Thursday

How cold is too cold to run outdoors?




Oh, baby. It really is cold outside! Weather warnings abound. I even received a text message alert from the county sheriff’s department.

Wa-a-a-ah! I wanna run!

But the local forecast includes a wind chill advisory today and a full-on snow advisory for the next couple of days. Sometimes there’s just no rime or reason, when it comes to this season. (Nope, that’s not a typo.)

Like I said: “Wa-a-a-ah! I wanna run!”

But maybe it’s cold outside. Maybe it’s seriously and potentially dangerously cold out there.

The actual temperature is in the low single digits. The wind chill is dropping to 20-something-below. Yeah, that’s pretty much enough to freeze your face off (according to multiple medical and outdoor sports experts), not to mention the icicles that may form inside your lungs while running.



Is a jaunt or jog in the great out of doors worth the risk of hyperthermia and frostbite?

Experts say frostbite can happen in the first 30 minutes of exposure, if it’s this cold. And hypothermia nips right at frostbite’s heels on the run. If the wind chill is below -15 (F), generally accepted guidelines suggests outdoor exercise isn’t such a solid pick.

Bingo. There it is.

No matter how many layers of winter garb I slip on, and no matter how much of my face (and everything else) I try to cover, I’m pretty sure something’s gonna frost up, if I go.

Oh, and has anyone else noticed how the general and collective intelligence quotient of local drivers (nearly anywhere) seems to plunge right along with the mercury in the wintertime?

So I guess I won’t be dashing through the snow this time. I hate my elliptical (It wobbles, because I didn’t spring for the Schwinn, Nautilus, or NordikTrak version. Plus, it’s boring.), but I guess that’s it for today. Those Christmas cookies aren’t gonna work themselves off.

Image:
Adapted from vintage cartoon still. Public domain.

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