Winter Running - Slip Sliding Away

 

I often wonder what people think as they pass me on a cold winter morning.    I know what a few of them think because they yell it out the window as they drive by.  Most times it’s not complementary.     Running regularly takes a certain amount of commitment and fortitude.  Running in winter needs that plus a certain a degree of mental handicap.    So on a particularly slushy morning when a passing motorist yells “Crazy SOB”, I’m reticent to disagree with them.   They’re probably just jealous they can’t be out there with me.

The range of weather really defines winter running.   There’s cold, cold with wind, cold with rain, cold with wind and rain, cold with wind and snow….you get the picture.  Running in rain is manageable, snow is trouble, slush is worst, and Ice is the enemy.    Wind makes them all nastier.   Last winter was fairly mild with no snow and only a handful of really cold days.  This year Mother Nature is making up for it with 40 inches of snow in the last two weeks.  

Winter running does have its benefits.   You don’t sweat as much, you don’t suck in bugs panting up a hill, fewer dogs out to chase you, and you get to wear wooly hats that look like a racoon has taken up residence on your head.   But it’s not all lollipops and ice cream.   Here’s a few things I’ve learn over the years, usually the hard way. 

-         Icicles can form in the strangest places.   On your mustache and eye brows, on your hair, and off your hat and gloves.  

-         When it gets below 20 degrees, I have to double up on everything.  Two shirts, two pairs of socks, two pair gloves and running tights with wind pants over them.  Only one hat though.   It’s a bit of a miracle I can even move after I’m dressed.

-         Tights are never to be worn without wind pants over them.   My neighbors are not ready for the sight of "Dave in Tights".

-         Always bring a hanky.  The cold makes your nose run and an icicle hanging from your nose is just nasty.

-         Getting splashed by passing cars is a given in the rain.  When it snows the streets get narrower making dodging the spray from cars that much tougher.  I not as agile dodging the slush waves as I use to be.  There’s nothing worse than being miles from home and caked in ice from your knee down.

-         Running mornings when it’s dark can be a form of Russian Roulette.   Even with a headlamp it’s hard to pick out the icy patches.  It’s not unusual to see me skating around a corner, arms flailing and feet doing unnatural acts.  It supplies great entertainment for the school kids waiting at the bus stop.

I suspect some of you are thinking, “why would anyone voluntarily do this”.     I think we’ve established in the past that when it comes to running, I may be a few beers short of a six pack.    There are some days, when even the dogs don’t want to go out, I need an extra cup of caffeine and kick in the butt to get out the door.  But the reality is there are a lot more “nice” days than bad, and on the good days there something special about starting your day getting a bit of exercise, being outside and watching the sun come up.    Part of getting out is remembering that only a few years ago I had to spend most of a winter unable to even leave the hospital floor.    I often think about the kids with cancer going through the same isolation, an isolation we’ve certainly gotten a small taste of in the last year.    Finding ways to bring them and their families a bit of joy is the goal of both my running and the efforts of Help in the Nick of Time.    So, the next time you are hunkered down on a particularly nasty winter day, think of me and be glad that my form of insanity has passed you by.

Getting old ain't for the faint of heart

The wisdom of Anthony Hopkins, I can testify that truer words were never spoken.   It’s not so much that it’s a surprise that getting old presents challenges it’s the unexpected nature of where those challenges manifest themselves and the volume that seem to happen all at once.    I think the difficulties of getting old are like having your first child.   No matter how much you hear about it in advance, you have to go through it to really appreciate the challenges

Take my running for instance.   I’ve been running off and on for 50 years and whenever life got in the way and I took a break for a while I could comfortably return to a reasonable performance in a matter of months.     There have been some years, even in my 50’s where I would go from no running to running the Boston Marathon in 4 months.     Even after my first round of chemo and while still fighting Leukemia I was able to bounce back to run Boston in only nine months.    Fast forward to today, three years after my stem cell transplant, and running is a whole different experience.

A number of years ago I mentioned in a blog that anyone could run a marathon, it was just a matter of having the discipline to train for it.  Boy was I wrong.    As natural as running is, to do it right and not get injured requires a combination of coordination and strength that I find sorely lacking in my old age.    I was thinking about this as I was out for a morning waddle that serves for my runs these days.    I accept that as I’ve gotten older that it takes longer to warm up the old muscles and joints so I’m religious about going through a warm up routine before hitting the roads.   But no amount of pre-jog efforts seems to prevents the body from sounding like you just poured milk on a bowl of Rice Krispies (snap, crackle, pop).     The fact that it’s below freezing and I’m bundled up like the kid in the movie Christmas Story doesn’t help the situation.    Those first few miles are so slow and pathetic looking that the dogs in the neighborhood don’t even bother chasing me, not enough of a challenge.    Don’t even get me started on hills.  I’m breathing so heavy in the cold air the giant puffs of steam make me look and sound like a steam engine. 

Clearly age has a lot to do with the how much more effort it takes these days.    I find myself more sensitive to the cold, I don’t see as well in the dark, old injuries come back to haunt me with a vengeance and I just don’t have the strength I use to have.   But I also know that I lost a lot dealing with cancer and still today three years later I struggle to get back to where I was.  I think about all the children who have to deal with cancer and the aftermath so early in their lives and how they need encouragement to keep fighting.   There’s a lot of parallels between cancer and old age, their both not for the faint of heart.

And so it is that I’m taking on the marathon challenge again this year to support those kids fighting cancer through Help in the Nick of Time.   You may remember that last year they moved the Boston Marathon from April to the fall to avoid the pandemic.   The marathon was finally cancelled all together.   Given the current state of the pandemic this April’s Boston Marathon has again been moved to the fall but I’m going ahead with my marathon challenge in April.    Last year I set the goal of jogging a marathon over 7 days in under 6 hours.   This year I’m upping the ante and shooting for the 26.2 miles in 5 days and under 5 hours.   Far cry from 2017 when I ran the Boston Marathon in a little over 4 hours but progress over last year.   With your help I’ll make both my Help in the Nick of Time and marathon challenge goals.  

Kicking old ages’ butt until next time.