Cold Weather…

is not conducive to running outside. But, when there is no option to run on a treadmill, run outside I must. I was trying to explain to a friend today about my inability to run on a treadmill. “I know. It’s boring,” she said. Well, yes, it is boring, but more accurately, I cannot (not don’t like to) run on a treadmill. I get some weird form of vertigo in which I cannot run in a straight line. I end up sort of wavering around and eventually falling off the back of the machine as I attempt to self-correct my missteps.

Really, I am sure my plight is funny for those watching in the gym. I am sure I resemble some sort of drunken barn-fowl being chased by a much too eager and conniving coyote. I sort of hedge around a bit as I try to adjust the gadgets and gizmos, then I succumb to motion sickness from trying to read while moving, until finally I am overcome with all of it, lose my footing, and sliding defeated off the back side of the machine. Seriously. This is how it goes every time, I simply cannot run on treadmill.

Today I ran for 30 minutes outside in <20º weather with the wind blowing and my feet pounding. My breath got stuck all slippery and breathy in my Buff, which doubles as a face mask and neck warmer. I hate to re-breathe my own breath, so I despise wearing the thing, but my cheeks get cold in the wind. It isn’t even that it hurts to breathe or anything that sane, but my cheeks get chapped by the Arctic wind and they burn. Really, I am pretty much a winter weather wimp.

Well, not entirely. I actually don’t mind the cold weather, but I have a hard time regulating my temperature when I run. I start with the recommended number of layers with the moisture-wicking stuff as the bottom layer, but I find myself taking off clothes and putting them back on, only to take them off again. Mostly, I find myself wrangling like a cattle hustler with my hat, my Buff, my gloves, and my outside top layer. They come off. They go back on. They come off; I put them in my pockets. They get annoying. I put them back on. I get hot. I carry them. I get tired of carrying them. The cycle continues. And, I despise running in anything except shorts. I can’t stand the way long pants touch your ankles when you run. It’s quite simply aggravating.

Don’t get me wrong. Running has been the best re-investment I have made in my life. I haven’t felt better in a long time. I just want spring to come. Now.

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I am thankful for long naps in the winter.

Food: banana, juice, muffin, chocolate milk, almonds, salad with fake chicken, handful of M&Ms, two pieces of veggie pizza, breadsticks, broccoli

Exercise: walked the dogs, ran 30 minutes, walked from Burris to RB