Sweat-cicles

March 15, 2020May 9, 2020 Anthony Crilly

SWEAT ICICLES AND FROZEN BEADS OF SWEAT

Sweat-cicles after 17 mile run around Irondequoit Bay in 3° temperatures

A veteran marathoner, an ambitious teammate who trains 60 miles a week, has done dozens of marathon races and who subscribes to seven running magazines, once told me that you aren’t really a runner until your sweet forms icicles during a wintertime run.

I was elated to hear this, because I am an icicle man. This winter, especially during late December and January, I needed only about five miles before icicles would begin descending from the temples. The sweat would roll from my head, catch on the ears, then freeze. The icicles were my runner’s badge. On good days, when the temperatures dropped to 3 or 15 degrees, my stalactites would measure three or four inches.

People who saw me doubtlessly also thought I had arrived-on the distant side of madness.For non-runners, who have trouble enough figuring us out, winter running appears to be border-line insanity. Actually, icicles or not, the cold months are the best for running.

I love running. I love running outside. I love running outside in hot, warm and cool temperatures. I do love running outside in very cold temperatures. Early mornings, however, I am itching to run since it is the one of the first days since a weekend that was in the single digits. I don’t mind running outside in the single digits, and I only run outside. So yesterday I ran.

The reasons, like the winter air, are clear. No threats of sunstroke or heat exhaustion exist. Winter runners commonly tell of the most delightful feeling of all-of thinking you could run for hours and hours. The body temperature stays lower than in summer, which means that it is mostly a question of muscle and bone fitness that determines how far you can run. The fight against humidity is a war game of the summer. Air pollution-the inversions that poison July and August-is less severe now.

I never regret a run. Even a bad run. So even though my face and fingers were very cold, and I was moving at a good pace, it felt great to get out in the fresh air and run. With factoring in the wind chill, the temperature felt more like – 20 degrees, but still, the run felt good.

The exhilarations of winter running are a delight, but getting them demauds more thought than summer running. To dress properly, the issue is less a matter of warm clothing than intelligent clothing. For your upper trunk, two T-shirts, an outer sweatsuit top and perhaps a windbreaker should be plenty. Some recommend cotton inner shirt but I don’t like cotton. If anything, most people overestimate their protective needs for winter running. This end up bundling, not clothing, themselves.

Dressing appropriately for my run is very important, and many new runners run in the winter in more layers than actually needed. I hate to judge though; when I first started running I remember venturing out for a 5 A.M. run layered in three long sleeve shirts and a wind-breaker the first time the temperature ventured into the low teens. I nearly passed out from how hot I was and almost threw the wind-breaker in a ditch.

For the two heat machines-the legs-not much more than running tights are needed. Thorough-breds like Bill Rodgers run bare-legged.They arrive at races in warmup suits, but that’s it. What they do pamper are their hands. Rodgers even wears gloves when the weather is in the 50s. For nonthoroughbreds, a pair of socks to cover the hands is plently. Or two pair. Socks are better than gloves because the fingers can share their heat with each other, but I am a little more fashion-conscious and do run with different types of running gloves.

I think I have been scarred a little from the experience of running a 3.4 mile race in the fall of 2018. I had trained hard for it so when that November morning came and it was 7 degrees (it never got over 7 degrees while I ran that morning) nothing was going to stop me. I could not feel my face, fingers or toes for a good 30 minutes afterward, and when I crossed the finish line I literally had snot icicles hanging from my nose and frozen beads of sweat in my hair, but I finished. And I did it under 25 minutes . Ya know, now that I think about it, that run probably is the reason I learned to adapt and enjoy running in the cold more.

Livonia Turkey Trot November2018 — Livonia Turkey Trot November 2018

The Turkey Trot, 2018 in Livonia, New York

It is crucial, also, to wear a hat. We are hot-headed creatures, which means that a fair proportion of body warmth escapes through the head. The colder the day, the smarter you are to wear a hat that covers the ears.

Fashion-plate runners have trouble in winter because it is all but impossible to affect the stylish look while encumbered with so much clothing. While waiting for spring and the new line in running grar, they might as well forget about impressing the world with their sartorial elegance. I’ve never seen a well-dressed winter runner.

Now there are crazy runners that don’t care about temperatures. The other morning while I visited with a friend at her house, a devoted runner, It was 5 degrees outside. Now she is a whole different brand of tough than I am, she’s a little military type of woman, as well as a seasoned marathoner. So I don’t really put her and I in the same category of wielding strength, but, she ran. Man she had to be cold.

Reaching my 40 mile per week running goal is pretty easy in the spring, summer and fall, but the past few months were a challenge. I have to run at least 8 miles average on each of these week days to reach my goal, so I knew I had better start changing my attitude on cold runs. And I had changed it fast.

An achievement worth crowing about is passing through the winter without fracturing a bone on the ice. Falls are common at this time of year for runners and everyone else. No amount of horse sense is enough to offer full protection, because often the menacing ice lays under a film of snow.

I have seen runners land on their heads because they wouldn’t slow up when going over ice. This winter, running with Rochester Running Company, runners were warned at the beginning of run about road conditions that had icy footing. Everyone took note, but when the pack reached the road areas more than a few runners who didn’t want a sacrifice “a good time” went down for a good spill. Climbing over the bodies turned the event into a scene from a comedy.

For those who dress sensibly and are cautious about their footing, one other problem supposedly persists-inhaling the cold air. But this is actually a phantom problem: the lungs do not freeze. Studies reveal that by the time the outside air reaches these inside chambers, an incredible warming process has occurred. The time is only an instant but that is sufficient for the feezing air to be heated to a temperature compatible with the lungs. I suspect that many of those who profess to have tender lungs and therefore can’t run in the cold are looking for an excuse to sit out the winter.

That’s too bad, because this time of year is easily the most enjoyable for running. I remember a morning this winter during a dawn run when a heavy snow was falling. Only the tamping of any shoes hitting the snow could be heard. All else was stillness. The whiteness dazzled the eye. The cold braced the lungs. The winter absorbed the spirit. Everything made sense. The icicles, too.

Wish me luck!

Running with Gold Rush Runner January 2020 Genesee River, Rochester, NY

ColdGear Infrared Balaclava gray hood 3° temps Irondequoit Bay run February 15, 2020

SWEAT ICICLES AND FROZEN BEADS OF SWEAT

Anthony Crilly

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