fitness: The Early Adventures of Winter Running

I love to run.  Do you?  Well, I do.

This little phrase was how I would always start my first grade writing entries.  Do you like pizza?  Well, I do.  Early on, I had quite a polar way of thinking about the aspects of my life, my likes and dislikes, thinking they would never change.  Some have not changed: I still like pizza.  I LOVE pizza.  I've been thinking constantly about the fact that my husband and I will be having pizza for date night tonight (slightly pathetic, I know).  Though what I didn't know in first grade was how my interests would open up as I matured and some things that I detested would no longer be repulsive, but delightful.

All throughout school, I absolutely hated to run.  When we would have to do laps on the race track in junior high, I would dread going to P.E.  In high school, when we were required to do physical testing in all exercise classes, which horribly included dance, it would seem like the worst two weeks ever.  I wasn't fast, I didn't have the oxygen capacity since I never tried to work on it, so the exercise was as unpleasant as it could possibly be.

However, I made a decision some time during college that I wanted to start running.  I think maybe I thought that running would be a more intense workout that I needed (so true!), but I can't truly pinpoint the reason, especially since it was a form of exercise that I had avoided for so long and just assumed I would never, ever enjoy doing.  Such caustic thinking building obstacles in my way!

It was not easy to start running, believe me on that one, and it is still difficult when I go back to it after taking breaks for whatever reason.  I am also not training for the Olympics: I basically run two to three miles, at an even pace, and that's it.  But, it continues to be one of the most invigorating and rewarding types of working out that I have yet experienced.  It is so freeing to be able to be your own medium of transportation, flying through your surroundings, eating up the pavement.  It is also one of the best totally free activities in life, perfect for a Culture Thrift!

But under fifty degrees?!  Under forty?  Under twenty and in snow?!?

Knowing I was moving to Chicagoland, I pretty instantly wrote off running in the winter.  My husband was already planning to bike all through the winter wonderland... and I was planning on how I could reasonably hibernate and how much extra blubber to add under my fur coat.  Starting to bike also helped and encouraged me, but after a chilly run in the fifties, I had had enough of running and I quit in October.  Again, my "Do you like running in winter? Well, I don't" was taking over.  I was quickly starting to suffer from lack of movement however, which is something I know to my core that I need, therefore I started thinking about running again.  A couple weeks in to January and my husband and I had separately imagined the idea of trying out running for date night and brought it up to each other.  We went and we made it!  After twenty minutes deciding what to wear before the run, many slippery close-calls and slowing down to a walk at times, we did our victory high five and considered it a victory.  This win being that we challenged ourselves and accomplished a workout, not that we were amazing winter athletes.

Since our date night run, I have gone for two others, learning little things from each exertion, even dreaming up some ideas and inspirations for writing.  I plan on creating a post for tips for winter running, including how to dress, how to move, and a positive mindset to have while starting.  I would love to hear any stories or comments you have about continuing exercise in the winter elements!

I know there will be days that running is absolutely impossible, either because there are two feet of snow on the sidewalk or because there are two feel of snow in my soul, but I am thankful to have running in my life.