Wacky Wednesday- Perspectives

Out here in the east coast region of the United States, we have been experiencing an incredibly mild winter. Temperatures have rarely dipped below freezing. The ski resort people are quite grumpy. No overtime for the plow drivers. The salt stock piles are at an all-time high. Consequently, automobile rust is seemingly at an all-time low.

I, for one, couldn't be any happier. See, I am not a winter person. I, in my withered old age, cannot find anything really redeeming about cold, snow, or short days. Last winter, every other post was complain about winter this and moan about winter that. As if the weather gods read my blog, they decided to extend winter well into March just to, and I'm pretty sure about this, to spite the Banter. Well, karma has found its way back and I am in pretty darn good shape as a result.

Another contributing factor to my in-shapeness has been my willingness to get up and run in the mornings. I have 3 scheduled am runs (Mondays are optional, as all Monday workouts should be optional). Morning runs ensure that I get my duff out of bed and get my mileage in. Thus far they have been quite successful. This morning was one of those scheduled running mornings.

There has been lots written on heat acclimatization. Basically, the experts weigh in on the physiological adaptations that your body experiences when the temperature and humidity rise. I haven't read much on theories of cold acclimatization. My reasoning behind my ignorance on this topic is 2 fold: 1. Not much has actually been tested or been written on the changes when the mercury drops. And 2. I am not much of a reader.

The concept of cold acclimatization was smacking me in the face. As most of the winter has been warmer than the average refrigerator, this morning was a whopping 8º F. Single digits. I slept in. I postponed my run to the afternoon and made my workout a hard brick session, when the temperatures were near 30º. I cannot help be feel like a big pansy. Especially after when I watched this video in awe. I marveled at the dudes fortitude, stamina, and yeah, his craziness. He makes my refusal to run in 8º temps seem extra specially wussy.