COLDEST RUN EVER

I woke this morning at 5 AM. Hit the "T" on my blackberry which dials the time and temperature. Listened as the recorded voice told me it was 22 degrees. And prepared for the coldest I've ever been...ever.

I wore thin Nike shorts. A tight, long-sleeve Nike shirt and a loose-fitting long sleeve shirt I was given for finishing the 2008 White Rock Marathon.

I normally don't wear gloves or anything on my head, but I did today. Thin gloves. A thin head piece.

My training had me running for 1:15:00, so I decided to run to my marked five mile point on CR 503 north of my neighborhood...a total of 10 miles.

Normally I keep my hands and fingers moving when it's cold since I'm usually bare handed. Since I was wearing gloves, I guess I thought my hands were fine.

I was wrong.

One hour, fifteen minutes and 10.5 miles after a run which the wind chill was in the teens, I tried to open the front door and realized that my hands weren't cold, they weren't hurting, they weren't tingling. I couldn't feel my fingertips AT ALL.

I managed to get the door open with my elbows and stumbled inside to the guest bathroom where I couldn't wait to put my hands under warm water.

I was a little disoriented and turned the faucet to the hottest it would get, waited a few seconds and held my hands underneath the scolding deluge.

I must have held them under the water for 10 or 12 seconds and didn't feel a thing. I could barely feel my face at this point.

What happened next I've never experienced before.

My hands seemed to "wake up" from a deep sleep. And it was like they woke up from a nice, peaceful sleep at the exact moment a pack of hungry wolves broke into their home and began attacking without mercy, ripping flesh, devouring blood, killing children, drinking the last bit of milk in the fridge, whizzing on the new couch, pooping on the marinating chicken, calling a mob boss and insulting his wife while pretending to be the residents, chewing through the television cable and leaving nothing behind.

I don't know if it was the cold blood in my hands being revived or if my hands were just burned from the water, but the pain was so intense and lasted for so long that all I could do was scream out in frustration.

And I screamed.
And I screamed...

And I screamed at the pain, confusion and frustration. Jenn was thrilled.

Oh the pain.

My hands eventually warmed up, and I was able to get ready for work. Although my right pinkie is still tingling and numb.

Moral of the story - move your fingers when it's cold even if you're wearing gloves and run luke warm, LUKE warm water over cold, numb hands to GRADUALLY bring life back to the extremities.

Live and learn.

Man it was cold.