I will defend the winter season as much as any normal midwesterner. When November and December roll around, I am looking forward to the myriad of winter activities to be done. Put in head phones and snowboarding the slopes for hours. Load up the dog in the back of the car, and head off for an afternoon snowshoe. After a cup of coffee in the morning, clip in to a pair of cross country skis and glide through the woods on freshly groomed trails. And especially, when the mood strikes you, lob a snowball at your siblings back when their not looking. Pro-tip: make sure your snowball is devoid of any and all ice-chunks.
Winter is great, but spring is here, which means the annual unveiling of warmer temperatures, fresher air, and a color spectrum much more varied than black asphalt and white snow. For me, spring is always associated with the return of missed outdoor activities. I've done more hiking in the last month than the four months previous. I tuned up my bike to hit the roads (which brought about another annual tradition of snowing the day after). I have played basketball outside, frisbee, workouts, reading, driving with the windows down, running, hill sprints, and avoiding the buffalo at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Winter is great, but spring is here, which means the annual unveiling of warmer temperatures, fresher air, and a color spectrum much more varied than black asphalt and white snow. For me, spring is always associated with the return of missed outdoor activities. I've done more hiking in the last month than the four months previous. I tuned up my bike to hit the roads (which brought about another annual tradition of snowing the day after). I have played basketball outside, frisbee, workouts, reading, driving with the windows down, running, hill sprints, and avoiding the buffalo at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Don't let their docile nature fool you. Those buggars are DIRT NASTY* DANGEROUS.
The recent influx in activity has been a boon to my overall health. I feel healthier, and overall better. It is as if rainbows are leading to bigger pots of gold. Children are laughing lighter. My detergent is leaving my favorite blue button down a bright shade of blue. And money hungry studios aren't making bad adaptations of books.
I have a tendency to go overboard, and in my exulatant return to spring activities, I broke the 2nd cardinal rule of running, "Too much, too fast.**" This rule speaks to the concept of over-training too quickly when getting into shape, before your body has adequate time to recover and adapt to the training regiment. Like tourists who get too close to buffalo, I must serve a penance for my misjudgement. I have shin splints.
I should say, I have shin splints again. I first got shin splints during high school basketball, but they became most severe after half-marathon training my senior year of college. I was running every day, and sometimes twice a day. The constant strain led to shin splints, which I stubbornly ran through until I stress fractured my tibia. Genius.
The episode has left me more prone to develop shin splints after only a few runs. Even if I've taken the whole winter off, then gradually worked my way back. I am planning on doing less running training this year, which should stave off the return of shin splints, and I will start managing my health for muscle recovery. Healthy dieting, bayer low-dose before bed to control inflammation, compression calf sleeves, and more yoga.
Go Wisconsin! Gosh, she's beautiful
*Thank you to my honors class for the adjective 'DIRT NASTY.'
**The first cardinal rule of running is go to the bathroom before to start a run (this is why lines of runners can always be seen waiting for the bathroom before an event)
The recent influx in activity has been a boon to my overall health. I feel healthier, and overall better. It is as if rainbows are leading to bigger pots of gold. Children are laughing lighter. My detergent is leaving my favorite blue button down a bright shade of blue. And money hungry studios aren't making bad adaptations of books.
I have a tendency to go overboard, and in my exulatant return to spring activities, I broke the 2nd cardinal rule of running, "Too much, too fast.**" This rule speaks to the concept of over-training too quickly when getting into shape, before your body has adequate time to recover and adapt to the training regiment. Like tourists who get too close to buffalo, I must serve a penance for my misjudgement. I have shin splints.
I should say, I have shin splints again. I first got shin splints during high school basketball, but they became most severe after half-marathon training my senior year of college. I was running every day, and sometimes twice a day. The constant strain led to shin splints, which I stubbornly ran through until I stress fractured my tibia. Genius.
The episode has left me more prone to develop shin splints after only a few runs. Even if I've taken the whole winter off, then gradually worked my way back. I am planning on doing less running training this year, which should stave off the return of shin splints, and I will start managing my health for muscle recovery. Healthy dieting, bayer low-dose before bed to control inflammation, compression calf sleeves, and more yoga.
Go Wisconsin! Gosh, she's beautiful
*Thank you to my honors class for the adjective 'DIRT NASTY.'
**The first cardinal rule of running is go to the bathroom before to start a run (this is why lines of runners can always be seen waiting for the bathroom before an event)