Running with Tom Kaufman
Top 10 reasons October is the best month to run A wonderful thing happened this morning. I went for a run on the trails of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum with some of my cross-country team members and I needed a shirt. This was indeed a momentous occasion.
The run in the arb was great. The trails were beautiful and we only lost a couple of guys. We were able to track them down before we finished.
But the need for a shirt, that
was remarkable. The day before it was 80 degrees – as it was the day before that and the week before that and the month before that. Weather comes and goes, but when you finally need to wear a shirt you know that you are coming into the most perfect month for running – October.
It's not that I have anything against the other months of the year. Each is special in its own right. But October is the best, the most sublime, the ideal time for Midwestern runners. We revel in this short but
perfect confluence of temperature, color and light. I know runners who get almost giddy at the thought of a perfect October morning run.
So without further fanfare and with acknowledgements to all of those other "top 10 listings" (of colleges, beer, colleges and beer together, fancy places to live, etc.), here are my top 10 reasons why October is the best month for running.
10) Clothing: Now that it is finally a bit cooler, you can start to wear all of those wonderful running
clothes that you have crammed in the back of your dresser drawers. Cool Max is a great fabric, but at the height of summer's heat and humidity it is still not cool enough. Plus, in October, you might actually get to wear a shirt with long sleeves. For my money, nothing beats long sleeves and running shorts as an ideal combination if the weather cooperates.
9) Trail runs: Sure, you can do these almost any time of the year, but October is the perfect time. The bugs of summer are gone and
the shoe sucking mud of a wet spring is only a distant memory. The leaves are turning color and the woods are amazing.
8) It is not yet deer season: You can venture into the woods for that trail run without being covered head to toe in blaze orange. You can be fairly certain that despite your graceful stride, no one will mistake you for the proverbial 30-point buck.
7) High school cross-country season: I know I have a serious bias here, but I truly believe that cross country is
the king of high school sports. Mild-mannered but fiercely competitive runners may not get as much press as high school football or soccer (in a lot of places, they don't get any press at all), yet the team aspect of cross country is second to none.
A good team needs all of its runners to perform well on race day. No one ever sits on the bench, regardless of speed or ability. Each athlete must complete the same course. From raw freshmen to seasoned varsity competitors, each and every
cross country runner faces the same challenges as they strive to be the best runner they can be.
6) Races: October typically marks the end and the height of the season when there are many road races of all distances nearly every weekend. Summer's training through heat and humidity finally give way to the races we have been training to run. We can test ourselves with the confidence that the weather will not be the deciding factor in how we perform. However, it also removes that built-in
excuse that it was "just too hot to really race today."
5) Tapering: Part of effective racing involves cutting back on mileage and intensity while allowing all of our hard training to come to the forefront. October gives us all a chance to rest before the most important races of the year. It is always amazing how good it feels to taper for a race. We feel light, strong and energetic. It makes all of our hard work seem particularly worthwhile.
4) It's getting closer to ski season: This one may only apply to me.
3) Marathons, marathons, marathons: With 40,000 people running Chicago, 2,500 people running Lakefront in Milwaukee, 10,000 people running Twin Cities, and 1,500 people running Fox Cities – and three of the four reaching their capacity for participants months in advance – something must be going on.
The excitement of marathon weekend – with the expos, pasta feeds and the races themselves – is something akin to
a giant Shriner's convention (without the little motorcycles, of course). Thousands of physically fit and like minded individuals come together after working for months toward similar personal goals. These are festive celebrations of strength, cardiovascular health and all that can be done while wearing running shoes. There is nothing else like it.
2) The end of daylight saving's time: I know that many people complain about the lack of daylight as fall sets in and we move into winter.
But I have always felt that the end of October marks the time when we can really evaluate our running for the year. There may be a couple of late year races, but these always take place after we have peaked.
The end of October gives an opportunity to reflect on what worked exceptionally well and what fizzled. We begin to plan for next year, recover from our season and hopefully take pride in all that we have accomplished.
1) As James Brown famously said "I feel good … I knew
that I would": What more can you say? It just feels good to run in October.
Most sports have a tactile component. The water on your skin when you are swimming, the snow under your skis, the turn of the bicycle pedals, all elicit a certain sensation. Running is no different.
It may be slightly more difficult to describe, but anyone who has gone for an easy run in perfect weather on a wonderful October day has experienced this. Maybe there is something that triggers an endorphin
rush. I don't know and frankly I don't care. I'd rather run than think about it too much. It's October and I'm heading out the door.
Good running to you!
Tom Kaufman of Madison, Wisconsin, has run more than 40 marathons in his more than 38 years of running. He teaches high school phys ed and coaches high school track and cross country as well as community and Masters athletes. He has a master's degree in physical education with a specialization in exercise physiology.
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