I Love Bad Weather Running...and Lying

I thought I loved running in inclement conditions...until my last four-off where I felt a sudden and deadening lethargy at the thought of heading out in a wind so biting Jaws had nothing on it. But in general, I enjoy it.

I do have proof, my readers should have seen the pictures of my post Christmas runs through snowy conditions - witness here for example - and I take a real sense of achievement if I manage to get a good run done in wind, frost, fog or snow. The world often looks far more beautiful when conditions are harsh, and my habit of listening to Radio 4 when I'm out makes me feel like a well insulated academic for whom freezing conditions are actually an enhancement to learning.

I may be that if the weather is really snowy and frozen I'll walk, perhaps wearing the lady-magnet egg whisk things you attach to your shoes to stop you slipping over, and really enjoying being cocooned in my own warm world while the world glitters icy blues and whites around me. Then, when I get home, I arrange the duvet on the sofa like one of those side opening one man tents, and pretend I'm settling in after a hard day of walking along the next section of the South-West Coast Path or whichever daydream I'm nurturing.

Still, those dreams of walking a thousand kilometres on my own!

The one thing I cannot do in the cold is cycle. I can be wearing skiing gloves, running gloves, cycling gloves, running gloves under skiing gloves or skiing gloves over liners, and the end result is the same. Agonised hands, a deathly purple in colour,when I arrive at work and get into the light. Then in harsh winters, my skin dries up so badly it splits, and red raw wounds sting at the touch of soap.

But with every passing day, more and more flowers appear on my running routes, the sun gets higher in the sky and the days get a little longer. The stars change shift, Sirius of winter makes way for Arcturus or spring. The chiff chaff will sing from the trees. The winter will end, the world will warm up one day.

The cracked hands of CrackedNature will heal...

Si