What It’s Like to Live (and Run) in Florida
Welcome to Day 2 of NaBloPoMo! For the first day of November, I wrote about becoming a runner, and a little about my teenage years growing up in Illinois. So how did a midwesterner end up in Florida, anyway? Well, I grew up near Chicago during some of the coldest winters ever. As a matter of fact, I had the dubious honor of being there for the coldest day in the city’s history. On January 20, 1985, the temperatures reached 27 degrees below zero. But the WIND CHILL factor put it at 80 below. You’ll still hear references to that day- for example, in the recent polar vortex people were saying it was the coldest recorded temperature since 1985. Like that’s not bad enough (I mean, seriously- who would want to live in that?) the midwest is very, very, dark and gloomy in the winter. Growing up there, and then in college (I know- I went to college up there as well- what was I thinking???) I just thought I was a person who experienced cycles of depression. Well, yes- and those cycles went with the seasons. I moved to Florida in my 20s, tried to move back north, dealt with my depression once again, and then settled in Florida permanently in 1999. I should specify that I live in South Florida- the area that comprises Miami, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach. This part of the state is very different than other parts. Miami is a very international city, Boca and West Palm Beach have a lot of transplants from New Jersey and New York, and then when you go further north, Florida becomes more like the deep south. (As an aside, I sure would hate to be the governor of Florida- it would be a challenging job!) In South Florida we have two seasons- hot, and warm. During the “warm” season (November-March) it might still be hot- or it could get kind of chilly at night. Sometimes we’ll get down to the 50s at night, and every once in a while we’ll see 40s. But once the sun is up- and it’s sunny almost every day- it gets warm. My favorite Florida weather is when it’s in the 60s and sunny. We also see a lot of 70s in the winter, and also, alas, 80s. The sun is a huge factor here. 90s in Florida is very different from 90s in Illinois. We’re much closer to the sun, and we feel it. During the other season, it’s really hot and humid. Our temperatures are consistently in the low 90s, but with the heat index we’re about 100 most days in the summer (and spring, and sometimes fall) months. We’ll get down to the 70s at night, but often in the summer our low will be 80. Arg. So, if you love running but hate running in the heat, don’t live in Florida. If you live in Florida and can’t stand the heat, don’t be a runner. Since I’ve resolved to live in Florida and love running, I’ve embraced the heat- it’s all you can do. You can run early in the morning and you can run in shorts and a sports bra (that’s what I do in the summer) but you’ll still be hot. You really do get acclimated to it though. I actually know people down here who don’t run when it gets down into the 40s overnight because it’s too “cold.” Ha ha… they clearly didn’t grow up in Chicago! Another thing… in central and northern Florida they have this thing where the ground slopes upward… and then back down… otherwise known as “hills,” ha ha. Here in South Florida it’s completely flat. I definitely count that as a minus- hill running is great for leg strength. I’ll also look at races like the St. George marathon and think how much fun it would be to run it someday… and then I wonder how in the world I would train for a race like that! So, no hills. But we do have this: Being near the ocean makes up for a lot. We live about nine miles west of the beach, so it’s not an everyday thing. When my kids were little we used to go to the beach all the time, but now I have to make a special effort to get there. When I’m running longer distances I like to run to the beach. As you can see, living in Florida has its pros and cons. Since my Seasonal Affective Disorder dictates that I live in a sunny climate, I focus on the pros. Sometimes the heat and humidity start to feel overwhelming, but then I think how 80 below felt…. and you know what? I’m good. Where do you live? Do you like the winter? How about the heat- could you live in Florida?
Why Do You Run?
