Exercising outside in the winter time is difficult for this Baby Boomer—I freeze.  What I also loathe (maybe more than freezing) are indoor exercise machines.

It seems that when I am outside I can stuff my ears full of I-Pod, dial into a good book and before I know it I have whipped off four miles or so—it seems to go pretty fast.  Conversely, when I mount that treadmill time slows to a crawl.  I try to switch my stimuli around so as not to collapse from boredom but I am desperate for it to just be over.

This dilemma has perplexed me for years, but I am gaining ground,  I will share with you some of my warmth producing ‘finds’ and strategies in hopes that you will be more inspired to stay healthy through cold snaps and in cooler geographies.  But first—my personal and unique Aging But Dangerous approach.

Putting on tons of clothing is just part of the drill—I adorn my ‘older’ silk long underwear, you know the ones that have some little rips at the seems where your fat bulges through and looks like large skin bubbles—yes, it’s a lovely sight.  Then I layer on fitted fleece pants; this is a warm combo for the over fifty body.

On top I just layer based on the temperature, but I must have pockets to contain the massive numbers of tissues that are a necessity, since every qualified orifice in my body will be emitting liquid.  Depending on the wind speed and temperature my eyes tear, my nose runs, and there are other places that I can’t quite get to that tend to leak periodically also—maybe TMI (too much information).

For my appendages I use toe and hand warmers—cozy.

My head is wrapped, muffed and covered, sometimes with a raccoon hat right out of Fargo—it is the best. Now when Jean walks with me she wears a mask for her breathing due to asthma and sensitive lungs.  She looks prepared to make a heist at the nearest  Seven Eleven.  If you are trying to visualize this—don’t—we are not a pretty picture, but that isn’t my mission.

Recently I was exercising in Kansas City, it was a beautiful sunny day in the low forties and this 50+ freeze baby was bundled to survive outside activity quite comfortably.  Early into my run/walk routine two young women, pony tailed, long hair bouncing down the back of their tightly fitting, long sleeve, black running shirts (that they so bravely wore with black running shorts that sported reasonably tanned legs for the season) sprinted by—I hated them—show offs.

The following sites are great resources for those of us who want that fresh, brisk air in our lungs but don’t want to acquire frost bite accomplishing it—stay healthy.