a good chat and hot coffee like the good old days.

Hoping to survive this run in 9 degrees (with wind chill minus 6 degrees F – minus 20 C )

Most of my life, I have run in Asics shoes. In between I have tried a few other brands like Merrell, Reebok etc. None of them suited me much. The last experiment with ON was worse. I was getting hurt regularly. Switched back to Asics again. The run today felt lot more natural. I think my feet have gotten used to the gel-based soles.

Contrast this with 2015. Every month used to have at least 15 of these runs. And the speed has dramatically dropped too. Today took nearly 70 minutes.

Most of the time I could use the asphalt since the roads were empty. Other times, I had to jump on to the concrete.

Every year, at the advent of the first freezing temperatures in Atlanta, I bring out my winter running gear.

Every year, I meticulously go thru the list of things to wear before I go out for the first sub zero run. And every year, I forget something that usually makes the run a bit miserable.

This morning, when I woke up, it was 31 deg F. Brought out all my warm gear. I was determined not to miss anything this year.

Warm cap? Check!
Ear muffs? Check!
Three layers of clothes? Check!
Gloves? Check! (this is what I forget the most)
Put lip balm on? Check!
Nose cover? Nah! Not that cold.

Good to go!!

5 minutes into the run, I realized what I had forgotten! I was not wearing appropriate socks! And the shoes have those breathable material. Cold weather was making its bitter presence felt thru the lower ten digits.

I was too lazy to go back home, takes shoes off, change socks, put the shoes back on and go back to running. Just finished it as is.

Not saying I got cold feet or anything but one of these years, I am determined to get everything just right.