Baby, it's cold outside

Over the past few weeks, I haven't been able to get enough of running in Central Park. The first time I ventured out I did about 3.5 miles and was sore the next day. Now I'm up to 7 miles with no soreness and virtually no lingering fatigue afterwards. However, I'm coming up against a hurdle (get it?) that's never been an issue for me while running: the cold. For the first time in my life, I was shivering instead of steaming at the end of yesterday's run. I wore spandex running tights that came down to mid-calf, a spandex tank top, and a cotton long-sleeved shirt. For the first half mile, I was freezing. As I continued, I got comfortably warm and then uncomfortably warm except for the hand that was holding my iPod which was freezing. At the end of my run, my usual cooldown block did its job a little too well - I was chilly and uncomfortable by the time I got to my dorm.

Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg (get it?). It was probably in the mid-fifties yesterday, and today is colder still, 44 degrees at 11 A.M. Soon I'll be contending with piles of snow and temperatures that are 20 degrees lower or more. Yes, Columbia has a gym equipped with rows of treadmills, but I simply can't abide the idea of spending over an hour on one. It's hot in the gym, the scenery doesn't change, and there isn't a single squirrel to toss acorns down at me as I jog along.

Thank goodness I live in the information age. I put up a plea for tips on cold weather running on Facebook and have gotten lots of good responses from friends. Mistake #1: cotton. Part of the reason I got so cold was that my shirt got damp as I was running. Jenny suggests dri-weave. Mistake #2: not wearing gloves. Phillip, who obviously has a rather low opinion of my mental capacity, recommends not bulky ski gloves but thin ones that will protect against the wind. Although it wasn't cold enough for my ears to start stinging, Mario recommends an ear warmer for future months, which will prevent me from overheating by exposing the top of my head but will keep my ears toasty warm. A bonus feature from which Mario does not benefit: my hair will stay out of my face! He said also that something that zips up is nice because it can be unzipped as I overheat, then zipped back up when I get cold. Running on a track in Visalia is one thing - I was always confident that a sweatshirt tossed off to the side would be waiting for me whenever I returned for it. Central Park is another matter altogether. I have to plan never to see an article of clothing again if I leave it off to the side somewhere, so the idea of cooling off without actually taking anything off is appealing. Another idea: while climbing Mt. Shasta, I discovered how useful underarm zipper vents can be. I'd always thought they looked kind of goofy, never having been in a position to actually use them for their intended purpose before. I'll have to look for a light fleece that has them, and possibly pants with vents that can be unzipped as well.

I knew that life in New York would present new challenges, but the ones that are throwing me the most off track are the ones I didn't ever think would be a problem. I haven't gotten lost and I'm doing a reasonable job of staying on budget, both of which I thought would be tricky. However, I'd never have suspected that simply going for a run would present so many problems!