Climate Control

I know that for some people, training on a treadmill is the most boring, dreadful way to train for a race.  I don't disagree, but up until recently, it has been a necessary evil in my life.

Up until recently, Greg and I have been working on a cruise ship and while at sea, sometimes the treadmill at the gym is the best case scenario for getting a run in.

Some ports are too hot, or too dangerous to contemplate going for a long run.  We've seen some pretty wild neighbourhoods, and some pretty wild driving.  In some ports, just walking a mile to the nearest internet cafe made me dizzy from the heat, and drenched with sweat.

Heat and I do not get along.

And don't even get me started on the pretzel shaped "running track" that was full of people standing around smoking and playing giant, novelty chess.

So the treadmills at the gym became our best friends.  We knew each of the treadmills intimately - which one had the funky belt, which ones had functional TVs, which ones were best positioned to work with the rocking of the ship, which ones weren't placed directly under a pot light in the ceiling (I hated having a lightbulb shine right down on my skull)... the list went on and on.
We got a little possessive of our treadmills, and found ourselves irritated when we went to run and saw people walking on them in jeans, or flip-flops, or just moseying along (come on lady, there's a promenade deck for walking...).

Running outside is infinitely more interesting.  The miles slip by much faster, and, I don't mean to alarm anyone but there is FRESH AIR outside.  Wonderful.

But here's something else "outside" has.  Weather.  I don't mean to alarm anyone further, but...

Winter is Coming.

I actually got chilly this evening while I was out for my run.  Chilly!  Somehow I don't think my capris and tank tops are going to cut it anymore.  I have to come up with seasonally appropriate running gear.

I've started dealing with the 'shoulder season' between summer and full-on fall by picking up a 'shoulder solution'.  A friend shared a link with me on Facebook about a running shrug that is super cute, and super ingenious.

How cute are these?  You can order them from www.urbanrunninggirl.ca
Source: Urban Running Girl

By the way, that's the creator/owner of Urban Running Girl, Deborah Cape in the photos, and you can follow her blog here.  Go small businesses!  Go women entrepreneurs! 
I ordered the amethyst version (pretty colour!) ran with the shrug on Sunday, and it was really comfortable.  It was a cool but sunny day.  I was wearing a lululemon 'run swiftly tech racerback' tank top and the shrug kept me warm when we were in the cool shade, but not too hot while we were out in the sun (plus I avoided a burn).
I can see it coming in handy on airplanes, too.  I always get cold, and then hot, and then cold again on planes.

So that's covered.  But now I need to find proper winter pants, socks and tops.  On a budget.  In Canada.  Yeesh.  (For our American friends, sales in Canada are meagre things.  Laughable.  Oooh, look! 15% off!  What a deal!)

What are your favourite and warmest items of running gear?