Running 2 Miles In Below Zero Wind Chills

As soon as I looked out the window, I jumped out of my seat and changed into my running gear as fast as possible. Snow was rushing down from the sky. With a wind chill of -0.4 degrees, I welcomed the snow.

Two minutes later, the clouds broke with sunshine. This is the nature of lake-effect snow in Southwest Michigan. It didn’t stop me. I laced up, walked outside, asked Siri to start a one-mile run, and then took off.

The pavement was pure ice with a half-inch of fresh snow layered on top. After five minutes of running, the thought of running two miles entered my mind.

Why run 2 miles in below zero wind chills?

I’ve been running at least one mile every day since July 22. I despise the cold but refuse to let it break my streak. This run marked 150 days in a row of running at least one mile. I’ve run 297 miles during this five-month streak.

Compare this with the fact that I ran less than 20 miles in 2018 and close to 0 miles from 2015 to 2017. What changed? Why did I go from running zero miles per year to running at least one mile every day?

Two audiobooks:

• Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
• Atomic Habits by James Clear

Nothing has changed my perspective on life more than David Goggins’ story. Outside of my daily meditation practice, nothing has had a more positive influence on my mind.

Atomic Habits allowed me to grasp how habits work and influence human behavior. We are habit creatures. This pushed me to keep track of a few daily habits in a spreadsheet that includes running and yoga. Doing this throughout this entire year influenced my current running streak.

Will I run at least one mile every day forever?

Maybe.

Yes, if I follow the path of Robert “Raven” Kraft. He’s run 8 miles every day for the past 45 years. He’s run inside a hospital, on the beach during a hurricane, and while having pneumonia. He’s crazy but inspirational. If I hadn’t stumbled upon Raven, then I may not have reached my current running streak of 150+ days.

But…

I don’t plan on ever running inside a hospital, nor do I plan to run if a sickness threatens my life. While living in Thailand in 2015, I was hospitalized with the Swine Flu. In a 3-hour time span, my temperature climbed from 98 to 103.5 degrees. Luckily, the swine flu itself only lasted 38 hours albeit I was sick twice during the prior 2 weeks. The memory of those 48 hours will never leave me. If I had a running streak of 10,000 days, it would have been crushed.

I dare not copy Raven but I can’t wait to run 8 miles with him and dozens of others on Miami Beach in 2020.

No, if I cross off all the items on my Bucket List. I’ve never created and held onto a Bucket List for more than a few days but Matt D’Avella inspired me to change that with this video.

These are two of the things on my Bucket List:

1. Engage in a silent meditation retreat for 10 days
2. Engage in a silent meditation retreat for 30 days

I can’t be in a silent meditation retreat for 24 hours, let alone 30 days, unless I wave my running streak goodbye. Life is full of opportunity costs. I can’t have my cake and eat it, too.

When the fork appears, which path will I take? What will determine the decision?