Gloves

I headed out for my first long run in a year completely unprepared for the weather.  Although I looked at my "weather" app, all I saw was mid-forties and maybe a little sprinkling of rain.  So, I left my gloves behind.  It only took about 3 minutes for me to realize that this was going to be a l-o-n-g 20 miles without gloves as the wind began howling and the "sprinkles" of rain sheeting across my now red hands.  Thank goodness I at least had some company for 17 miles of the run.  I met one friend about 1.5 miles in and then we picked up another friend on the road around mile 4 and met a big group down at the Lake for the 7 mile loop.  Having good friends to rag on you while you are in misery always keeps your mind off the running part.  In fact, staying on topic, it seems that I have been the butt of a few jokes because I lost a pair of gloves of a very good friend of mine and I am a complete idiot and instead of asking her how much they cost made an assumption and that assumption was so wrong!!  Yikes!!  This is why I love these people - they will call you out in a flash...you cannot get away with anything...whether you are trying or not!  They are like family with all the good and bad that comes with being family.  If you don't have a group like this to run with, I highly recommend finding one.  The key is that they can't be too nice or too mean - just the right amount of each seems to keep the motivation (and friendships) strong.  So, here are the lessons learned on this cold, rainy, windy Super Bowl Sunday morning:  1) if it is below 50 degrees OR windy, wear your gloves...PERIOD; and 2) if you borrow a pair of gloves, make sure to find out how much they actually cost before you write the check!