I knew winter had to come eventually so I shouldn’t have been surprised that the temp read 24 degrees this morning at 9:00AM.   At least the sun was shining.  It had been a while since we had temps that low so I had to guess at what to wear.  I went with Under Armor leggings and top then a Cool-Max shirt over that plus hat and gloves.  Turns out that was perfect.  I was very comfortable the entire 9 miles.  I got some interesting looks from some drivers and I imagine they were thinking “what’s wrong with that guy running in this cold weather”.  But I also passed about half-dozen other dedicated runners and I’m sure they were thinking the same thing I was, ”what’s the big deal, it’s cold, so what?”

I know it will get harder to stay outside once the snow flies but for now, 24 and sunny is just fine.

Every day should be Thanksgiving Day.  I don’t mean that we should gather with family and friends to eat and watch football every day (although that doesn’t sound too bad).  I mean we need to be thankful every day.  No matter what our circumstances are there are many things to be thankful for.  Of course if you focus on what you don’t have you’ll always be wishing for more.  But, if you focus on what you DO have, there will be too many things to count.

Today I was so thankful to be able to run 4+ miles (yes, with a pirate patch).  As I ran early on this Thanksgiving Day the streets were very quiet and stores were closed.  It was a great way to start a busy day.  After my run I was thankful to just relax with my wife and two terrific teenage sons for a while.  Then we all headed to my parents for a traditional Thanksgiving meal with my sisters and their families.  All the nieces and nephews were home and everyone including my parents are healthy.  That’s a lot to be thankful for. 

So today and every day I thank God for all I have and for what He has done for me. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you read my last post you know I am unable to run outside for a while because I can’t blink my eye.  So I thought I was forced to use the treadmill for a few weeks.  Well, I remembered I had a pirate eye patch that my friend Dan gave me as a joke so I tried it.  It worked great!  I ran 9 miles outside yesterday with a black eye patch that has a skull and crossbones embossed on it.  Maybe I’ll start a new club, “The Running Pirates”.

Today I was forced to run on the treadmill.  Not by cold weather or snow or rain.  By Bells’ Palsy.  A very strange condition that causes one half of your facial muscles to stop working.  That means your eye doesn’t blink.  And if your eye doesn’t blink wind hitting your eye is a killer.  I woke up with it Wednesday and since I have had it in the past (20 years ago) I knew what it was.  If you’ve never heard of it and you get it, it can freak you out.  Anyway, I went to the doctor and got steroids (Oh-oh, banned substances) that hopefully will make it go away quicker.  But in the meantime I can’t risk outside running.  Your eye can easily get infections if it can’t blink to clear itself to remove particles and bacteria.  So unless something extreme happens I’ll be sweating on the treadmill instead of nice and cool out in Michigan November/December weather for a few weeks.  Oh well, at least I have two legs to run on.

Keeping with the reading theme here… my old college friend Jeff recommended a very good book to me this fall that I want to share with you.  It’s titled “Born To Run”.  No, not the classic album by The Boss.  This is a national best-seller by Christopher McDougall.

It’s an entertaining story that involves some very colorful characters that are all runners like Caballo Blanco – The White Horse, Bonehead Billy, Barefoot Ted and more.  The main story is about a tribe of barefoot ultra-marathoners in Mexico but the story takes many detours to explore things like why there have been more running injuries since Nike invented the “advanced” running shoe than there were when runners wore flat canvas shoes.  Or to go down a totally ridiculous path about how running is somehow proof of evolution (nonsense). 

Overall, a fun read. Check it out.  I’ll comment more on it later.  (Maybe after I try the Vibram Five Fingers running shoes).

  This time of year it can be difficult to stay motivated to run regularly.  The prime race season is done, each day has less sunlight, and the temperature is dropping.  I find that reading about running actually helps keep me motivated.  Runners World ( www.runnersworld.com ) magazine has a great variety of articles each month.   Reading their work out advice, eating tips and feature stories about runners facing extreme challenges or with special accomplishments gets me thinking about how to take my game up.  Plus, when I see ads for races in other states I start dreaming of running Big Sur or a Rock n Roll marathon.  There are also many good blogs written by runners of all abilities from all parts of the country that can keep your mind on running even when it’s dark and cold outside.  Complete Running Network is a great source for hundreds of blogs (www.completerunning.com/running-blogs/). You can search by topic, experience level, geography and more.

So, grab a magazine or find a blog to read then start planning your Spring races while you’re pounding the pavement this winter dressed in layers with your hat and gloves. 

The changing of the seasons is a tricky time for outdoor activities of almost any kind.  It’s difficult to know what to wear when the weather is so unpredictable.  Temperatures can swing 20-30 degrees in one day.  It’s especially hard to know how to dress for running in this weather because your body will warm-up so quickly while running.  I have found that if I warm-up and stretch inside I can more easily decided what is the best gear for that day. 

A five minute walk on the treadmill followed by five minutes of stretching and I’m warmed-up.  Then I can step outside briefly and if I’m slightly cool then I know I’m dressed correctly.  If I’m comfortable, then I’m over-dressed and if I’m freezing, I need another layer.  It may take a little trial and error to find the exact combinations of shorts, Tees, long-sleeves and jackets, but just pay attention and make notes.  Eventually you’ll face all types of weather and you’ll be able to look back at what you wore in those conditions last time.  That takes the guesswork out of it and you’ll be able to dress for success.

By now you have probably heard the tragic news of the three runners that collapsed and died during the Detroit Marathon Sunday.  That has been the talk of sports call-in shows, newspaper articles and running blogs not only here in Detroit but around the country.  Everyone feels bad for those runners and their families but there are many questions about what happened.  For example, had they trained properly?  Did they change something on race day that they didn’t try in training?  Would this have happened to these men if they hadn’t run that day?  Did they have medical exams before they entered a marathon?  Obviously, we may never learn the answers to some of these questions.  But we can learn a few things from this tragedy.  As the experts say “listen to your body”, meaning if something feels wrong stop and get it investigated.  That’s not to imply that these runners did not do that.  We don’t know. Also, train properly and know your limits.  Build up your base slowly and if you train at an 8 minute mile don’t think you can race a marathon at 6 minute miles.  Don’t be a “weekend warrior” of running.  You can’t eat junk, ignore doctors and then go jump into a strenuous activity like running a marathon and be surprised if something goes wrong.  Again, we don’t know what happened in the Detroit race and maybe those three men did everything correctly.  That may be the other lesson.  You can do everything right and when your time is up that’s it.  So the other lesson is, know where you’re going after that final race is over.  And the way to know is to know Jesus Christ.   If you don’t, then start now.

6:00AM. Dark outside. Windy outside. Thermomator reads 42 degrees outside. Bed is warm. What do you do?  Don’t even think, just put your feet on the floor and grab your gear.  You are a runner!

It’s those moments that define your dedication. If you are a runner, you run.  I run.

Aid your leg recovery with an ice bath.

After a long run, like my 10-miler today, a nice hot shower sounds good.  But if you want to help your muscles recover faster try an ice bath instead.  Apparently cold therapy, known as  Cryotheraphy, constricts blood vessels which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown.  Truthfully I only do the ice bath occasionally after long runs but I know my legs feel better later in the day on days I do.  Today I cheated and ran a bag of ice up and down my legs.  It definitely was not the same but it seemed better than nothing. All I know is it was cold and my legs feel fine and strong sitting here hours later.