Hello and welcome to National Blog Posting Month 2021! I’m linking up with San to publish 30 blog posts in 30 days, starting today. Since this is a running blog, I thought the perfect first post for NaBloPoMo would be the story of how I fell in love with running. We have to go way back… back to the track in the basement of my high school, and freshman year PE. One of the many cruel tortures we endured was running “the mile.” The track was 1/10 of a mile around, so we ran it ten times… or at least, that was the idea. Two problems here: I was not especially athletic, and was also a rebellious teenager. I resented being forced to run, and furthermore resented having to take PE every day (we had PE every single school day, five days a week, K-12. No getting out of it- it was an Illinois state law.) Since our track was in the basement, there were posts going from the floor to the ceiling, and I- and my lazy rebellious friends- would hide behind the posts and wait for the rest of the class to lap us, then join in as if we had been running all along. Yes, I was a “mile cheater.” But this doesn’t mean I was opposed to exercise- on the contrary, I was fanatically doing Jane Fonda- type workouts in my bedroom all the time. My motivation for this is that I hated my body. I was hoping the leg lifts would slim my chunky legs, the glute bridges would fix my fat butt, and the crunches would get rid of my ugly stomach bulge. You must be thinking- wow, this girl was a mess. Yes- here’s a picture of my ‘horrible” teenage body. I know. I was a totally normal person! When I look at these old pictures, I could just cry. I wasted so much time obsessing over how my body looked, and so much energy being self conscious about it. Meanwhile PE was not going well. I was cutting class and the teachers hated me. To be fair, I was cutting other classes as well, but for some reason PE attendance was insanely strict. I narrowly missed having to take PE in summer school (screeaaam!) by going to after-school PE makeup classes. It was a nightmare. Then something good actually happened. Senior year I had the opportunity to take a special PE class for people who- for whatever reason-had trouble functioning in regular PE. It was called PE 7S-8S, and the “S” actually stood for “special.” The idea of this class is that everyone could-within reason- do whatever they wanted. A few of the boys opted to lift weights, some people played ping pong, but most people walked slowly around the track to fulfill their PE requirement. The other people in the class slightly resembled the cast of a Fellini movie, and the first day I sat next to the only person I knew, a boy I had been friends with slightly in middle school. We got to talking and it turned out we were both curious about running. We figured we were there, the track was there, and now that no one was forcing us to do it, why not finally run that mile we fought so hard against as freshmen? I can’t actually remember if we had to build up to it, or if we just did it, but before long we were running a mile every day. Then someone pointed out that we probably had time to run two miles during that class period, so we did that. I went from a class-cutting, PE-hating, mile cheater, to voluntarily running two miles every single school day. AND I LOVED IT. I couldn’t have articulated it at the time, but it was the first glimpse into a life where I didn’t hate my body. I had brief moments where I was focused more on what my body could do as opposed to my appearance. I was hungry after running, so I started eating lunch (instead of fasting all day which had been my norm.) It was the first time I actually exercised because it felt good, rather than as a means to correct all my horrible flaws. Of course, that’s not to say it was the immediate end of all my issues. It was the start of a process that would take many, many years. Without running I don’t think I would have been able to start that process at all. So funny that the awful track in the basement of my high school, and the PE class that was the bane of my existence for three years, would actually be the catalyst for this incredible transformation. (Side note- I actually got a commendation in PE that year. I don’t think I ever got a commendation in any other class during high school. The irony!) When that school year ended, I went on to increase my distance, eventually running races and marathons. I’ve literally been running ever since that senior year of high school- barring time off for injuries, during which I was just waiting to get back to running again. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs through the years, but I’ll never, ever give up on running. I’ve come a long way since those insecure teenage days, and I could probably survive without running now- but I don’t want to. Nothing else takes me out of my head and into the enjoyment of my physical body like running. I guess that would be the long-winded answer to the question: Why do you run? Do you call yourself a “runner?” Why do you run?
Weekly Rundown- It’s Halloween!
Happy Halloween!!! I hope everyone is having a spooky day! I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this weekly rundown- here’s how it went. Monday I started the week with a 45 minute slow flow yoga class on the Peloton app with Denis Morton. I see a lot of Denis these days, and for the month of November I’ll be seeing him even more! We’ll get to that later. Tuesday Early morning three mile run! It was dark when I started, but getting light as I finished. I was really happy I got this run in, because I had an 8:30 am appointment to get my second shockwave treatment on my foot. OUCH. This one definitely hurt more than the last one, but that’s okay. No pain, no gain- right? Last week I went for a run in the afternoon after my treatment, but I couldn’t even imagine doing that this time. My foot was really tender. I did do a 20 minute yoga flow in the afternoon (a hamstring focus) and even that bothered my foot a little. Wednesday All