New Year's Freeze

Psychomachia.


It's a classic cartoon device: there are two distinct voices inside a conflicted character's head, pitching the good and the bad about whatever decision that person is facing.  Rarely does the hero choose to follow the Angel.  Donald Duck is tempted by his Devil into smoking a pipe, then he coughs and wheezes and struggles for breath.  In the Emperor's New Groove, the Devil on Kronk's shoulder does all sorts of tricks to show how much cooler he is than his shoulder Angel. Homer Simpson even sells his soul to the Devil for a doughnut.

Medium, or Super Sized fries and drink?

And so I found myself in such a dilemma on New Year's Day, caught between my own little Angel and Devil, trying to decide if I should go running or not.  I've actually lost out on some good runs/climbs with the OTMs after being convinced by my shoulder devil that I didn't need to go running in December.  The devil starts to say things like "It's too cold to go running" or "You're too busy with the holiday season for a long run" or "you're phlegm spewing cough and hallucination-induced fever flu is too debilitating to even let you leave your bed, let alone run to the top of some 10,000 foot high Wasatch peak in December".

On New Year's Eve Sam kept asking me about running up Adam's Canyon the next morning as a way to ring in the new year.  I had every Devil excuse ready for him.

"It's the day after New Year's Eve."
"I don't want to wake up at 6:30 AM after staying up so late the night before."

"It's going to be too cold."  (8 degrees F at the base of the mountain)

"I don't have snowshoes."

"I don't have a beard like you do to keep the cold out." (maybe that one was a bit of a reach).

The Angel was persistent, or at least patient, and even after I woke up at 6:30 and texted the OTMs that it was too cold to leave my bed, (one last try by my shoulder devil), I ended up on the trail for the first run of the year.  I even brought my own goofy hat, as I believe this is an OTM requirement.

After trying my best to avoid getting out in the cold, in the early morning, on a holiday, I couldn't have been happier with the run.  After 5 minutes of climbing, the cold was not an issue.  I wasn't tired from waking up so early on a Holiday.  A nice, short ascent amid incredible scenery, getting a good sweat on, what a great way to start out the New Year.

So remember, when the devil on your shoulder tells you that it would be so much nicer to stay in your warm bed, when he tells you that you don't need to get out and go, when he throws any number of excuses in your way as to why you shouldn't run with the OTMs, remember that the Angel is always right.  You will always feel better after your run, you will always be happy you went and did something fun and challenging, and it's always better to be the person who was happy to have gone and done whatever it is you do than it is to be the person who is sorry they missed out.

Sam warming up with a 10-rep set of Fallen Tree Squats

Adams Canyon Waterfall, January 1, 2013

Quasi-Possessed Huff in the Wild.

No I'm not getting gray hairs...just frosty sweat.

"Take off, eh?  I'm taking you to the loony bin, then I am going to the brewery, you hoser."

  

And one final note on the mileage.  After the run up Adams Canyon I went sledding with the kiddos, and so I ran up a large sledding hill at least 20 times.  Which means for one moment in 2013 I had more mileage than Sam and Steve.  At least until January 2nd.  Then they ran right past me.  I guess you can only be the King of the Mountain for so long.