First Jog in Finland (outside! brrrr...)

After being here three weeks and having several dreams about jogging (I guess subconsciously I missed it), I finally went on my first outside jog today.  There was snow on the ground, like every day, and the temperature was -10*C (14*F).  Man, it was cold.  I had already done research on the web about what to wear.  I had to buy a wind resistant jogging suit, since all the clothing I had was made to be worn inside the gym.  Luckily, I found something on sale because sports gear is expensive here.

I wore Under Armour base layers under my jogging pants and jacket, gloves, and a warm hat.  The base layer and jacket zipped up around my neck so no need for a scarf.  For the first five minutes, I felt like I was freezing my booty off. My hands were numb, my face was numb, and my breath was ragged and icy.  After 5 minutes, my body began to warm up until I was sweating! I couldn’t believe I was sweating.  It felt like a relief to take my gloves off and let off some steam.  If you can make it past the first 5 arctic minutes, then you are good to go! Now I have no excuses not to go jogging (well, unless it’s less than -10* outside). Plus, the jogging is a great way to actively see my neighborhood and do a little site seeing.

This is me after a 30 minute jog.  Rosy, exhausted cheeks.  As you can see, I am out of jogging shape. It’s been 4 jog-less weeks, and I was never a born runner anyways.  Notice the piles of snow in the background.  Living in Finland is definitely challenging my workout habits.