Run(ning) on sentences

Welcome to the first Best Me blog.  Within  these confines, I'll wax poetic - and sometimes less so - on everything running.  First item to tackle should be interesting: running outdoors vs. indoors.

I confess -- I HATE the treadmill just like I HATE spin class (OK, I'm a hater).  I do enough boring stuff, like cycle on a trainer endlessly and swim laps in pools, but those simply cannot be helped. Well, that and I refuse to cycle outside below 30 degrees, which may have SOME relationship to what I'll write about running here.  But I'd argue the pain factor of a 25-degree bike ride is WAY more than that of a 25 (or 20 or 15) degree run.  I've written my adage of dressing for 20 degrees warmer than it is outside when running; well, in cycling, every descent brings fresh freezing.

I've run in 3 degree temperatures in Minnesota; I've run in 4 degree temps in Hanover, New Hampshire. I often run in the teens and any other available temperature here in Westchester, and other than cold hands and toes for the first ten minutes, it's all good. There's no freezing of lungs, no frostbite, etc. assuming you dress appropriately and cover/wind-protect those areas that...demand such protection.

But some folks are as against running in the cold as I am against cycling in it, so OK.  But the thing that makes me really nervous about the tready (or dreadmill, as some call it) is that it can take you out of your normal stride, unless you are using an extra large version like elite athletes often do or have access to (though even then, you have to concentrate on lifting your foot off the tread vs. having it dragged along extra).  Now, as someone with a prior achilles problem and current (though seemingly fixed) hamstring issue, having a normal stride (and foot plant and push off) is paramount, so I loathe to hit the tready for anything more than a jog, and even then only when unavoidable or extremely practical (e.g., quick warm up in the gym).

That said, there are folks who succeed and swear by the tready, so I'll never make a broad pronouncement warning people away.  Rather, my counsel would be to see how you feel on it, make sure that you can maintain as normal a stride and plant as possible, make sure you are hydrating, and try it out.  But please don't be afraid of the cold...my default is always to get out there and run!

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