I stopped asking myself if I look funny in these black tights, somewhat due to repetition mostly due to being thankfully warm during these last few runs.  It was 70 degrees 7 days ago, wasn’t it?  (I might still ask a friend if the tights are …)

Some lessons learned for winter running:

1. I need about 1 layer per 10 degrees F below 50F
2. Lip balm
3. Head and ear cover in the form of a cheap cap from the local 99 cent store.

So I headed out and woke quickly in the 15 degree’d wind-chilled air of a crisp New York morning.  I decided to go into Riverside this time…incorrectly thinking that it would be less windy.  I tried to focus on nasal breathing, to help the air warm and humidify a bit before hitting my lungs like sandpaper.  Also all that jazz about nitric oxide being good for you (another upcoming article).

My face burned from the wind before I got too far.  I pulled the black cap down a bit further and dealt with feeling good that my ears didn’t freeze like the other night.  Thoughts strayed to my late dog Lena – a Samoyed that never truly lived in the moment unless she was out in the park on days like this.  The thick white fur coat and huge smile that she brought everywhere with her still makes me smile every time I think of her and the nickname I gave her.  “Hostess of the park” I used to call her as she would grin and greet almost everyone that happened across her path.

Those reminiscenses got me through the first mile – as I turned by the empty tennis courts.  I looked out over the Hudson and saw the white breakers – if memory served that meant winds in excess of 12-15 miles.  Somewhere in my past there was a NYPL book that outlined little signs of what milage windage caused what.  Light leaves rustling?  2 to 4 miles per hour.   Branches moving? then 5-7 miles, etc.

The wind chill and frostbite table would have prepared me better, as I didn’t know till much later that it was “feels like” 15F.  I did decide to cut the run short as I got winded trying to pass a young coed that raced past me.   She was finishing her run as she circled the Dinosaur playground and exited.  I fed my wounded ego by running past her and back up the hill towards the north.  Thankfully it wasn’t windy in this section.  I could see my breath as I worked my way up the little hill.

A few minutes later I was home and warmly under my most comfortable comforter.  The post run nap was splendid.