Now don’t get me wrong, I love winter. I love snow. I love the cold. But winter around these parts often comes with gale-force winds and ice that doesn’t melt for months on end. Those are the things I can do without.
If I hadn’t started trying to lose weight, I might not be complaining about the wind and ice. But six weeks of running on a treadmill has gotten a bit anticlimactic. I’m almost getting to the point where I’m willing to take my chances with the ice, just to provide a little excitement and variation. There’s not much in the exercise world that keeps you on edge like the imminent possibility of your head and feet switching positions in the blink of an eye. After a month and a half plodding along on a treadmill, a little change of scenery would almost be worth the risk of sudden, excruciating pain.
Almost. If it weren’t for the wind, I might actually give it a shot. But that wind’s enough to drive a guy completely out of his skull.
I shouldn’t be too bothered by wind, because I was born in Wyoming, and I’ve spent all but two and a half years of my life here. You’d think I’d be completely immune to its effects.
Not only that, but wind provides a great benefit to wildlife. If it weren’t for wind, the snow would bury all the prime winter big game range around the state, and we’d have very little in the way of wild animals.
But it still bugs me.
It’s not too bad when I’m hunkered in a goose pit, because I’m out of the wind, for the most part, and that wind sometimes convinces the honkers to come down and take a break for a minute or two. But it’s no good at all when you’re trying to run off some extra weight.
To make matters worse, my wife gave me a really cool GPS unit for Christmas. It keeps track of where I’ve been, how fast I’m going, how many beats my heart is thumping out per minute, and other cool exercise-related stuff like that. But I can’t use it, because it’s too windy and icy out.
Man, I’ve never been so ready for spring. Or at least a February thaw.
