Old Habits Die Hard

Have I mentioned yet that I love Fall? I love the weather, the leaves, the back-to-school sales, the food. Not to mention that my 1st wedding anniversary is coming up this fall. One thing I haven't gotten used to since making my move from Arizona to Illinois is the change in my outdoor activities. See, in Arizona people take the summers off from outdoor sports due in part to the very real risk of death from heat exhaustion. Third degree burns from a seat belt is not an unheard of occurrence. You've heard that people in AZ can bake cookies on the hood of their car in summer right? Anyway, I would cut back on my running and resign myself to exercising in the gym. My friend Barry always laughed at me when I heralded the "start of the running season" come mid-September. Right about now in fact, when it is cool enough to run outdoors at 6am and not die. I practically bounded down our running path because I missed it so much over the summer.

The opposite phenomenon occurs here in Chicago. People come out in the summer in droves. Most major races are in the fall assuming a summer well spent outdoors training. See, I just can't get my head around that. I do my best running Oct-April. Old habits die hard. So what did I do this summer during my running hiatus? Bikram yoga. If you are unfamiliar with this particular form of torture, errr, exercise, let me enlighten you (so to speak). Picture a large room heated to 105 degrees and 40% humidity, lots of scantily clad people dripping sweat while folding their bodies into vertebrae-curling, tendon stretching, muscle-quivering positions and holding them. For an hour and a half. Hmmm, well I do enjoy a challenge. My goal was to do this class everyday for a month. That lasted about 2 weeks. What they don't tell you is that along with the enlightenment, serenity and peace you feel comes a boatload of laundry. A towel to lay on your mat, a towel to wipe your face, a towel to dry off after class (because the other ones are soaked), a change of clothes (because who wants to ride the bus soaking wet? I don't and neither does the person sitting next to me), then another change of clothes because the clothes you rode home in have become soaked because you can't stop SWEATING. See what I mean? I actually liked Bikram yoga and plan on trying it again someday when I don't have to ride the bus home (I have my limits). But what I really got out of taking that class, what I earned was a new appreciation for running. I missed it so much, just like the old days back in Arizona. Now when I head out to the park for a run in the chill evening air I feel that old giddiness. Welcome to the start of my running season. Bring it on.