2017 Ends - 2018 Begins

When it comes to 2017 we were warmer and wetter than normal.  Here are some of the numbers.

Warmest Month = July  75.6 degrees

Wettest Month = August  8.45 inches

Coldest Month = December   31.6 degrees

Snowiest Month = March  18.3 inches

Total Precipitation = 49.77 inches

Average Temperature = 53.6 degrees

Aside from the average temperature and warmest month there are quite a few unusual numbers here.  December is a big surprise for coldest month as is March for snowiest.  These really should be going to January or February.  August is generally not that wet and isn't even in the top five wettest months.  The past three years had a total of six and a half inches in August combined.  July has averaged 6.1 inches over four years.  Hitting 50 inches of precipitation is not normal.  We average somewhere in the lower 40's.

Weather is constantly changing.  You have to expect weird things to happen.  For me the close of a year gives me a chance to look back at how many miles I got in.  This past year I felt a little lazy.  Perhaps that was because I backed off the running a bit.  Even still I put more miles in biking and running this year than ever before.  Luckily Strava puts together a video for your yearly review. 

Into 2018

Maybe it is the new year that leads me to be a little different on the first.  Or maybe it is a tradition I cannot break.  I looked back at my activities on January 1st since I started keeping track.  Here is what I found.

It started normal in 2014.  I went for a jog in my Muhlenberg neighborhood that lasted 3.99 miles.  This is a clear indication I never look at distance when I run.  Then things started to get a bit odd.

On January 1st, 2015 I went for a 15 mile run at Blue Marsh.  That ended up being the longest run I did in all of 2015.

In 2016 I went for a 4.84 mile run at 12:01 a.m.  For reference the temperature at that time was 38 degrees.  Not bad for a late night run in January.

In 2017 I went for a 30 mile bike ride in the morning and followed up with a 7.8 mile run in the afternoon.  A day of both running and biking is very rare for me.  And I've never put in anywhere close to 40 miles total.

That brings us to 2018.  Time to bring back the midnight run?  No.  The answer was simple and had nothing to do with the cold.  When I did it in 2016 it was a Friday night.  Easy to get the sleep schedule back on track with the rest of the weekend.  This year the next day is a work night and if running at midnight at best you get to sleep at two in the morning.  I had a different idea.

The coldest temperature I can recall running in was during a 5k in 2014 when the temperature was 14 degrees.  I still have a picture from the event because of how cold it was.  We are obviously in a cold stretch right now.  I figured I could run in something colder and there is no colder part of the day than the morning.

I went to bed at a normal time and prepared to get up for a morning run.  The first thing that strikes you is how dark it is early.  The sun doesn't rise until close to 7:30.  This is also usually the coldest part of the night since the sun has been down for the longest amount of time.  I waited a little longer than I expected, but I wasn't going to pass up the cold. 



As you can see above I started at 6:26 a.m. almost exactly an hour before the sun came up.  Oddly enough I didn't see anybody else out running.  Oh well.  I did my standard loop being mindful of potential icy spots and keeping in well lit areas.  One might wonder what the conditions are like at that time of the day.  Glad you asked.  The day before I found a site that shows local weather conditions based on standard backyard weather stations.  Just so happens there is somebody three blocks from me connected to the site through their personal station.  Here is what was recorded at the time I started.

At almost the exact second I left the temperature read 4.3 degrees.  Dew point is basically the equivalent to wind chill.  Easily beats my previous record of 14 degrees.  I personally find cold temperatures to be fairly similar once you get below 20 so I can't say it was any different than a normal cold winter run.  I'm sure when it comes to exposed skin there is a difference.  When I got back to my building I noticed another first when it comes to cold running that stuck with me through my elevator ride back to my floor.  This is what my winter hat looked like.

Not sure the science behind it but the entire hat should be the dark blue color you see in the middle towards the top.  It is almost like the heat escaping through my head was freezing back on to my hat.