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Saturday, February 9, 2013

When It's Chilly, Wrap Your Willy...



   This winter I've come to really love running in the wintertime. As I've mentioned before, typically I opt for a treadmill at my local Y during this time of year. But with the 366 project in full swing and the fact that I now live an additional 10 minutes further away from my gym, sometimes running outside is a better option. 
   So far so good. Running outside has been a really positive experience. I thought that I've been doing everything right. I've been wearing my winter running clothing. I've been opting for mittens instead of gloves when the temperature drops into the teens. I've been stocking up on wool running socks and Gore-Tex lined shoes. I've been wearing my Yak-Trax for better traction and watching out for ice. Well, today I met my match with Old Man Winter!
   New England, Massachusetts and New York woke up this morning to record snowfall amounts after a huge blizzard that rolled in Friday night. My hometown Rochester even broke a record that was set in the 1800's. Perfect considering that I actually have the entire weekend off this rotation. The snow blower was filled with gas and I didn't mind the beautiful scenery!
   I try to usually run my long distance on Saturdays. Today was the day and I was originally planning on driving to my gym to experience 10 miles of boredom on the treadmill. But after blowing and shoveling the remaining snow out of my driveway I thought to myself, boy it would be nice to run outside again!
   I laced up the trail shoes and headed out the door. It was a balmy 25 degrees and I'd run in much colder temperatures this year. So I wasn't all that worried. 
   The run was nothing short of amazing. Everybody was out clearing their driveways, the roads were fairly deserted and I enjoyed listening to my all time favorite running podcast Phidippidations. It was Steve's 300th episode and I was featured in it with some special content. I normally religiously run my long run at my easy pace. But today I just let the legs do what they do. I finished my run in a faster time than usual. 
   I got back to the house and slammed some zero calorie Powerade mixed with some protien powder, stretched and was looking forward to taking my seven year old sledding. 
   Back in the heat I started to  feel a little something funny in the nether regions. It started to hurt and just got worse the warmer that I got. I limped to the bathroom to confirm what I thought. Yes, I had gotten a very mild case of frostbite during my run. I'd run the day before during the blizzard wearing my "running" underwear and had opted to run this time with nothing but my running tights. Bad idea to say the least! 
   Thankfully I ran this run fast because after warming myself up with a lukewarm shower the package looked a lot better! But it still hurt like crazy. After a little research I discovered that this particular problem is not that uncommon. Hikers, cross-country skiers and runners like me encounter this embarrassing problem a lot. 
   As the day went on it got better and I became thankful for a good lesson that didn't leave me too bad off. Word to the wise my fellow winter runners, wear some insulating underwear. Otherwise you run the risk of damaging your manhood. 
   Run for your life and protect your private parts my friends... 

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