Need to see a man about an ark
Sunday evening. OK, before I start, I want to warn everyone NOT from southern California that you're probably in for some serious eye rolling, so get ready. With that, let me tell you how incredibly cold it is here: I actually went straight from church (where I walked eight blocks in driving rain and bitter, cold wind with only an umbrella and light coat for protection) to Target to pick up a matching Angora bucket hat and gloves. Brrrr. Now I know, you're all saying, "Whatever! She doesn't know from cold," and you'd be right except for the fact that I've grown up in, and pay a very high premium to continue living in, a climate where we get about 10 days a year of rain (average 9" for the entire year) and the average high (67) and low (57) temperatures are very, very mild. It has never dropped below 32 degrees here...until last week. I have no heat in my condo, folks, no heat, no electric blanket, no fireplace, and I have been walking around with cold nose, fingers, knees and toes for about three weeks now. Anyone that doesn't believe we're in an El Nino weather pattern is not paying attention!
Last night, I went out for an hour's walk - 1.8 miles out and back - and, just before the halfway point, the cold finger of fear reached out and touched my heart as I felt, on the tippiest tip of my nose, a splash of water. You have to know that, with nearly 1.8 miles between me and the (relatively) warm comfort of home and nothing more than a fleece jacket and some gloves covering my exercise wear, I started to panic. Even as my heart raced, the storm moved in and, within about 10 minutes, I was soaked to the skin and shivering. The rain lasted about 20 minutes and was immediately followed by strong, bitterly cold wind which cut straight to my (very cold already) core. I started wondering at that point, what do runners/walkers do in places where it rains and is freezing cold all the time? I mean, not everyone can spend months doing nothing but treadmill running, right? What if you're in the middle of training for a marathon? There's no way you'd do 15-20 miles on a treadmill, is there? Would someone who knows the answer to these questions drop me a line, please, because I don't think this cold thing is going away any time soon?
Last night, I went out for an hour's walk - 1.8 miles out and back - and, just before the halfway point, the cold finger of fear reached out and touched my heart as I felt, on the tippiest tip of my nose, a splash of water. You have to know that, with nearly 1.8 miles between me and the (relatively) warm comfort of home and nothing more than a fleece jacket and some gloves covering my exercise wear, I started to panic. Even as my heart raced, the storm moved in and, within about 10 minutes, I was soaked to the skin and shivering. The rain lasted about 20 minutes and was immediately followed by strong, bitterly cold wind which cut straight to my (very cold already) core. I started wondering at that point, what do runners/walkers do in places where it rains and is freezing cold all the time? I mean, not everyone can spend months doing nothing but treadmill running, right? What if you're in the middle of training for a marathon? There's no way you'd do 15-20 miles on a treadmill, is there? Would someone who knows the answer to these questions drop me a line, please, because I don't think this cold thing is going away any time soon?
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