You see the beautiful colors; I can’t see anything because my eyes are watering.
There are two type of people: spring people and fall people.
Spring people look forward to new life, fresh days and hopeful beginnings.
Fall people look forward to cold nights, extra clothes and dead, damp leaves.
If you can’t tell, I’m a spring person. I hate the fall. Usually, I’d say f— fall, but this is a family site.
One reason this is the worst time of the year is that it’s a harbinger of bad things to come, like the cold. It means winter is coming. There will be snow—black snow, poopy snow, yellow snow, rock salt, etc.
But the worst thing about fall is all of the allergens in the air. Some people who hate the spring hate it because of their allergy problems. I guess they have their issues, but ragweed in the fall makes me feel like my face is swelling.
I was a pretty bad asthmatic as a kid. I had inhalers everywhere: bookbag, bathroom, both parents’ cars, my grandparents’ house, etc. As i got older, my asthma became less and less of an issue.
One day in college, long after I’d given up my purple pump, I went to a fall festival across the street from my dorm. My friends said there were booths and a step show. Never one to miss out on a party, I crossed the street—straight into the land of allergic reactions. The second I stepped foot on the grass, my eyes watered up, my nose started running and my throat tightened. I had to go to student health and have them issue me another inhaler and some allergy medicine.
It’s been that way for more than 15 years. But now that I’m more active, allergy season becomes a problem when breathing is a necessity during a workout. How can I still be able to burn calories without killing myself?
The one and only good thing about fall is that temperatures are ideal for running. But you can’t run if you can’t breathe. Mold from dead, damp leaves and kicked up dust mites from the dirt make it near impossible for me to pass air through my lungs. As much as I’d like to go out for a run in the 65-degree weather, I have to keep it indoors. The gym becomes my friend for a couple months during the fall.
It’s not all terrible. The fall was when I discovered spin class, Zumba and boot camp. It was when I started going to the gym with some regularity and became familiar with my friends Treadmill, Stationary Bike and Elliptical (hey, boos!). This season, I’m planning to make the free weights and kettle bells my bae. I can develop muscle tone while the soggy leaves are stirring up bad things in the air.
Even still, it’s during this time of year that I live for a good, hard rain. I will do my best to avoid running in it, but a downpour washes away a lot of the allergens. And as long as the parks department clears away the leaves pretty frequently, I can still get outside. The rain may cool things off too much, however, but that’s what running jackets are for.
No matter what your hangups, like the weather, don’t let it stop you from doing what needs to be done. If your nasal passages can’t handle the season’s change, try popping in an exercise video. Hit the gym and find a new workout. There are plenty of ways to burn calories, and sticking with one routine will only set you up for stagnation.
How do you deal with outdoor exercising when the weather gives you no chill?
photo credit: Douglas Brown via photopin cc
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