I ended up at Antrim Park about 9:30 this morning. Though slightly overcast, the morning was beautiful! It was about 62 degrees, slight breeze and perfect for walking.

The strange thing is, the park wasn’t crowded!

Since training for my first marathon years ago, there are a couple things I have learned about Ohio athletes.
1) Most people do not train outside year round.
2) Runners and walkers go nuts in the Spring and Fall.
3) These same people avoid parks in the Winter and Summer.

I usually try to avoid popular parks like Antrim the first few warm days in the Spring. On days like today, they are usually packed with people who have not been outside since the last warm Fall day. And these people are not just runners, walkers and bikers, they usually include families pushing strollers and tons of people with dogs. (I don’t have anything against dogs–we have three. But I prefer other people’s dogs to be on leashes within inches of their owners. That doesn’t happen a lot in parks.)

So, I was surprised when I arrived this morning and found a parking spot right away. I did three laps around the lake and rarely had to pass anyone. There was only one unleashed dog. There were a few bikes, but not too many.

Not quite sure what to make of it. Did everyone else work out early? Did the clouds that looked like rain scare people off? Were they all at the Arnold Expo?

Regardless, it was a great morning for walking and most of Columbus seems to have missed out.
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Because of a few bad Winter walks where I literally froze, I have this horrible habit of over-dressing. (I hate being cold.) Though in the 60s, I still took a windbreaker with me. After one lap I was so hot I took the jacket off. After the second lap, I regretted wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt.

I think I’m just going to have to accept that in the Winter I wear too many layers. But I cannot continue to over-dress in the Spring. Somehow, I have to deal with this fear of being cold.

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