Baby it’s COLD Outside!

December 12^th, 2010.  Hard to believe how much I moaned about running in the heat.  I am conflicted as to whether heat or cold is the bigger nemesis, because they both suck.  I detested running in the baking North Carolina sun because it enervated quickly and forced a slower pace to maintain any level of comfort.  When it is freezing, however, there are no options.  You can run as hard as you want, but winter still nips at your fingertips and toes.

The good news is that there are no hurdles to running hard when it gets chilly.  Perhaps I should utter that there are no excuses for reducing the pace!  During my trot yesterday I passed a fellow walking his dog and he exclaimed “I don’t think you can stay warm even when you go that fast” --- nodded my head and responded that the temperature provided “good motivation”.  Admit I do enjoy being unleashed to run vigorously, but it is with reluctance because of all the extra clothing.  I usually don shorts and a muscle shirt to go running, but now I poke my nose outside to assess how many layers, in addition to requirements for a hat and gloves.

Of course the conundrum only persists along the first half mile or so.  If you over-dress to minimize the initial discomfort, you overheat for the balance.  I usually opt to endure the initial brunt, but the first half mile is brutal!  What happened to the days in Maine?  When I accepted winter this was not an issue and trudging along snow swept landscapes was beautiful (and blissfully quieter).  Difficult to fathom my objections in North Carolina when running in Maine posed no objections in a much chillier environment (though it may have been that I possessed better insulated garments).

Perhaps the bigger dilemma is running four days a week now.  It doesn’t bother me so much running long distances in cold weather, as it is diametrically opposed to plodding long distances in summer heat --- the pain is relatively brief at the start, quite unlike summer runs where the beginning is ecstasy but soon becomes a burden with heat accumulation.  Without a day off between training legs, however, I am a bit stiff when running consecutive days and the cold exacerbates the discomfort.

But I guess it is all part of the long distance learning curve.  Ran nine miles today and had a bottle of G2 and a bottle of water in my belt.  The G2 is really refreshing and I enjoy having the option of supplying minimal calorie content (along with electrolytes!) to the earlier portions of long runs.  In the next few weeks I will be extending my long run dramatically and this is the time to work out the kinks in keeping a diabetic body properly fueled

Today I sucked down my first gulps of G2 five miles into the run and it was really tasty (remember that I rarely sample sugar).  I wasn’t kidding myself that this was seriously replenishing calories and gobbled a Clif Bar at mile seven.   A much better experience than during the half marathon, probably because I could anticipate the discomfort of chewing and swallowing while running.  Slowed my pace a bit to make ingestion easier and it proved a welcome break from the routine as it gets a bit dull and repetitive when you run for more than one hour.