The Five-Tissue Run

The meteorologists at the National Weather Service have been promising us milder weather for a week now, yet everyday it fails to materialize. I haven't run since Tuesday's Polar Dash. (It seems like forever and a day). I was getting antsy.

So, I decided to hit it today, regardless. I'll just stick it out until a bit later in the morning when the temperature warms up a bit. 8°. 9°, 10°. Gosh, this is taking FOREVER! 15° is my threshold temperature for a voluntary run. My friend Nick on Facebook says I'm certifiable. Maybe...maybe not.

Finally about 11:30am, the temperature looked pleasing. I dressed with a bunch of layers above and below. And I packed my tissues.

I have a method for tissue packing.

You have to pack them one at a time, in all different places. The reason for this is quite simple. When you stuff a wad of tissues into one pocket, it is virtually impossible while running to separate them, utilize one, then stuff the rest back into the pocket. It might be easy if you stopped...but who's got time for that? Runmeter is ticking away after all. I gotta keep moving!

So the idea is to put one tissue in each pocket, hole, or accessible storage area on your body. This is why I like lots of pockets. You use a tissue, and put it back in that pocket. Next time, you can use a brand new tissue, and so on, and so on. This works very well until you run out of tissues. Then you are forced to go back and use a used one. During the winter in Minnesota, this is kind of senseless, because by the time you get back to the first tissue, it is generally a frozen ball of fiber and snot. Not good.

On a typical run, I'd say I use three tissues. The amount of tissues I take generally depends on the amount of pockets I have. The more, the better, because it seems you can never have too many tissues.

Today was a five-tissue run. I think that was a first. I have been pretty congested for a few weeks now, and although I don't have a cold or anything like that, the cold-air run is great at clearing that head out.

The run itself? Ok! I managed a pretty good pace despite the respite. But it was cold. After the Polar Dash, it shouldn't even be a factor, right? Riiiiiiiight.

Side note:

Today's new bright Neon Green hoodie brought to you by Brooks Running. Love these hoodies!