It is said the native people in arctic have a thousand words for snow. It is also said that that is a load of frozen bull manure. But it feels like is should be true. You’d come up with a lot of ways to describe the thing you see the most of, simply so that you can accurately describe it to someone else.
Parents of toddlers need several hundred different words for tantrums, maybe. Parents of teens could write a thesaurus full of synonyms for sass. And runners who live where the air hurts their face have more than a dozen phrases for ice, snow, and cold. Or, if not actual words, definite opinions about the variety of conditions waiting on the other side of the door.
Or, if not every runner, this one most definitely does.
I’m very much an Elsa when it comes to cold. I have a variety of jackets, tights, fleece-y pants and tops, hats, mittens, gloves, and an about-to-rob-a-bank balaclava. I buy chemical hand warmers in bulk so that I can toss one in whichever pocket is holding my phone. What cold does to an Apple battery is a lesson I learn at least once a year.
I do have limits, mind. If the weather apps warn about life-threatening wind chills, I’ll rearrange my schedule to run on a different day. There’s unbothered by cold and there’s just plain dumb. I’m lucky to have an indoor track to escape to, even if it is eight laps to the mile.
Snow is fine, especially when it’s fresh. I have a whole drawer full of yaktraks and microspikes. Running in them isn’t my favorite thing ever but it’ll work for shorter runs, especially when you are starting to get a little Jack-in-The-Shining after a blizzard. Plus, there is no quiet like a freshly fallen snow quiet. It is one of my favorite non-sounds ever.
I can work with, around, and through most of the next few months. Give me snow! I’ll take the cold! I’m down with a non-killing wind! Heck, all three are fine — and all are better than a single 80 degree day.
The sidewalk behind me is perfection.
But the one type of winter weather I cannot abide is what we have right now: it’s just cold enough that nothing ever melts and three-quarters of the local sidewalks have been shoveled. It’s an oddly specific time of year but one that would be in my lexicon of winter words. I can’t mention what I call it in public, tho. A girl has a reputation to uphold.
What? Stop laughing.
Here’s why it is so terrible out there right now: if everything was covered with snow, I could trak up and go. Running on bare pavement in spikes, however, is the worst so I have to pick my footgear knowing that it will be wrong every few meters as I go from bone dry sidewalk to snow to ice to dry again.
With the temperature hovering near the freezing mark, spots that thaw out a little during the day freeze up again overnight and the resultant ice is slicker than a car salesman. Because our days are mostly gray now, this thin ice is hard to see until you’re right up on it, which means that you’re on your arse before you even know it’s a hazard.
This sidewalk makes me sad, not because it’s covered in snow but because it followed the sidewalk that was shoveled and dry. Consistency is all I ask.
I was reminded of black ice last week. I leaned outside to snag the mail and did an unscheduled tumbling pass down our front stairs. Nothing broken on me or the house, fortunately, but the Soviet judge only awarded a 3. A grievance has been filed.
Despite my loathing of this particular combination of winter weather, I’m still getting out there. Not only is it a huge mental health boost (and I feel like a total badass after a long run in sub-freezing temps), I have a half marathon in Vegas (baby) to train for. If nothing else, late March in the desert will be warmer than here, right? And I won’t be hopscotching over black ice? Lie to me if you must.
To all of my fellow frozen mother runners, I see you and I feel you. We have so many words right now for all of the different kinds of cold, snow, and ice that greets us every morning. The only way out is through.
I did learn a new-to-me term (which is interesting since I’ve lived here my whole life): New England Cement. Def.: at least a few inches of snow followed by some rain which makes said snow almost impossible to shovel like, you guessed it, cement. Thing is you MUST shovel it or it will be a block of ice by morning. Gods times.
*Good times
Haha, I just came in from a run in 9 degrees + wind! Hands still thawing. We seem to be in a pattern of deep cold followed by cold rain followed by deep cold ,which means, you guessed it, ICE. The worst! As essential as Yak Trax are, I can’t stand clack-clack=clacking on bare pavement. Luckily, just a few more weeks of this and then I can start complaining about the heat, which I agree, is worse. :)
Buffalo SEES you, Adrienne! Yesterday was 14, but the wind chill brought it to -4, and the gusts were like tsunamis of freezing needles. I ran in the middle of the street to avoid the ice/clear/sludge/clear cycle, but that’s no good, either, because every time a car comes around a curve, you have to dive into a snow bank. We’re lucky we’re so tough.
I 100% feel this! This is my least favorite part of winter and choosing my footwear this time of year in MN feels impossible. PLUS, the snowplows come through after people have shoveled sidewalks, causing the street crossings to be packed with snow up to my hip. So runs become more of a run, waddle, climb a small mountain while trying not to fall on my butt on the way down the other side, run… repeat. One saving grace: I tried wearing my trail shoes in these conditions for the first time this year and they have worked in the majority of conditions!
Totally agree with all of this. Don’t mind running with yak traxs when there is snow/Ice, but it’s rarely just consistent. Dry sidewalks don’t lend well to yak traxs. Not sure why my neighborhood won’t ban together to be consistent and make things easier for my run 😜
We have had a winter of -25 to -45 degree (F) windchills. The sidewalks are covered in fresh or drifted in snow and ice. I walk to work but I look like the kid from A Christmas Story. Thankful for the treadmill.
I am in awe of you winter warriors! Advancing age and too many orthopedic braces and casts in my closet resulting from falls on ice and snow have turned me into an anxious scary cat! So if roads are dry, I’m with you. If there is snow or the dreaded black ice (the normal mode in MD), then I’m safely on my spin bike or treadmill. Spring is coming!
Cool also like to run in the winter especially when there is snow in the city or on snow-capped mountains or fields as it is quite interesting
A. Cold is definitely better than 80 degrees. Every. Single. Time.
B. The Soviet judge is very tough.
I ran this morning on about an inch of the most delightful snow that will be ice by the end of the day.