Three Things Thursday: Old Man Winter is a killer

There have been moans. There have been groans. There has been whining. There has been complaining. And then there's the litany of curse words that have passed through my lips.

It's all because of winter.

While I have watched my pace slip, running paths become treacherous and tights get stuck in the drawer, I did pay heed to some other significant casualties of the winter.

1. I was running on the treadmill Wednesday, as that's the way it's been going, and trying not to freak myself the eff out over the tempo run on tap. It might have been nerves, the temperature in the Y or my sweaty self  but I was drenched by the time I was through wit the 1.5-mile warmup.

As I picked up the pace, my arms swung a little faster and that's when I noticed it. A stinging. A burning. In my hands. The area by my pinky and ring finger is so dry and chapped that the skin is cracked and the sweaty salt was causing it to burn. I might as well have rubbed myself raw and went swimming in the Dead Sea by the time I was finished.

Lesson: Take a bath in lotion. And then do it again.

2. I was the queen of early morning workouts in the fall. I'd roll out of bed at 5 a.m., go to the bathroom and be on the road by 5:20 a.m. Not anymore. With treacherous road conditions - my street has been a sheet of ice for two weeks-plus - and sub-zero temps in the morning, I have opted for the treadmill. Our basement 'mill is too loud to run on while Miles sleeps, and I have yet to find the motivation to get up at 4:30 to drive to the YMCA to run and be home by 6:30 a.m. It doesn't help that Miles' new sleep schedules (as sage ladies have said, once you get in a groove, the kid throws you again) is to get up at 5 a.m. In his world, juice + waffle demands > workout.

So, I've been dropping him off early to daycare, going to the YMCA and making it to work ... 15 minutes late. It's far from ideal but it's all I've got right now.

Meet the best mug ever: She "wakes up" when you fill her with hot coffee.

3. Water. Oh, how I used to drink it - in the office, at home, on runs. Now, I don't want it. Can't stand it. Can't think of it. (Yes, it's probably related to No. 1.) I am much more inclined to drink coffee or tea at home, crave hot chocolate at work and skip hydration all together on long runs. Think I'm kidding? I had about 6 ounces of Nuun before my warmup Saturday and nothing during or after the race/cool down. I was so cold when I got home that I asked Mark for a cup of coffee before drinking anything with hydration benefits.

I've toyed with re-downloading the Waterlogged app, and I am trying to switch to hot water with lemon at work in the afternoon.

Or Old Man Winter could stop being a crotchety jerk and let it warm up a bit.