Ran/walked for 40 minutes at the rec hall (about 2 miles)

Today was a relatively cold, windy day with likely rain, so my wife and I went to the local rec center, and I ran/walked for 40 minutes. I'm using Galloway's run/walk/run method, and when I'm at the rec center I run or walk for 1/2 of a loop around the indoor track. It takes me about a minute to do each phase. The temperature outside was in the high 40s (F), so it wouldn't have been bad to go outside today. However, the conditions outside were ideal for hypothermia, and with the forecast of rain, we decided to stay inside and keep dry.

I had cooked oatmeal for breakfast about an hour before we left for the rec center. My body needs more time than an hour to handle heavy food like oatmeal, and my stomach didn't feel very good for most of my workout. I felt fine, though, towards the end of the workout and afterwards while we were shopping at Costco.

I cringe when I read the weather reports for the NE and southern portions of the US. Those people, especially in the south, are really suffering from storms. I used to live in Massachusetts, and I know what it is like to be without electricity for days at a time; we did burn wood, though, so we had heat in our house. Electrical outages occurred every year. After coming to Utah, I worked part time for three years doing outdoor telephone work, and I know what it is like to be working outside during cold, stormy weather.

I ran outdoors year around during my 17 years in Massachusetts, and I enjoyed running in the winter time. I was in my 40s and had a lot of energy. It was common to have sweatcycles hanging down the back of my hair during my runs. My PB for running in the cold was -18 (F). That temperature was measured at my house before I left to go running. It was early in the morning before daylight, and there was no wind blowing. I camped every month with my scout troop, and my coldest campout with measured temperature was -10 (F). However, there was one campout where the temperature was below zero (F), and the wind was blowing 40 or 50 mph. The ground was so hard that the scouts couldn't use stakes to keep their tents from blowing away, and they used granite rocks for that purpose. It was so cold that we packed our things the next morning and went to a place where trees provided protection from the wind. I slept in my hammock, and it was kinda fun to sway in the wind while I was sleeping. I'm in my late 70s now and don't go outside as much in the winter.