Cold, Cold, Cold

Yes, I know, I live in MN, yes, it is KIND OF my choice (I say kind of because I was born here and they have these tags they put on you when you’re born that make it very, very difficult to get away from the border for too long, kind of like electric fences…OK, not really, but, well, my family is here, and while I want to move, it is difficult) but it doesn’t make me happy. I hate cold. I’m not a cold weather kind of person. In fact, my body reacts so badly to cold that until people witness it, they don’t even believe me. Try I can be in cold, get in out of it, and still be shivering and uncomfortable for an hour or more…I basically can get out for a run, and I have plenty of cold weather stuff for it that I’ve collected over the years, but when I get home, it’s so uncomfortable it almost doesn’t make it worth it. I get in the shower and everything turns red, I’m itchy, uncomfortable, and still cold. I typically need to get immediately into a hot bath and drink some hot chocolate and soak for 30 minutes before I can start to feel unfrozen…that said, all last year I did manage to do it, only using a treadmill once, and that was because there was 2 feet of snow on all the paths I wanted to run on at the time I wanted to run. Now I have a track that I can use indoors, and it has kept me from running outside unless it’s been in the 20s (I am tired of the treadmill)…that said, talking to my chiro last night during my adjustment she said her and a friend are going to run this weekend just for the freak out factor that drivers are going to have when they see her (and I know exactly what she means) and I said I was considering it, of course she pushed and said I really should…we’ll see. I don’t know that it’s the best thing for the bad head cold I’m battling, but if I have my way, that will be gone by tomorrow anyway. Problem is I wanted to run 10 miles…running 3 or 4 in the cold is one thing…but 10…when this is the forecast:

Hmm…yes, you read that right, the high Saturday is in the negative numbers. That’s not figuring in windchill either. And that’s different from the highs of -2 and -5 I’ve heard. For those not familiar with this extreme cold, I’ll tell you, -5, -10, there really isn’t a difference. Once it drops below 0, cold is just cold. Add in some wind and it makes a difference, then it’s d**n cold…
Besides my little rant about cold, I had to use this space to enlighten those that have never had the fun experience of “true” cold. My friend that now lives in Idaho, but was originally from Wisconsin, and I have discussed these items in great depth before…particularly when she moved to northern Kentucky where they really didn’t understand about the cold and she “enlightened” them to some of the phenomenon. Until you’ve been in it, you just don’t understand the feeling of walking out into the cold that is so cold your nose hairs actually freeze. Yes, you can actually feel it, and it’s not a pleasant feeling!! Or it’s so cold that it actually hurts to breath. Sucking that cold air directly into your lungs can cause a coughing fit, whether you have a cold or not!! And finally, our favorite…those days that it’s so cold, you come out to your car only to find the windows frosted up, on the inside, not so much fun scraping the inside of the windows…and it’s not like you really want to be going anywhere anyway because no matter how good the car heater works, it never really warms up, and you never really feel warm…this is the joy of the true cold.

Again, I’m not sure why I live here. And anytime I hear people talk about how much they love it, I want to smack them. It’s why you’ll never, ever, hear me complain about the hottest days. It can be 100 degrees, and 70% plus humidity (yes, it does get warm here in MN too!!) and I won’t say a word, I might even, just then, turn on my A/C…I’d much rather it be hot than cold. I’m much better in the heat than the cold…and again, yes, you might ask, why do I live here?? Well…because I have yet to figure out exactly where I’d like to live that I can also afford. And I do live for spring. We have a beautiful spring (the 2-3 days we get it) and when you get that warm lift to the air, and birds are coming in, the green has come through and flowers are in bloom and you can literally smell spring in the air…nothing can compare to that.