I hate the winter

For some reason New Mexico goes from Summer to Winter overnight.  This means I have to really psych myself up each morning before I go running.  Not only do I need to dress warmer but it takes more time to get ready.  I've never been able to run well without  music so putting on a wool hat to cover my ears is awful.  I try to just wear a regular hat and put ear covers on.  I look absolutely ridiculous but it works for me.  The other thing that always happens with winter running is shin splints.  This is normally a cold weather injury and I can usually prevent it with potassium but I am having a hard time this year after the marathon.  If it were safer to ride a bike I would probably do some biking instead of running for a few weeks.  The people in this city are crazy and I think they may actually aim for bikers.

Weather Stinks...

It happens every year the weather turns cold.  As a runner this is the worst thing because you have to transition from shorts to spandex.  There is nothing worse then running in spandex pants, especially in cold weather.  My rule of thumb is anything under 40 degrees requires spandex pants and anything above 40 you can still wear shorts as long as you wear a warm base.  I'm not sure why my legs don't ever get as cold as my core. 

This is the time of year where runners disappear inside the gym and are not to be seen again until March.  You can always tell the more serious runners because they are willing to run at 5:30am, without light, and in the frigid weather.  I always think to myself that I am able to run comfortably 8 months out of the year and 4 months I suffer.  I will run through almost any condition with one exception, ice.  It is just too dangerous to run in the snow and I have fallen many times in the past so if ice exists then I just wont even try.  A few years back I slipped on the ice and cut my leg but I kept going.  When I got back home my shoe was filled with blood.  That is the problem with cold, you cant fully feel your extremities.  I remember telling the doctor in the emergency room and they were shocked that I didn't feel it.  For now I wont need to worry about ice but I still have to deal with the cold.

Snakes are not good...

With any Saturday my day starts with my weekly long run.  My schedule called for 9:00 minute miles and I felt good enough to go for 18.  No major issues with the run but around mile 12 I found a guy collapsed.  Today I decided to run up La Luz and do some additional running on the trails at the top of the mountain.  

On one the access trails a guy was collapsed and grunting.  I stopped to see what was going on and he had been bitten by a snake.  He had no idea what kind it was but it was apparently a bad bite.  My wife makes me run with GPS watch and a phone if I'm going to be on the trails.  I had to run back about a half mile to get a good signal but I was able to call the ranger station.  Actually,  I called my wife and she called the police who in turn called the ranger station.  I was able to tell them exactly where we were due to the GPS (best $285 ever spent).  Within about 20 minutes we were joined by the rangers who were on horseback.  This man who had been bitten was already look bad by the time they got there.  They asked me to run back out and wait for the helicopter, which arrived before I made it out of the trail.  They airlifted him from the mountain to the hospital. 

I've known many runners who use gators when they run because it protects there legs.  I have only seen a snake a few times and they have nover once bothered me.  This fellow, Jack, happened to step on the snake and was immediately bitten.  Note to self:  buy some gators before I do another trail run.   The forest rangers said he should be okay because we caught the bite quickly after it happened.  The biggest concern was his core temperature which had dropped due to sitting on the ground on the top of the mountain.