was well! My foot felt pretty good (I mean… all things considered…) and I did a 45 minute power yoga class. In my training log I just wrote down “the hard one” because this is the hardest yoga class I’ve found so far. I described it last week- it involves Warrior 3, pistol squats, and one legged bridges. It’s possible I gave the impression that I was absolutely nailing this workout, because in the comments people were complimenting me on my pistol squats. Ha! I’m really struggling through this, using yoga blocks to assist me (which even Denis says are essential.) But I’m determined to get better at it, so you’ll be seeing “the hard one” come up a lot. Thursday Another early morning three mile run, and this time I was treated to this sunrise. When I started this run, my knees were a little achy. It went away quickly, but I still had a few moments of worry and stress. Then I put two and two together…. those pistol squats. I think I’m not really strong enough for that workout yet, I’m pushing myself anyway, and my knees were letting me know. Duly noted, knees! I’m going to continue to work at it, but I’ll modify the squats more for now. In the afternoon I wanted to do a yoga class, but I was so tired when I got home from work that I took a nap, and when I woke up from the nap I was groggy so I just sat on the couch and ate pretzels. Hmmm. This will not be happening next week, when my November yoga streak begins. Friday Yoga today and no excuses. I did a 45 minute slow flow class. Originally I was going to do “the hard one” again, but I decided to give my knees a break, just in case. I’ll hit that class again next week. Saturday In the morning I did an “express workout:” One mile walk, one mile run, and a quick 10 minute yoga class focus on hamstrings. On the run I used my Metrotimer app to work on cadence a little. I got home from work in time to see the second half of the Baylor football game- which turned out to be the good half, because Baylor came from behind to win! We enjoyed a Halloween “charcuterie board” while we watched.. I almost hesitate to post the picture, because I know certain people who actually take classes on how to prepare a charcuterie board (hi Jenn!) and I just throw some vegan cheese and crackers on a board, add some olives and call it a day. It was yummy though! Later in the afternoon I did a 30 minute power yoga class. As I mentioned, all my yoga classes this week were on the Peloton app with Denis Morton. He’s the best! Sunday We were expecting a cooldown today, but it only got down to 66 with 87% humidity. So I won’t be getting out my parka quite yet. Still, 66 is better than 86… or 96. I did a five mile run, and wore my orange tank top for Halloween. And now- October is almost over, which means November goals start tomorrow! I’ll be posting every day in November as part of National Blog Posting Month, and doing a yoga class every single day. And running of course! It’s hard to make any concrete running goals, but right now my goal is to stay on my feet and be able to run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is having a great Halloween! Do you dress up for Halloween? – I like to decorate and eat Halloween-themed foods, but I don’t dress up. Are you excited to start November? – I’m excited for the holidays, and I can’t wait to see my son at Thanksgiving!
October Runfessions!
Hello! It’s the last Friday of the month, so I’m linking with the inimitable Marcia for Runfessions! I’ve got a few this month… let’s get started. My first runfession involves LMNT. I’ve written about this electrolyte replacement drink a few times here. The first time I tried it, I hated it- it actually made me nauseous. I decided to stick with my Nuun. But then my husband bought a box of the salted watermelon flavor, so I tried it again. This time I had the “ingenious” idea of only using half the packet. That worked much better, and I let everyone know that I had invented a new way to drink LMNT. For my longer runs, I would use half a packet in my usual 16 oz glass of water before the run, and the other half afterwards. Good thing I’m so smart! Then the other day I happened to see this, which came in the box: Wait! What??? You’re supposed to mix it with 32 ounces of water? No wonder I hated it the first time- I was making it “salty AF.” Ahem! Next time, read the directions. On to the second topic. Overall I like living in Florida, but I “runfess” that this time of year is hard. Everyone is talking about running in long sleeves and gloves, while we have this: I don’t mind the heat so much in the summer. I mean, what can you expect? But 90s, when it’s almost November, is getting old. Our first big cool down seems to come later and later every year. I know we’ll get there eventually, but right now every run is still a sweatfest. Next up. In case you’ve missed it, I’m currently being treated for the bonus double injury of insertional peroneal tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. A couple days ago my husband suddenly experienced a stabbing pain in his peroneal tendon, which is on the outside of the leg, running under the ankle and down to the bottom of the foot. What??? Is it contagious? He’s never had this problem before, but it continued on and off throughout the day. By nighttime it hurt enough that he decided not to run the next day. He’s never done a pool run before, but decided to try it. I lent him my flotation belt and gave him all the advice I could (since I unfortunately have a LOT of experience with this form of cross training.) My doctor said I can run shorter distances while I’m getting my treatments, so I left him to the pool and headed off for my run. My runfession here is that, while I felt really bad for my husband- I don’t want anyone to be injured, ever- I was so, so, SO relieved that it was him in the pool and not me. Would you trade your weather for 90s right now, if you knew it would be beautiful and 70s in February? Anyone else like LMNT? Make sure you mix it with enough water, ha ha…