Numb

I'd forgotten, I really had. But more fool me because the signs were there but I chose to ignore them.

It really should have hit home when we set off from Raglan, the air was cool and the car windows were covered in condensation. But no, I was still oblivious to the fact that the clothing I was wearing was wholly unsuited to the climatic conditions. We continued our journey inland, climbing over the hills to the east of Raglan and started our descent into the mist-bound Waikato bowl, as it often is early in the morning. The mist blanketed fields and forests were stunning to look at, like something out of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Stunningly beautiful but stunningly cold. 

It took a dashboard light to make me finally make the connection, but it was a slow realisation. At first I thought that there was a mechanical fault with the car. I'd never seen this warning symbol before and with most of the surrounding text in Japanese it was far too difficult to decipher. And besides, I hadn't had my morning coffee so was not up to logical thought or technical analysis of the car's dashboard. But there in the middle was a digital, pixelated ice crystal. If that wasn't clear enough then besides the flashing display there was a zero. Yes, the temperature outside was officially freezing. Could it be right? Surely it isn't that cold.....

Thirty minutes later I found out the hard way and realised the true nature of my mistake. I was about 500m into a 5km run and I could no longer feel my nose, fingers and my toes were a distance memory.   I definitely hadn't run in anything like this cold for over two years and I'd forgotten how much it hurts - each icy breath I took was a painful reminder that I'd gotten far too complacent. 

As the route turned the corner and crossed the edge of the lake on a boardwalk, the cold foggy air enveloped my legs and I suddenly felt under-dressed and a little bit exposed. I even had to glance down to make sure I'd put my shorts back on after a visit to the loo shortly before the run began. "I was in a rush, after all, I thought to myself. Maybe the cold had fuddled my brain....". I began to reason that someone surely would've told me if I hadn't....and then stopped. This was New Zealand and, sure it would've been seen as a little odd but she'll be right. Thankfully I hadn't made a clothing faux pas and I was wearing shorts. Not that it felt like it mind.

It took another two kilometres before I started to feel comfortable and suitably warmed up. The air was still cold but the sun had finally burnt through the fog and was starting to warm everything up. I was reminded of a conversation with a tour guide on Waiheke who claimed "I'd die if a snow flake fell on me" and started to understand his point of view. It wasn't snowing, that would be a cataclysmic event, but it was by far the coldest I have experienced for a long time. 

The weird thing was that I missed it. For a little bit anyway. I guess it's easy to miss something painful when you know it's only fleeting. I knew that, once the sun had got its arse into gear, the temperature in the afternoon would be back into double digits and I'd be on the beach in shorts and a t-shirt.

I have resolved to not be so complacent in the future, take notice of the weather before setting out and put some gloves in the glove box of the car, that's what it's for right? A perfect place you might say. Right next to the sun screen and mosquito spray.