I just want to run outside!

Is it the weekend yet?

Not only because that means I get a few days off from work. But also because that means I just might be able to sneak in a run outdoors.

I admit, I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to outdoor winter running. The temperatures fall below 40 and I'm frightened to head outdoors. And it gets dark so early and with no sidewalks near my apartment? That means I'll run the risk of getting plowed down by a speeding driver if I run outside after work.

Not really my idea of a relaxing evening. So I stick to the treadmill.

It's not because I like the treadmill. I tolerate it. I'd rather be running outside, where my body chooses the pace rather than a motor and where the scenery changes and the time goes faster. But I'm a wuss when it comes to winter. It's cold. And snowy. And icy. And dark. So I stay indoors and log those miles on the treadmill. Miles to nowhere.

My last run outside was Dec. 22, when I did a short 2-mile run in the neighborhood by my office for the Winter Misery One Miler virtual race. Before that? It was the beginning of December, and that's only because the month started out unusually warm - seriously mid-40s on Dec. 1? Almost unheard of in Wisconsin.

But tonight, as I was hanging on the treadmill tonight for my 4-mile run, I kept thinking to myself. My next run will be outside. So excited.

We're in the middle of what weathermen are calling the January thaw. Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 30s with sun. And since I won't be working on Saturday afternoon, I can head out in the sunshine an not have to worry as much about being hit by a car. And since it'll be warm, the ice and snow should have disappeared from the sidewalks.

One more day of work. And it's going to be a well-deserved rest day. And then it's Saturday and my first "long" run of the half marathon training schedule. Well, technically the second, but I missed last weekend's due to The Cold: Version 2.0.

And I promise, the half marathon post is coming soon!