Loving the cold

223 days to race

“There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.”  - Bill Bowerman

I love when the weather turns cooler.  It probably stems from when I was a child.  Autumn turned the leaves crimson, yellow and orange which signaled the start of hunting season  and some good fishing.  It also meant hockey season was just around the corner.  When outside temps hit 20 below zero and ice fishing became a little too frigid I took solace in the balmy confines of the arenas.  The cold was never something that kept me from participating in my favorite activities.  I just went about having my fun and while I may have been cold it was not uncomfortable to be so.

Now that affinity for the cold translates to my training as well.  Read any article on optimum temperatures that produce the fastest marathon times and the overwhelming majority will say between 30 and 55 degrees farenheit.  Almost any serious distance runner can tell you how much they love the cool weather, especially here in Texas where we have to deal with 4 months or more of temperatures over 100 degrees.

It’s funny, as the mercury falls you see a dramatic increase in the number of people running.  Sidewalks that were devoid of any soul just 2 weeks earlier when temps were 85 degrees are suddenly overflowing the first weekend in October when the thermometer reads 60 degrees.  But where does everyone go 3 weeks later when it’s 50 degrees?  It seems that personal goal achievement has an exponentially negative correlation with discomfort for many people.  And ironically the more rewarding goals are typically achieved through overcoming greater discomfort.  It’s a shame because what most people deem to be painful is mostly a mental block.

For centuries Native Americans lived close to the land without the creature comforts like central heating and air.  I’m sure they were cold in the winter, but they were not uncomfortable.  I believe it was Chief Joseph who once said “We did not know we were cold until the white man told us.”  While I don’t profess to be tough enough to be able to completely give up my climate controlled home I think it does make a poignant statement on how soft we have become.  Most people live in a thermostat controlled environment with a grand temperature range of 67 to 75 degrees.  Get any suburban dwelling family outside of that and you’ll start hearing complaints for days on end.

It is interesting to watch the reaction from people when I tell them I am going for a bike ride when it’s 30 degrees outside.  Predictably, I hear a whole lot of things like “It’s too cold for that, you’re crazy!”  But what they don’t know is that cold does not mean major discomfort.  Sure, the first couple of miles may feel a bit of a wind bite in my toes and fingers, but only if that’s what I want to concentrate on.  Somewhere down the line I focus on the ride – cadence, proper shifting, plans to attack the hills – and that discomfort disappears.  In fact, the ride actually becomes enjoyable.

This phenomenon is not relegated solely to cold weather.  Heat, rain, wind, snow and any other inclement weather becomes an excuse for people to hide indoors and complain.  If I wanted to wait for the conditions to be perfect and comfortable I could get approximately 2 weeks of training in each year.  Definitely not enough to prevent me from ballooning to 300 pounds, much less completing a marathon or Ironman triathlon.  So instead of wishing for “comfortable” conditions I choose to train in all conditions and find that my comfort range is far greater than I could have realized.  The most rewarding part of that is when I pass a fellow “crazy” athlete during a training run or ride because I know that they are committed to their goals too.  It’s a fellowship that you just can’t understand unless you’re doing it.  The real crazy thing about that is that we are happy and comfortable out on the road while most people are inside complaining about the weather and how it paralyzes them.  Expand your comfort zone and you can accomplish more.