Saturday, March 23, 2013

Weather Fatigue

Thursday Workout: 7 miles, 5 tempo (9:44), Pace Gloves
Friday Workout: 4 miles, 10:52 average, Connects


I work over there-ish. And run over there-ish. And live up there-ish.


Thursday was tempo day! My second tempo effort. It went really well. The snow on the trail was packed down (unlike last week) so I didn't have to spend the whole time unsuccessfully searching for ice-free sidewalk. My one complaint is about my stupid garmin (love you, garmin). I had it set to display current lap pace so I could include my warm-up mile as part of the same workout but also make sure I was sticking to my goal pace once I started the tempo miles. For some reason, though, it seemed like my garmin's satellite signal reset with every mile. It would be right at 9:44 but then jump to 12:xx once the next lap started. I would then spend the next 3-4 minutes running what I believe to be much faster than 9:44 to "catch up." Frustrating indeed. I know I shouldn't be such a slave to a stupid watch, but part of me thought it was accurate and wanted to make sure I did the workout as prescribed. I finished the workout feeling great but likely more spent than I would have had I kept a more consistent pace.

At least it looks reasonably consistent


Yesterday was a boring 4 miles after work. I had forgotten how much I enjoy running at that time. It's now light until around 8:30 (how did that happen?!), so I can run pretty much whenever I want. It's annoying to have to monitor your food intake all day to make sure you're properly fed (but not over-fed) for your run, but I feel like I have more energy that time of day. "Energy" shouldn't be confused with "alertness" or "awakeness" (that's not a word). I just mean that my legs seem to move better than time of day. It always surprised me in New York how, after a long, tiresome day at work with quite a few miles on my legs (walking 3 miles to work and running around campus all day once I got there), my runs actually felt easier than they did when I did them in the morning. Running is funny.

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And now, because things have been entirely too peppy 'round these parts recently, and because I need to live up to the "Mean Jean" moniker given to me in college (it was a joke, I swear!), I present you with a rant (you've been warned!):

Guys, I've got some pretty intense weather-complaining fatigue. The interblogs have been awash with "OMG IT'S SNOWING COULD LIFE BE ANY WORSE" and it's more than a little tiresome at this point. I'm looking at you, East Coast. I don't want to get too bitchy about this (it's just the weather, after all!), but I think it's worth a paragraph or two (or twelve; brevity is not my specialty).

[updated to add: when I say East Coasters, I'm really just referring to Northeasterners: New Englanders + their friends immediately to the south. My bad]

Here's the thing: East Coasters talk incessantly about how hardy they are, but I don't think I've met a group of people that whines more about the weather. From what I can remember (which, admittedly, may be wrong), most of the East Coast didn't have any snow on the ground until at least the end of December, if not later. Remember when everyone was moaning about not being able to ski? Well, now you've got snow. It's sticking around later than usual. Snow can make life difficult, especially if you're a runner. But guys, this isn't your first time 'round the block. You seem to forget where you live. As you're always reminding the rest of us, you live on the East Coast, land of crazy weather. So when you experience that crazy weather, chill out. Two months from now you're all going to be complaining about how it's too damn hot. My theory is that East Coasters hate 90% of the weather they're given.

I am most definitely not exempt from this. I complain a lot about certain kinds of weather. Or, more specifically, certain temperatures. I don't really mind what's happening with precipitation, as long as it's cooler than 65 degrees. I am SO MEAN when it's hot out, not to mention the least productive member of society ever. But at least I'm consistent with what I don't like. Cool temperatures = great. Hot temperatures = hell. It's that simple. Find what you like and stick with it. If you can't stand the East Coast's weather, maybe you should make a long-term plan to hightail it out of there.

I should probably take the time to say that I'm not actually "angry" about this. I guess I'm more puzzled than anything else (and, as I mentioned, a little fatigued). Most of the blogs I read are written by East Coasters, and they're great. Some of their writers have occasionally complained about the weather. That's fine. I still think you're awesome people. Think of this as anthropological examination of a foreign culture (does that even make sense? I'm going to go with no). Or think of me as a mega-bitch - whatever floats your boat!

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Speaking of weather, our insane sun streak is over. OMG COULD LIFE BE ANY WORSE?! Just kidding. We all knew that wasn't going to last. It was pretty fantastic, though. Now we've got some fat snowflakes coming down. In the continued spirit of putting my training plan above my desire to run outside in conditions that won't allow me to hit my desired paces (longest link ever!), I think today's 6 miles will be done on the treadmill. I've got 10 miles tomorrow which literally have to be done outside (because when it comes to treadmills, and maybe life in general, I've got the mental fortitude of an amoeba), so hopefully my new flat happy place will come through for me.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

Let's talk:

  • Is there something you find yourself complaining about incessantly? I'll go first: I need to stop complaining so much about sleep. 
  • Am I being too hard on East Coasters? Lay it on me, I can take it.
  • Have you ever had issues with using the current lap pace function on your garmin? Have you had issues with the satellites possibly resetting with each lap?
  • TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WEATHER, if you dare!

11 comments:

  1. Ha, I feel the same way. Although, I admit...I will definitely be complaining come summer. This Colorado desert-ish weather girl does NOT, I repeat does NOTTTT like heat and humidity. Gross. But since I know I'll be here for a few more years, I guess I will have to suck it up at some point...

    I'm sure I probably complain about sleep a lot...especially now with the puppy. I cannot wait until the day that his bladder is large enough to sleep through the night.

    Never had that problem with my Garmin. Sometimes mine gets wonky around bridges/overpasses where it loses satellite for a while and the time goes wonky. Maybe check to see if your watch has any updates online?

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    1. I will be interested to see what your first DC summer is like... I had an interview there when I was looking for a "real world" job after undergrad and I remember showing up looking a COMPLETE mess. Shiny, sweaty face, frizzy hair, the works. I think they thought I was incredibly nervous when really my body was just rejecting the weather. At least they've got AC figured out!

      I rest my Garmin so hopefully there won't be any more problems with that. But knowing my Garmin, there probably will be. We have a stormy relationship.

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    2. Well..it's not my first, so I guess I do have that going for me. I moved here in April so I was here all the past summer...and I went to undergrad in Virginia, so I caught the tail-end and beginning of summers most of the time.

      It's just a horrible sticky sweaty mess.

      If by any chance you got your garmin from REI, you can exchange it for a new one and see if it works better?

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  2. I should probably stop complaining about how slowly Singaporeans walk. But I can hardly help myself. The pace of life ere is city-fast-quick-city-fast, until...we get off the subway train. Or on to the sidewalk. Then, we stroll. Even if we aren't simultaneously trying to look at our smartphones, we strrroooollllllll. Gah! I'm from the East Coast, peeps - let's get a moooooove on!

    Anyway. Pretty much with ya on the weather thing. Dude. It's weather. If you live in Alaska, it's gonna snow. If you live in Singapore, it's gonna be HOT. If you live in New Jersey, it will be one or the other, or muddy (between snow and hot), or pretty (for about six weeks between hot and snow). Anyway...it is what it is. And people just...cope. (Or complain. Whatever.)

    I should also say that I was RELIEVED when I moved to Upstate NY and realized that, by golly, a snowstorm could be predicted in a place and the population could NOT feel obligated to rush to the store for bread and milk (because, goodness, what if we didn't have an extra carton of milk for the TWELVE HOURS IT WILL BE, before everything is neatly plowed??). Rochesterians just...took snow in stride. "Oh, it's snowing? Sure, we'll still meet for a run." / "Oh, it's snowing? Of course the restaurant will still be open. Aren't you coming out for dinner?" / "Oh, it snowing? DUH you have to go to work. What is this "snow day" of which you speak?!?!" Anyway: snow without a freak out. RELIEF.

    Garmin: You can try resetting it (won't lose data or anything) While it's off, hold down the Reset and Power buttons (or Mode, Reset, and Power - I can't quite remember...I usually poke a few of them until achieving the desired effect) at the same time for a few seconds. I've never had the problem you describe, but any small issues I have can often be solved with this little trick.

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    1. People walking slowly is the worst!!! That may honestly have been one of the things that bothered me most when I was in New York. When you've got somewhere to be, people stopping directly in front of you without warning or slowing down to stare at something is SO ANNOYING. I feel your pain.

      I took your advice and reset the Garmin so hopefully there won't be any more issues. We'll see!

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  3. Haha, I'm in Rochester (NY) and all we do (I'm probably like 65% guilty) is complain about the weather! "Omg it's snowing, what the hell?!" Well we live in NY by a lot of lakes soooo..."OMG it's HOT. This humidity is unbearable!" Um, it's 83 degrees, calm down. It's horrible. We suck.

    In terms of Garmin, nothing pisses me off more than it malfunctioning during a run. One time I uploaded my map and it had me running across people's backyards and on the thruway. Tech fail, for sure.

    Nice job on your tempo run! Get it guuuurl.

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    1. But Rochester residents are ACTUALLY hardy people! At least I thought they were. I've heard tales of your snowfall.

      My garmin COULD NOT get New York figured out. Whenever I ran across the bridge, it had me hopping over to other bridges, swimming in the river, running through buildings... I'm pretty awesome but I'm not THAT awesome. It was infuriating.

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    2. And I juuuuust realized that Allee is over here, ruining the good rep I'm trying to build for Rochester. ;-) [Nah, they complain too - they just don't run to the store every time 2 inches of snow are predicted.]

      By the way, thank you, Jeano, for helping me (finally) meet Allee. I just totally comment-puked all over her blog. I smile at her Rochester-isms, and she's hilarious.

      And how did you get two former/current Rochesterians reading your blog? Statistics are funny, sometimes....

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    3. Funny you mentioned that - I was just thinking it was funny you're both from there! She is indeed hilarious; glad I could give you the introduction! As for getting two Rochesterians to read - I almost went to University of Rochester for undergrad, so maybe Rochesterians former and current sense that? That totally makes sense.

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  4. Haha. I hear you on the weather. But sometimes it feels good to complain, let others agree with you, and then suck it up and go out and run or head to the treadmill. Enough is enough. So excited to see your progression coming along with the training AND thrilled for you to have daylight until 8:30 at night. Must be blissful.

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    1. Oh, totally; complaining's the best when you do it with other people over shared misery. It's easy for me to be all judgey when I don't have to deal with your weather, but I'm sure it's frustrating to think spring's coming and then get dumped on. At least here we know for sure it's not going to be here for a while! The added daylight definitely makes up for it, though. Everyone's got a spring in their step recently!

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