My eyelashes froze together!

It was -9 degrees outside yesterday when I went for my run yesterday.  30 below zero with the wind chill factor. I was considering bagging it and just staying indoors.  My elliptical has been a little lonely this winter. I whined about the weather to my husband who told me "You are a runner aren't you, get out there and run"

Fine.  I only had 3.5 miles to do for Running, Loving and Living's virtual run. 

I decided that since I was supposed to do speed work today but the snow was too hard to do it right in I would do hill repeats.  Once again it was like running in sand and uphill.  I think I got a pretty good workout, not to mention the two extra layers of clothes I was packing.

Verdict.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I need better face protection. Toe and hand warmers helped keep my feet and hands toasty.  My hands were maybe a little too warm, but when it is 30 below, I think that is okay.

I was actually well dressed for the weather except for my eyes.  I couldn't wear my sunglasses because they kept fogging up and the bacalava I have is not a good one and it felt like I was suffocating.  Running with the wind was fine, which is what I did for the first part of the run.  Coming back was not fun, in fact I ended up running a great deal of it backwards to keep the wind off my face.  I think I ran at least a mile total backwards, if not more.

I had chunks of ice on my eyelashes and they kept freezing together. So I would run into the wind for .10 miles and then run backwards for .10 miles.  Running backwards actually is good for you.  You can check it out HERE and HERE It is a great way to "restore balance and reduce the risk of injury".

I had the face part of it off my face here so I could breathe.

Tell me you aren't totally jealous of this hat I borrowed from my husband.

I know running backwards was kicking my butt.  Which made sense when I later read that 100 steps in reverse produces the same results as 1000 steps forward. They also say it burns one-fifth more calories than running forwards and you only need to move at 80 percent of the same speed as running forward to get the same fitness benefits.

I think that if I get better face protection, one I can wear without fogging up my glasses and making me feel like it is trying to suffocate me, I would probably run in this kind of weather again.  It wasn't really as bad as I thought it was going to be.  

Oh yeah and my total time for 3.5 miles was 36:24.  Running backwards and doing hill repeats does not make for a fast time!

Do you run backwards?
 Can anyone recommend a good balaclava to wear while running?