The last several weeks it has been cold and grey in DC. So cold that even being outside was painful for any exposed skin.


The Potomac River totally frozen over.

That meant I was largely trapped inside with limited human interaction.

If it weren't for a few strategically timed workouts and hangout sessions with friends, the cabin fever would have destroyed me. As it was, by Sunday, I was already going a little out of my mind from being so confined.

When it's this cold, I can't bring myself to run outside. I'm a wimp and need it to be at least in the high 20s or 30s before I consider an outside run. Otherwise the cold air stings my face and burns my lungs.

Since running was off the table, I doubled down on swim workouts. I went to pool a bunch of times in the past couple of weeks knocking out 2,000 yard swims. I'd forgotten how great of a workout swimming is, and I've enjoyed being back in the pool. It makes me feel strong in a way that's different from running.



I've also been to a bunch of barre classes, which I've really come to appreciate lately since they do an awesome job of incorporating my PT exercises.

Between the swimming and the barre classes, my hip has been feeling kind of awesome. I'm not sure if this is because I haven't attempted a run since the week before Christmas or if all the cross-training and strengthening work is slowly starting to correct some of my muscle imbalances.

It's supposed to be pretty warm here by the end of the week, and I'd like to attempt a run to see how it goes and how my hip responds. No matter what happens, I plan to keep up a steady level of cross-training through the winter. If I can stay on top of that, maybe by the time spring weather rolls around, I'll be able to run pain free on a regular basis.