I’m not the first person to complain about November. I’m not even the first person on this blog to complain about November. Sam did it just the other week. It’s her toughest fitness month. I don’t usually have a lot of trouble with November. I mean, it’s still kind of nice for running. Not snowy and icy yet.
But even I complained about it last week. Mostly about the dark mornings. Because last week was SO DARK in the morning, even after the end of Daylight Savings Time. It was also incredibly rainy last week. It seemed relentless, like in that movie Seven with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, when it rained all the time. And that just seems wrong. Incredibly and unfairly wrong.
Then on Friday I drove to my parents place. They live northeast of Toronto. It was a harrowing drive on slick roads, the first snow of the season — of course I do have a winter tire appointment scheduled…for this afternoon. I had a couple of winter driving “episodes” on my way. The usually 4.5 to 5 hour trip took almost 7 hours.
Down here in Southwestern Ontario, the first snow doesn’t stay. Up there, where my parents live, the snow stays. It’s pretty and all, but when Saturday came, I just couldn’t deal with it. I was planning to run 10K on Saturday, which is what I’ve limited my long runs to since the half marathon last month.
When I woke up Saturday, the wind was howling outside. Later, I said to myself. You can do that run later. And then I sort of settled in for the day. It’s so cozy at my parents place. Even though it’s not the house I grew up in, it feels like home. So I reached a point when I decided to be okay with staying inside, not running at all. I mean, it’s November. So whatever.
But then yesterday reminded me that November isn’t all bad. Although the mornings have been challenging, and the snowy and blowy weekend kept me inside, I’ve incorporated some lunch time running into my work week and I just love it. Even if it’s cloudy and even if it’s raining, it’s been a welcome break. Like yesterday. After a couple of hours of working, I got up from my desk, changed into my running gear, put on my fall playlist, and ran for half an hour. We’ve got great pathways close to campus. And fall running has the merit of perfect temperatures and clear pathways, roads, and sidewalks. It’s also still beautiful.
Between that and my commitment to do at least seven minutes of yoga a day (I’m not even making sure that equals seven poses), I’ve made November so far a little bit bearable.
What do you do to make November tolerable (assuming hibernating isn’t a live option)?
