Attitude

Attitude plays an important part of everything we do.

Provo River Trail

For example, It has gotten colder here the past few weeks.  I was getting a bad attitude about it getting cold.  We had a cold spring and I just wasn't ready to head into winter.  After a couple of days of grumping about it, I got to thinking that the main problem with the cold was my attitude about it being cold.

I was able to get through last winter (other than an non-weather related injury) just dandy.  I know how to stay warm and mostly comfortable.  I just needed to accept the fact that the cold is going to be here for a while.  

There are plenty of things to be positive about.

• I really enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the fun associated with getting together with friends and family.  
• I enjoy extra time off from work.  
• I enjoy how things look after a fresh snow.  

There are plenty of things I like about this time of year.

I have settled down a bit and am getting back into the cold routine.  I just check the temperature when I get up and layer up accordingly.  I use up more clothes in one day than I do all week it seems when the weather is warm, but that's no big deal.

What I do to keep warm.

1. I layer according to the temperature.
2. I wear moisture wicking clothing. (No cotton at all!) 
3. I even layer my hands.  I have light weight running gloves that I start with and will either put fingered gloves over them if I need extra warmth.  I also have some thicker mittens when it gets really cold.  I have on occasion even used hand warmers with my gloves, but not very often. 
4. I warm up just a bit before I go out.  I will do light leg and arm swings to loosen up a bit.  It also warms my core up a bit making the shock of the cold not so bad.
5. A nice synthetic wool hat makes a big difference. 
6. I invested in some wicking thermals as well.  They cost a bit more, but I have been happy with them on the occasions when it is extra cold.

I used to worry about rain and snow getting me wet, but on most of my runs, I get wet from the inside out from sweating so I realized that it didn't make much difference what the source of the wetness was.  As long as I'm moving, I am keeping warm.  The only exceptions are my hands and feet.  I explained above about my hands and it's not often when my feet get cold.  Just on those wet, cold, slushy days.  But even those days are not that bad. The only thing that I don't deal with well is ice.  I have slipped too many times in my life to enjoy that, but most of the time, the roads are clear enough to run on.  I go early enough and try to avoid the really busy streets so I don't have much of an issue with cars.  I wear a reflective vest and sometimes use a headlamp.  I have used Yak Traks knock offs before.  They do help with traction on slippery surfaces, but don't do well when the snow is wet and heavy.  I might not have used the best model for what I was trying to do.  Mine didn't have a strap across the top, like the video shows.  I think they would do better.



On those rare days when it's just not doable because of ice, I do have a tread mill as a backup. Now if I can just get a better attitude about the rest of my life, everyone else will be happier!  :) What do you do to deal with the cold?

 Hang in there and I will too! (5 miles away from 1000 miles for the year!)