STILL COLD

"Running is a four weather sport."

~ Author Unknown

A long way down, indeed.

Well folks, here we are again.  Deep in the belly of the beast.  The beast being winter, of course.  Temps dropped below zero in Boston last week; something that hasn't happened in eons.  It seems as though every time winter rolls around I find myself asking, how the HELL did I make it through the last one without completely losing it?  And after the 2013/14 winter specifically, which I found particularly rough from a running standpoint,  I vaguely remember claiming that I would never train for a spring marathon again.  You can go ahead and laugh.  I did.  Yes, winter running can be brutal.  But, it can be a bitch in the summer, too.  And it can really suck in a torrential downpour.  And it's never fun in 100% humidity.  Need I go on?  Turns out, it can be kind of awesome in all of these ridiculous conditions, too.  Maybe for different reasons (think badass status), but still.  Bottom line, if you're a runner, you're gonna run.  Last week, I knew Thursday was going to be the killer day in terms of temps and windchill, so I made a point to run outside Monday through Wednesday to avoid too much time on the dreadmill.  Wednesday morning it was a balmy 11℉ and I found myself, yet again, going through all the reasons it might be too cold to be running outside.  'Might' being the key word here.  That's the thing, though.  It wasn't too cold.  If it was, I wouldn't have gone.  I was literally laughing out loud at how stupidly cold I was, but I was still out there and I was fine.  And, next winter, I'll be out there again.  It will still be cold and I will still be laughing.  What I'm realizing is that, at least for me, there's some fun to be had in ranting and/or raving about the ridiculousness of  it all.  If we can't find the humor in it, what's the point?  This year, I have pledged to myself, and now to you, that I will embrace the winter; the good, the bad and the ugly.  It's only already January (glass half full).  We have a mere 2 months to go, give or take.  We got this.

YOU KNOW IT'S COLD OUT WHEN...

(but, not too cold)

~ You can't feel your fingers for the first 15 minutes of the run and this doesn't phase you in the least.
~ You're convinced you're running 8 min miles.  You're watch says 10.  You assume it's broken.
~ When the sun finally comes out you find yourself crying tears of joy.
~ There are no other signs of life outside.  No birds.  No squirrels.  Nada.
~ You see mirages of coffee on the street and you try to touch them.
~ You see a driver mouth the words OMG as she passes you.  (I smiled and waved)
~ You have brief moment, mid run, when you don't know where you are or what you're doing.
~ The wind blows and you hear yourself screaming obscenities that you didn't know you knew in a volume that you didn't know you were capable of.
~ You can't feel any of your nagging injuries because your legs are numb.  Bonus.
~ When you get home your biceps are sore because you've been squeezing your core for the past 45 minutes.
and finally...
~ Later in the day, when you go back outside for your non-running activities, your first thought is, how the hell did I run in this?  And then you smile, because you did.

Listen to this:
FUNN - Cash + David