The “Summeriest” Winter Ever

The “Summeriest” Winter Ever

When it came to running this winter in the Chicagoland area there’s no better way to describe it than a Tweeter did on my Twitter feed this week: “It’s the ‘Summeriest’ Winter EVER.”

In fact, this post was supposed to be about helping you through the last days of winter running - and the cold early spring days Chicago is known for.

Well that blog post idea went away, when we had our first 80 degree day last week. Went away as quickly as the 30 degree temps and dri-fit winter running jackets off the backs of the runners along the lakeshore.

It’s a beautiful thing the lakefront, on the first day of unofficial day of spring. It’s the first time many of the bears of Chicago (not those bears, silly) awake from their slumber, unearth the den opening and head out to for the first workout they’ve had outside in a while.

This makes the lakefront livelier and busier than ever with runners, cyclists, roller bladers, dog walkers, rickshaws, segues, jugglers, volleyball players, and families with strollers - to name a few.

Like the yellow daisies that spring up on the lawn across from the Monroe Yacht club, the active people of Chicago pop up to to recommit to renewing themselves - their bodies and minds.

Bikes whizz by, doing their best Lance Armstrong impersonations, ringing their little, yet effective bells letting you know they’re “ON YOUR LEFT!”

Their steps are a little lighter, pumping arms a little more limber, their brows with a deeper furrow. The sprints at the end of their workouts? Yep, with a little bit more gusto.

For those that weren’t brave enough to suffer through training during the “colder” days of the mild winter - and the ones that were - they both received a reprieve in the “winter” of 2012.

It’s days like these that make you want to quit your day job, ritually burn the papers that have been building on your desk, leave it all behind to be outside as much as possible. Hopefully you played hooky this week.

We all deserve a little vitamin D to de-thaw the depths of our souls, right?

Did you get out there? Get a little sun on your skin and wind on your face?

I hope you did. Because Mother Nature, with true summer right around the corner, only knows if that will be mild. Or in the words of another Twitter friend: the most “Winteriest” Summer EVER.
___________________________________________
Kevin Granato is a running coach for Granato Racing, a 2:42:00 marathoner and freelance writer. Feel free to contact him at CoachGranato@TheRunningInstitute.com.