Monday marks the one week countdown to the Boston Marathon, the closest that faster than average runners will ever get to competing in an Olympic-esque event. Two to three weeks is typically the amount of time runners allot for “tapering” before a race, which is welcomed as a time to run less, rest and eat more, and (perhaps most importantly) mentally prepare for the 26.2 mile feat about to be embarked upon. So this seems like a good time to reflect on the varied and challenging conditions faced by athletes across the Northeast region training throughout this tumultuous winter season and some of the statistics to prove it.
Since October, the National Weather Service reports that the greater New York City region received 61.9 inches of snow, up from last year’s mark of 51.4 inches. To put that total into perspective, the average for the season is 21.6 inches. Yes, you read that right: the norm total for snowfall in a winter season is roughly 1/3 of what we received this year. Without question, the 2010-2011 marks the record holder for snow, up from the 1995-1996 total of 58.8 inches. Almost all of that snow fell before the month of March, when we saw just a measly inch in comparison. So even if the earlier months of the winter brought us most of the snow, the transitional month of March was a rollercoaster in terms of temperatures. Friday March 18th marked a record high in Central Park at 77 degrees, but less than 72 hours later residents awoke to snow on the first day of spring. And for yet another weather joke, an April Fool’s Day storm brought with it cold temperatures, snow, sleet and rain – on the first calendar day of April!
Even outside of the New York City metro region, the 2010-2011 winter proved equally unfriendly for athletes.
- Hartford saw the snowiest January ever – 54.3 total inches – up from the January 1996 record of 43.1 inches
- Syracuse experienced their snowiest December ever and the second snowiest month on record, which saw 72.7 inches fall over the city. And they say it snows a lot in Syracuse…. But December was still the second snowiest month EVER!
- Scranton, PA set ten winter records: 7 days for total snowfall (spanning from October until March), 2 for rainfall daily totals and one for minimum temperature.
With all this chaos, there’s no doubt that for many athletes preparing for Boston training regimes had to shift in order to accommodate for Mother Nature’s unforgiving temperament.
“Typically, I do whatever it takes to avoid running on the treadmill, but after the first – of many storms – we had in the beginning of the season, and I nearly killed myself attempting to do a speed workout in the park,” says Julia Stapleton a resident of the Upper East Side training for her first trip to Boston. She continued that “I knew it was best for me to move the speed work inside to the treadmill until I felt the roads were safe enough to run ‘fast’ on without the fear of slipping.”
Bonnie Averbuch, grad student in Manhattan, also recognizes that the treacherous conditions forced her to compromise speed as she prepares for the notoriously challenging Boston course. Averbuch commented that “focusing on running at a faster, more difficult pace takes your attention off the conditions of the road, but concentrating on the slush and ice on the roads slows you down. The snow also makes track sessions impossible since the tracks are covered in snow long after the roads have been cleared, so my training plan for the winter didn’t include the same kind of traditional speed workouts that I’m able to do during the late spring, summer and fall for my fall marathon training.”
The season’s large fluctuations in temperature also created challenges for athletes in preparing for runs with the proper attire. “I do enjoy getting bundled up, but there’s always the chance of wearing too many layers, especially if the weather changes quickly,” says Jennifer Heister, a yoga instructor who resides in Brooklyn. Heister continued that, “this is my first winter training for Boston, and so the increasing in miles out there on the cold blistery days was brutal. Especially after the snow storms. It’s hard enough to find the motivation when it’s cold, but when you have to worry about slipping on the black ice or jumping over snow banks to complete your twenty mile training run, it gets interesting.”
The prolonged winter season certainly had an impact on local retail shops catering to such disgruntled endurance enthusiasts. “We are just starting to see the big spring sales bump,” says Mary Arnold, manager of the JackRabbit Sports on the Upper East Side. She added that the store has seen more customers seeking winter gear such as base layers, tights and gloves, rather than spring jackets and shorts.
Arnold, a seasoned racer who completed her 26th marathon in February, will run in her eighth Boston Marathon on April 18th. Even for an experienced athlete such as herself, this winter’s been no walk in the park. “Ice and snow are obvious hazards, no one wants to fall on a training run,” she says, “but cold can be just as troublesome too. Your body has to work harder to maintain core temperature when it’s below freezing, which saps the effort you could be putting into a run. Dehydration and frostbite and are real hazards as well, especially when runners do not realize how much they may be sweating or conversely, how exposed skin is reacting to the temperatures.”
Thankfully the repetition of storms prepared parks staff to fine tune the road-clearing process. Eugene Patron, Press Director for Prospect Park, says that following the December 26th snowfall, the efforts of the City’s Departments were much more coordinated. In the second storm, Mr. Patron reports, crews started working on clearing Prospect Park’s main roads throughout the night and into the early morning. They never required more staff, but the season certainly kept the regulars working for more and longer hours. For the record, NWS reports that New York City had 12 days of greater than an inch of snow, way up from a norm of just 4.8 days in the season.
If the cold, snow and ice were difficult for runners, this season proved even more challenging for the region’s cyclists. TRAVLETE contributor Adrian Bijanada rides regularly in Central Park and is training for his first Ironman distance triathalon in Lake Placid this July. He estimates that the dangerous and frigid conditions this winter forced him to compromise almost 50% of the important outdoor bike time needed to complete such a race. He’s tried to look on the bright side of the poor weather in how it might improve his training in the future. Mr. Bijanada says through this season, he “learned the importance of being smart and opportunistic. I understand that I need to take advantage of every safe training option I can find, whether that means hopping on my indoor bike trainer at 4:30am on a Thursday morning or cramming in an late Sunday night run. I know that putting in the extra effort now will pay off on race day.”
Perhaps that’s the attitude we can all take from the 2010-2011 winter. New Yorkers, and Northeasterners alike, carry themselves with the swagger that if they can “make it there” they can “make it anywhere.” Why not say the same about a surviving a record-making season of snow?
Andrea Basche, new contributor to TRAVLETE, completed her third full marathon in March, her first in a spring season. She works for Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she earned a graduate degree in applied climate science.
