I Run

Now that winter really is here with sub-zero temperatures and wind chills, the window for running comfortably outside gets a bit narrow at times. So I become a weather geek at this time of the year, watching radars and forecasts to see when is the opportune time to get in a run. More often than not it's in the middle of the day, and that's fine. I bring my stuff to work so I can run during my lunch break. This past week I had a couple of good 6 or 7 mile runs in Keene on the Cheshire Rail and Ashuelot River Park trails. On Thursday, which was brutally cold, I was in Chester, so I took advantage of the fitness center to run on the treadmill. That was interesting. At one point after running pretty hard for a couple of miles, I cranked up the speed to see how fast the treadmill could go. It maxes out at 10 mph, or 6:00 min/mile pace. Fast enough for me: I held that for just about a minute. This weekend looks to be a bit warmer than the past couple of days, so I'll definitely get outside to run here in Guilford. Even though my running schedule is pretty unstructured now, I think I'm maintaining a pretty good base. I'm thinking about racing the Jones Town & Country 10 Miler in Amherst at the end of February.

It really hasn't been that stellar out there recently. No sun, but no extreme cold or snow either. Rather, it's been overcast, drizzly, rainy, and icy. The dirt roads are muddy, but not muddy enough to lose my shoes (so where's the fun in that?). But there's something about running in weather that even our dog refuses to enter unless she's about to burst. I'm not inside reading the paper and drinking hot cocoa. I'm outside, alone, slapping mud puddles with my feet as cold droplets hit the back of my neck from the ice encrusted branches above. It's miserable for the first couple of miles, but after that it's barely tolerable. 3.5 miles up Sweet Pond Rd., then back down the hill. I take a couple of detours, then finish the final mile at 7:00 pace. This kind of weather makes me run faster, though I don't know why. It could be that I don't heat up as much, or more likely I'm just anxious to get it done. Then again, I have this peculiar urge to run more even though it's starting to pour. It's as if I rejoice in my own misery. How pathetic: self-directed schadenfreude.

For me, running is certainly therapy for the soul. It promotes my overall well-being. It is also physical therapy, promoting the health of more than just my legs and cardiovascular system. But when an injury occurs, the conventional wisdom is to stop running entirely until the injury has healed. But now this article in the NY Times suggests that stopping may not be the best therapy. In my own experience I found that an especially pernicious achilles injury responded better and healed when I just said enough is enough and got back on the road. And my treatment for lower back pain has always been to keep doing what I always do.