The sharpness of the fall air always catches me by surprise. It's one thing to know intellectually that it's October by simply looking at the calendar; it's another to have a deep intake of air and be shocked with how biting it feels.
I've run in the fall every year (except for the two when I was pregnant) since I was 14; you'd think I'd be used to this by now. But 'running' and 'cold change in the air' are two things that have yet to connect themselves in my mind.
I take my time as I go out for a run, letting the wind enter through my nostrils and exit through my mouth as I crunchcrunchcrunch among the leaves on a run. To me, the air tends to feel impatient, as though Mother Nature just wants to get on with winter already. I feel a chilly breeze and wish I'd taken a heavier sweatshirt, or at least picked up the pace a little bit.
This is the time of the year where I start to train indoors and don't typically run outside again until March. It's too cold, and it's just no fun to run outside. As you have probably read in my archives, I am very picky with regards to choosing the "optimal" weather for running.
Indoors, I tend to do anything but run. I work out on a gliding system, which is actually better for my joints. I do stomach crunches and lift, and I chase my kids around the house. I shovel when it's snowy and rake the leaves in the fall. It's a time for "other" workouts, the ones that I actually need to do to get things done around the house.
It's a bummer, though, because I think I've finally hit my stride when it turns to running. I hate to give it up just because of the weather, so this year will be different. This year, as I've promised myself before, I'll run outside, cold weather be damned. I want to be that runner where people see me in the sub-zero weather and shake their heads and say "Crazy like a fox." But deep down, they know that I mean business.
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