Tag Archives: frostbite

No Snow For You!

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Recently an article in the Burlington Free Press noted how “northern New England’s ski industry is viewing the upcoming season with optimism.” I guess they are looking more at weather as a determining factor to their success than at the “economy.” But the weather is looking a little warm lately. Often ski resorts try to open by Thanksgiving. That ain’t happenin’ round here. Apparently the latest first measurable snowfall in Burlington is December 7th. That was back in 1937. We may just set a new record this year. Whoo-hoo with no exclamation marks.

In the past century there have been only three years when the first measurable snow came in December (1915, 1937, 1948). Make that four by including 2009. We have certainly had rain lately. There is more snow falling on this blog than on Hinesburg. Ah well. It has made for some pleasurable running, and my son played outside all day today without worrying his mother about frostbite. Everything has a silver lining, eh?

Nonetheless, it would be good to see some snow. If it is going to be cold, it might as well be cold enough for snow. And if it’s cold enough for snow we might as well have snow. When the sky hints of snow the children are ready to bust out the sleds. Easy there, children. The ground needs to freeze for any snow to stick around. And it looks like that might not happen for a while. Keep those sleds in the garage, kids. Get out the bikes.

Tomorrow I plan to head out for a longish run, maybe eleven miles if I feel up to it again. It will be warm enough to run without a hat. Without gloves. With some skinny little layers. I certainly won’t be worrying about frostbite. And the soft ground is better for my body, what with all the steps that happen in eleven miles and all that.  Making lemonade, that’s what I’m doing. I know there are plenty of curmudgeons out there who love it when the weather is mild. To them I say, Florida awaits. December is here. Let it snow.

The weather gods, however, have not received the proper sacrifice yet. They wait for it, telling us with relish, “No snow for you!” Yes ma’am. I’ll be slaughtering a lamb some time this weekend.

Running In Icy Wind

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Earlier in the week I bagged going for a run, even a short one, because the time I had to do it was too cold. I don’t necessarily regret not going. It was ten below and breezy. I just wimped out. But I wasn’t going to do that again today.

It was much warmer than the last time I tried to make the decision to run, two days ago. It was 18 degrees warmer in fact. Of course, this meant it was only 8 degrees, and the wind was whipping. It was a frostbite kind of run I was looking toward.

I went despite the chill. I wore some layers and stretched and just went out there. I still am not going all that far. I went about five and a half today. I ran fairly quickly, to keep warm, and to just get on back to the house. But it was slippery. Road salt hasn’t done much of anything for several days now. Some sand had been spread on the road, but still, my traction could have been better.

My pace was average, even though I tried to go faster. I had the wind to slow me down, plus the slipperiness, plus some hills. A couple of times I had all these at once. Moreover, I was cold. My muscles were not exactly loose like they are on a summer day. I had to move quickly to keep limber.

My chief worry was frostbite on my face. I thought about wearing a neck gaitor to cover my face, but that would have meant that I was likely to get too warm. Getting too warm means sweating, and sweating can lead to hypothermia on day like today. If I had to slow down of stop (twisted ankle, knee pain, what have you) I would get too cold too fast. It turns out my own rising heat kept my face warm enough.

So I got out there and had a solid run today. I only got out two days this week, thanks to my fear of the cool weather (the temperature rose to 11 today, the highest and the first double digits since Tuesday). Maybe tomorrow I can squeeze in a few miles. It may get up to the teens again.

How can I wimp out then?