In All Conditions - We Run Together

Michele happily shares her mistakes and triumphs of running with any runner new or old.

Did someone say it was too cold to run outside?

Those are words that should never be spoken when you live in New England and you are a runner. The only thing that keeps me from getting cooped up and powers me through a long cold winter is running outside. I enjoy mentoring new runners, and one of the ways I begin these relationships is to go up to them while they are happily running on the treadmill in the warm gym at 6 a.m., thinking that life is grand. I give the little speech about how the marathon is not run on a treadmill, and that they better get themselves off that machine and out on the street with me. Grudgingly, they head back into the locker room where they proceed to tell me they don't have gloves. From my clean stash of items in my gym bag, I pull out a pair of gloves. Next, they tell me they don't have a face mask for the single digit wind chill. Again, from my clean stash of items I pull out a face mask. They start to say something else, but then they look at my gym bag and shut up. Off we go out the door into the clean, but frigid, New England air.

Once we are outdoors in our multi layers of clothing, face masks, cleats for our shoes to get through the snow, sunglasses (yes, even in the dark) to keep the cold air from our eyes, and hand warmers in our gloves, we head toward the Charles River or to Castle Island in South Boston. That's where we can really experience the thrill of running in the cold. The wind whips off the water and for every two steps forward, it knocks us one step back. Our eyes water as the cold winds hit us, our facemasks freeze up with the warm air we dispel from our lungs, but we smile and say how nice it is to be outside in the middle of winter with friends. By the time we return from the 6, 7 or 8 mile run, our hair is frozen in icicles, our toes are numb, and our cheeks and every other part of our bodies are bright red. But there is nothing more exhilarating than knowing you completed the run and shared a beautiful sunrise with your running buddies as others were still asleep in their warm beds. I'll take a run any morning with my friends to get me through the winter blues. #WeRunTogether.

Who inspires you to run together toward a common goal?

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