Chocolate and Cheese: A Phattening of My Soul
December here in Jersey was cold- damn cold. Not that San Francisco, it's 40 degrees, but wet and chilly as the wind whips off the bay. No. This was an all out freeze. You know its cold when your lungs are stabbed with ice-pick breaths, or your eyes tear by the harshness, and then freeze half-way out of the tear duct. So cold that my toes numb between my doorstep and the car. The weatherman says that the temperature is exceptionally low for this time of year.
I refuse to run in weather like this. To me, running is about relaxation (believe it or not), and the achievement of good health. In conditions like this past month, it is easy to take a spill on the all but invisible black ice. The ground is frozen solid; unforgiving to the cadence of heavy footfalls. Heavy breathing is painful, and sweating in freezing conditions brings its own set of problems (not that I've ever frozen a body part). Nah, it's better not to run, or at least that's what I tell myself.
I call it periodization- the idea that the year is subdivided into smaller goals: flexibility, strengthening, endurance, speed, maintaining, and rest. Yup, rest is an important part of the running cycle. Come thaw, my spirit and body will be renewed to run. Good to prevent burnout.
In the meantime I've gained about five pounds since my last run in November. Anyone else might flip out- I see it as a good thing: a biological clock of sorts that we should feel more sedated, and pack on the pounds for the heavy winter months. Consider it the hibernation reflex, our biological response to the ebb and flow of the seasons.
My winter break falls between Christmas and New Years. Being a middle school teacher, the kids give me tons of mugs, Barnes and Nobles gift certificates, home baked cookies, and chocolates of all sorts. There is enough junk food to sustain me for this week. I am living the slacker lifestyle: hours on the couch watching TV, playing video games, eating chocolate and cheese.
I refuse to run in weather like this. To me, running is about relaxation (believe it or not), and the achievement of good health. In conditions like this past month, it is easy to take a spill on the all but invisible black ice. The ground is frozen solid; unforgiving to the cadence of heavy footfalls. Heavy breathing is painful, and sweating in freezing conditions brings its own set of problems (not that I've ever frozen a body part). Nah, it's better not to run, or at least that's what I tell myself.
I call it periodization- the idea that the year is subdivided into smaller goals: flexibility, strengthening, endurance, speed, maintaining, and rest. Yup, rest is an important part of the running cycle. Come thaw, my spirit and body will be renewed to run. Good to prevent burnout.
In the meantime I've gained about five pounds since my last run in November. Anyone else might flip out- I see it as a good thing: a biological clock of sorts that we should feel more sedated, and pack on the pounds for the heavy winter months. Consider it the hibernation reflex, our biological response to the ebb and flow of the seasons.
My winter break falls between Christmas and New Years. Being a middle school teacher, the kids give me tons of mugs, Barnes and Nobles gift certificates, home baked cookies, and chocolates of all sorts. There is enough junk food to sustain me for this week. I am living the slacker lifestyle: hours on the couch watching TV, playing video games, eating chocolate and cheese.
Tags:
