Wild, wet and wonderful

January and February are my least favourite months of the year.  The lack of light, although it's getting better, and the miserable weather get me down.  This weekend is typical where I ran in 40 mph wind both days and on Saturday the pain of the rain in my face made me pull up my buff for protection.  Today it was snow that was battering my face as my feet waded through the slush on the pavements.  
It's a world apart from my adventures in the Sahara, the Grand Canyon, Tahoe and Romania.  All of which I was talking about to 4th year students at the West Of Scotland University this week.  Understanding what happens to an athlete when running in extreme conditions is part of their course and on 16th Feb I will be getting tested by them in their heat chamber!  I'm very excited and privileged to be getting this opportunity and it will help prepare me for my return to Romania in August.
But back to the wild, wet and wonderful weather in Scotland.  As this is the country I choose to live in, there is no point moaning about the weather.  I also believe that when you are sitting in your warm house or car, the thought of going out is worse than it actually is.  Once you're out you adapt to the conditions, assuming you are properly dressed - I ran with ski gloves on. My mindset is that I am running in a bubble which protects me from the elements.  I'm only out for an hour and even if it was 2 or 3, I set my mind and visualise what lies ahead of me.  I always carry a picture of my goal in my head, the finish line of URR, so when going through a horrible run in the wet, sleet, snow and wind, if I can picture the goal in the future then it make the discomfort more bearable.  We always forget when we were ill or injured and couldn't run what we would have given to be out of your sick bed, even if the weather was horrible.
But as I've said many times before being in your comfort zone doesn't allow you to develop and grow.  Putting yourself in stressful situations hardens you so that when it happens in a race, you can remember you did the "hard miles" training in miserable conditions.
Last week I talked about Nadal in the middle of his Australia Open final and he went on to win - just incredible. Yesterday, like a lot of Scots, I sat in amazement as Scotland struggled against England, then came back and hung on to win the Calcutta Cup for the 2nd year in a row and the last time this achieved was 40 years ago.  What both these incredible examples show is how the players had total belief in themselves and you can rest assured they'd have visualised their success in advance.  But they would have done the "hard miles" in the gym, on the pitch, on the running track to put them in a place physically and mentally where they could realise their dreams.  As long as you know what you want, can visualise it and are prepared to be patient, put in the hard miles you will realise your dream / goals. So get out in the wet and wind and have a wonderful time.  1 life, live it!