Arm Warmers

I used to have this amazing ability to not get cold.  It's something that I inherited from my mom, though she was always far more cold tolerant than I, in the sort of "let's have the windows open in February" kind of way.  

Being from Northern California, I was by no means a dive-naked-in-the-snow type of person, but I would regularly go running in thirty degree weather wearing at most a sports bra and shorts.  At night.  

Needless to say, when I moved to LA near the end of 2010, it was a bit of a culture shock.   These people, walking their tiny dogs on their Segways, were dressed as though they were going skiing, in their designer snow gear amidst the frigid 55 degree weather.  I could do no more than gawk in awe, in my shorts and sandals, while people pointed and stared, assuming I had to be on some sort of drug to be able to survive in such a hostile temperature.  Surely, surely they weren't that cold.  Surely this was a joke.  

And then something happened.  

Upon arriving home for a few weeks last November, I noticed something was amiss.  Something felt off, slightly out of key.  It was then I realized: I was cold.  I had adapted to the moderate temperatures of Southern California, and my superhero like abilities to always stay warm had diminished.  My family laughed at me as I sat curled up in a blanket and a sweatshirt, drinking hot tea and shivering by the fire as the temperature dropped to 45.  

So, it was with admitted defeat upon returning to work and riding in the cold mornings, that I realized that I needed arm warmers.  

First, I was skeptical.  Just because I am no longer the abominable snowman does not mean that I don't heat up within about two seconds of working out.  Second, I felt like they'd be distracting.  But I bit the bullet and bought some nice, white Pearl Izumi arm warmers with little reflective bits on them so cars would (hopefully) be less likely to plow me over.  

After the first ride, I wasn't so sure.  After the second ride, I was a little more sure.  Now that I've swallowed my pride and come to terms with the fact that yes, that is cold I'm feeling, I'm quite happy with them.  

Leg warmers though...I don't think I'm quite ready to commit to that just yet. 

2012 Mileage Count: 70