It’s fitting that my last run this winter was a cold one.

It’s also fitting that it had a St. Patrick’s Day theme.

Together, these two things reminded me of one of my favorite quotes about training. It has to do with training in adverse conditions and came from one of the famous “Irish Milers.”

 I don’t recall if it was Eammon Coghlan or Marcus O’Sullivan but one of them said that (and I’m paraphrasing):  “It’s easy to get out and train when the weather is nice. But it’s those who also get out and train when the weather is crappy who more often meet their goals.”

The weather during our St. Patty’s Day run a few Saturdays ago was pretty darn crappy in that it was super cold—about 10 degrees at the start—and super windy. It was especially nasty when crossing a couple of bridges over the Chippewa River. The wind and cold made it feel more like a run in mid-January than mid-March, which made the miles extra challenging.

This was especially true for one of my running partners for the day. As we made our way across one of the cold, windy bridges on our route, she shared that she was feeling tired and having a bit of a rough run.

I tried to encourage her by sharing the above-mentioned quote from the Irish miler.  I don’t know if it helped to encourage her but it did remind me that even the tough days have their gifts. Pictured with this post are a couple of ones that came my way on recent runs.

One is the shamrock necklace that was given to me by a running friend on the recent St. Patty’s Day run. The other is a flowery looking bulb that I came across while walking with my four-legged fitness friend Caleb the other day.

Neither one of them has any monetary value nor are they much to look at.  But they were nice reminders that getting out for some daily exercise has its perks, even if they are small ones.