Surviving the Cold

Last week, we had some very cold weather come through. The first photo here shows a screenshot (yes, that's a preview of the Windows 7 Beta running on my home computer) from last Friday morning before I headed into the lab. -17 degrees F with a wind chill of -31 F. I ran outside later that afternoon, although it had warmed up considerably. We started our run at 0 degrees and it warmed to 4 degrees by the end of our 7 mile run. The second picture shows the gear I wore for the run. We earned 5 points on this run.

5 points, you ask? How do you earn points on a run? My running group has a system wherein you earn points for runs on extremely hot or cold days. The formulas are as follows:

Winter points = Miles - Average Run Temperature in Fahrenheit
Summer points = Miles + Average Run Temperature in F - 100

Anything left that is positive earns you points. Since the average temperature on our run was 2 degrees F, the points we earned were 7 miles - 2 degrees = 5 points. Everyone diligently logs their points and then at the end of the year, we add them up and trade them in for absolutely nothing. My record for a single run is 12 points (18 miles in 6 degrees), which pales in comparison to some of the guys I run with. I could have racked up some serious points if I'd run when I got up on Friday morning! Some people say the run must be a minimum of 3 consecutive miles to earn points.

The last picture here shows my biking outfit for a cold winter commute in to work. I may complain a lot about how cold it is here, but it sure doesn't keep me inside!