This is spring? Surviving a cold March

SPRING!

OK, not so much in Buffalo, or climates like ours, where March snowstorms happen and temperatures fluctuate between warm and, well, butt cold. And snow and butt cold returned to western New York this week. Whining about the weather never did a damn thing to change it, so instead when The Weather Channel informed me it was 15 degrees outside Saturday morning I realized I had three options for my scheduled 10-mile long run:

  1. Run at the gym on a treadmill.
  2. Run outside.
  3. Skip my run.

No. 3 was never a viable option for me, so while drinking my morning coffee, I did the inside vs. outside debate, decided to put on my big girl pants and meet up with strength guru Maureen for a long run from Orchard Park toward East Aurora and back. Our eyelashes developed some ice crystals and the tops to our water bottles froze shut by Mile 8. Yet it was an amazing run with a brilliant sunrise, bright blue skies and a crispness that felt refreshing not suffocating. It’s amazing what good company and sunshine can do for your spirits — and how it can help out your average pace without even thinking about it.

But how to prepare and survive these long runs in when spring temperatures fall back to winter digits?

My three keys to surviving the long, cold spring run are on the video blog today. How do you survive temperature backlash?

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76E-MujODe4]