Sunday, January 27, 2008

Baby, it's cold outside

So that means it's a good time to get some exercise--outside. The NYT ran an article last week about cold weather exercise. It's not bad for you at all--assuming you have the right gear--they don't talk about that as much as they should, I thought. Because, in fact, fewer injuries occur during cold weather exercise than warm weather endeavors.
Taking the article to heart I headed out yesterday for some cross-country skiing. Okay, I was going to go before I even came across the article, but I felt a lot more confident knowing I was less likely to get injured. And it actually didn't feel that cold at all. Piece of advice though: if you go out, go back to the lodge to rest and go back out again, change your sports bra and shirt. 'Cause cold sweat makes you brrrr chilly those first 20 minutes or so until you have started re-sweating enough to compensate.
I am also going to go beyond the article's recommendations and suggest some winter exercise at night. I went snowshoeing on New Years Day at night on fresh snow and it was amazing. Invest in a headlamp and take some friends. There are cross-country/snowshoe places that actually have moonlight tours.
Still I see why some would be reluctant to exercise outside in the frigid temps. I am not really a fan of going out in weather less than 2o degrees and when I pull up to the gym at 6:30 in the morning when it's about 15 degrees on a good day and see the Running Club setting out with their gloves and hats and layers of hi-tech, wickaway shirts and tights I frequently--okay all the time--say to myself "they're crazy." And then I walk into the nice warm gym, pull off my sweats, and get to it. In other words, I think there's an appropriate time, place, and temperature for outdoor activity. I guess everyone just has to find her own.

No comments: