…about the fucking weather.* Not just thinking about it. Being in it. Specifically, trying to run in it.
I typically like to think that here in New York, we’ve got it good. I follow other bloggers who live in godforsaken places like Michigan or Wisconsin and think, “Hey, at least I don’t live there.”
But this year, is it really any better here? In the entire month of January, we’ve had three days that got above freezing. Many days, the windchill was in the single digits or even negative digits. It’s already snowed three times.
I felt compelled to rant about winter because today I was actually looking forward to doing a 9 mile recovery run with strides. In a day packed with meetings and other sources of stress and dreariness, I especially appreciated the opportunity to get outside for 90 minutes and clear my head of the shit that kept me awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night (followed by a nightmare in which Jonathan died).
The forecast called for “flurries.” Maybe on some other planet heavy snow that sticks and accumulates counts as flurries, but not in my world. I got out of the house around 8AM, about an hour after the snow started. There was around half an inch on the ground by that time, and it was coming down heavily. But aside from bare pavement, I had traction on the snowy bits. Or so I thought.
I’d already decided to nix the strides today, not wanting to tempt fate. So merrily I ran along at 10:30 down toward Bronxville on the first of two local loops. I safely made it across Tuckahoe road (where no one ever stops for pedestrians, not even cops!), wended my way down toward the lake and…bam! My feet fly out ahead of me and I’m suddenly looking at the sky. Knowing I’m going to hit hard, I attempt to keep my head up, to no avail. My head actually bounced on the icy pavement a la Robert Cheruiyot.
Nice way to start the day! Now I have a huge goose egg and bruise on my head, plus when I turn my head too far to the left, the area around my left scapula burns. It burns!
Clearly this was not the day to run outside, so I got up and headed back. But in the 10 minutes or so that I’d been outside, the conditions had gone from acceptable to treacherous. It took me nearly 25 minutes to go the .7 miles back to our house. I managed to run a little, but by the time I hit the local streets (and big hill up to our street), the road was like an ice rink.
So in about 40 minutes I managed to run about a mile and give myself a concussion in the process. We’re supposed to get rain this afternoon, but I’ll believe that when I see it. In the meantime, we have a friend from South Africa coming to town for the Gift Fair. The forecast for tomorrow is “real feel” of 2F. I think she’s going to go into some sort of metabolic shock when she steps off that plane. Fortunately, she’s a wool designer, so she can swaddle herself in her own creations.
*Apologies for quoting one of the most boring bands of all time, 10,000 Maniacs (closely tied during that unfortunate era with Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians).
Filed under: elites, everyday life, injury, westchester |
Races Like a Girl 
If you want a new place to make you feel better, we had -22F some weeks ago. Now it’s mostly just -15F. Oh yeah.
Oh god, and I forgot to say that “we” is Norway. Haha!
You know, I’ve got Norwegian genes, so you’d think I’d be more tolerant of cold weather. But no.
Love your blog. I love Norway too. I plan to go back to celebrate my 50th birthday in a few years. Should I live that long.
Oh, nice! Yeah, well I don’t know if we’re super-tolerant here either. Mostly we just love complainting about it. (Seriously. LOVE complainting.)
Thank you! I really like your blog too. ^^
The snow here has suddenly stopped and all accumulation on the streets has disappeared. However, snow on the streets this a.m. made for an interesting speed workout. Hope you’re not bruised too badly. Bummer. Sometimes we really need that run to clear our heads. I felt the same way yesterday morning.
Ha, a shout out. Excellent.
for your amusement, here is the NWS forecast for today that I’m currently dealing with:
“This Afternoon: Snow showers and areas of blowing snow. Temperature falling to around 17 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as -2. Windy, with a west wind between 22 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.”
And of course, it changes every hour or two since its all Lake Effect snow.
Either way…ouch. The wind and snow sucks but ice is just the worst. Do you have stabilicers? They do help somewhat, though only when its slick.
Glad you are still in one piece, but one must use care. Maybe it’s because I have genes from the Italian Alps, I don’t think it’s been that cold although I have been sure to wear multiple layers a few times. But the you live north of me.
Ow, that sounds like it really, really hurt (and still does). You poor baby, hope you feel better as the day progresses. Don’t turn your head left anymore. 😉
Back on that horse, True to her Norwegian heritage, I can attest that Julie was back on that horse, sans helmet, later in the day as I saw her happily rolling along on the very same path.
Oh my gosh! Well, I’m glad you are okay. I’m with you about the Norwegian genes. They have not helped me in Germany. I have a 16 mile run scheduled for Sat and I’m a little scared of what the road conditions will be! I really don’t feel like falling like I did last time I made it outside.
Lucky you have the genes of a hard noggin! That would have hurt — and there’s no Youtube video to vie with Cheruiyot’s.
On another subject… Nate Jenkins’ blog has moved — find it from ‘blogs’ on the RT home page. A bit like playing ‘wacka shark’ with his blog. Also, I came across another good elite one: http://ianandjulia.com/
Ow – be careful with that head, you might need it!
I won’t give my weather report (I live in California)
Ouch. Hitting your head is no fun. That happened to me a month ago out in Colorado and my resulting black eye lingered forever. Annoying to say the least.
I feel like we live in different New Yorks though… I was just complaining the other day how mild this winter has seemed. It has hardly snowed at all and there have been long patches of unusually warmish weather. I mean, I was wearing shorts at the Manhattan Half. You don’t expect that.
Wow. I will never complain about the Sacramento winter again. Sorry about the goose egg.
I agree with your assessment of 10,000 Maniacs and Edie Brickell. Saw the latter in concert in Texas once and was bored out of my head. She just stood there for 2 hours with her leg wrapped around the mic stand singing with that nauseating voice of hers. Booo!
You have the best commenters, ever.
I know! They’re everything I want in a commenter: loyal, witty, cosmopolitan and smart! And there’s a whole gaggle of them on here every week!
[…] Shiver in my bones just thinking… […]
[…] leg now and will have an impressive bruise in a few hours. Fortunately, my bones (and this includes my skull) are thick and not prone to breakage, a lucky state of affairs considering how gravity challenged I […]
[…] Outside the windows of the gym the air is cool, crisp and dry. It’s perfect running weather. I have a terrible feeling that, after suffering through probably the hottest summer I have experienced since moving to NYC in 1984, I will miss the fall entirely and — if I’m lucky, that is — find myself out running in another brutal winter. […]