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My Favorite Part of Winter


Late November is an exciting time for me. Not because of the approach of the holidays, but because of the beginning of winter running. (The excessive hype for Christmas is one of my least favorite parts of the year, but that’s not relevant here.) In my opinion, the winter is one of the best times to run. I realize most of you will disagree, and that’s fine. I only want to explain my view.
Before I even set foot outside, I have to prepare for the weather. I dig out my favorite running clothes just for this time of year: layers of long underwear, sweatshirts, sweatpants, hats, gloves, and—my favorite part—socks. Long wool socks and pom-pom hats are inexplicably exciting to me. Putting on every layer before going outside feels like preparing for a spacewalk or a deep-sea dive. When I have finally prepared, I feel like an explorer venturing into the great unknown.
In winter, I can run at any time of the day. Summer runs are restricted to the early morning and late evening when the heat is bearable. Winter runs are can take place in the middle of the day with the sun blazing overhead, and I won’t sweat a drop. With light overhead, it is easier to appreciate the wonders of being outside, from snow-covered trees to idiots in traffic. Finally, when I come home from the run, I immediately take off several layers and find a spot near a heater to stretch and relax. Coming inside to warm up after working in the cold is the most relaxing feeling in the world.
I look forward to doing much more running in the coming weeks without the burden of writing blog posts. Running is my favorite winter activity. If you think my opinion is wrong, that is understandable. Have a nice day.

Comments

  1. Emi L.December 2, 2018 at 1:13 PM

    I'm not a fan of running, but I usually hate the hassle of having to layer up to step foot outside in the freezing cold. It was interesting to hear another opinion. Do you ever struggle with icy sidewalks as an obstacle to running? Stretching in front of the heater sounds AWEsome. I think your perspective on winter running is valid. One thing though: are you sure you're running hard enough if you never sweat a drop?

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  2. Abraham HanDecember 2, 2018 at 4:31 PM

    I went out on a run this weekend, and while I'm not sure it exactly counts as a winter run because it was only like 40 degrees outside, there was definitely a sort of satisfaction I felt until I started wheezing because of the cold air. Things went downhill from there. Cool post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. samDecember 2, 2018 at 6:45 PM

    the perfect time for running is when it is cold enough that you don't feel any pain until you get back into a warm area and you feel intense burning and itching. running is also always more enjoyable when the only inch of skin showing is your eyes and you have so many layers on you have to run like Frankenstein's monster.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristine WangDecember 5, 2018 at 6:19 PM

    Isn't it harder to breathe when it's colder outside? I don't particularly like running, but I do think that running outside in the winter might be more bearable than running in the heat since you'll be frozen and numb so that you won't be able to really feel anything.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Matthew TangDecember 10, 2018 at 8:14 AM

    In general I like running in the winter more than summer as well. As you said you can pretty much run anytime since you don't have to avoid the scorching heat. The thing I hate though is when the sidewalks freeze over and it's impossible to run without constantly slipping and falling. I also really love the Christmas hype since it marks the beginning of winter break and the end of finals.

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