When it’s this cold, we might find ourselves hibernating — just staying inside where it’s warm and cozy. But unfortunately, we can’t just hide inside during the winter months.
For this month’s Group Chat, we hear from Milwaukeeans about the benefits of getting outside and how they do it. Here’s Erin Whitney, Mia Noel and JaQai Ali.
JaQai Ali: I think the main thing that surprises people that I do in the winter is run in the cold with a group of Black men, specifically Black men, surprises people because our community is not so active in that way on a consistent basis.
Mia Noel: I think I've tried almost everything. The consistent things I do are probably swimming, which is not outside, but I enjoy doing it in winter because I like to be hydrated. I like the little sauna or hot tub time afterwards at the gym. My whole body feels warm. Other stuff I've tried, I've done the polar plunge and all kinds of different things. They're not maybe for me but I gave them a shot.
Erin Whitney: My ways of getting outside are “warm” winter walks. They're not warm at all but I like to frame that like, 'How lucky are we?' Maybe I'll try cross-country skiing every once in a while. Am I great at it? No, and that's not what we're there for. I try to get people to have parties outside with me. They're not parties. We're [just] going for a walk.
I think we all get really stuck inside, or we wait for plans to kind of happen and we don't really centralize outside as the place to be for many reasons of accessibility or just [because] like it's cold. And frankly, for myself personally, it's actually not easy either. People might look to folks who work outside or who engage with community members outside. For me, it's not a simple go, so these little “parties” are like, 'Hey, folks, we're all going for a big ole walk at 4 p.m. today. And that's it. It’s really intentional.
Ali: You said 'warm winter walks.'
Whitney: It's not warm, maybe we're not selling this whole outside time, but I swear if you stick through it with a nice cozy coffee, keep your head down until you get that warmth going in your layers and eventually it gets nice. Have faith.
So, can I ask, say your group one morning, they're like, ‘JaQai, this is the limit [today],’ would you have the same [energy] like, 'We got to keep going?' Would you still go out, or are you doing it because you're with this group?
Ali: First and foremost, I do it for myself. We go out once a week on Saturdays around noon or 6:30 p.m. when it's, at this time of year, pitch black. We have headlamps. And it's simple but it's not easy. I got that from Will Smith and we can dive into that. But that [evening] one is easier because you've had all day to mentally prepare. It's waking up as early as 5:00 a.m. when I pull myself up [that’s the challenge]. Just this past Monday and Tuesday it was nine degrees at 5 a.m.
If I do it, I'm rewarded by all the benefits. And if I don't do it, [I’m] affected by all of the ailments. Now I don't have the same energy, I don't have the same boost, blood flow and endorphins and whatnot, all that cool language, but it's just two sides of that coin.
Noel: I've only been working for the parks for like two and a half years and before that I was big on getting people outside in the winter, and it was very selfish. Having other people outside in the winter helps me get outside, breathe fresh air, socialize, not just making soup, which is a delightful winter activity.
I've been organizing lots with friends and we’ve done winter olympics, which are just like a full day of outside winter activities. We have a hot drinks competition, a snow sculpture competition and a freestyle sledding competition just for fun.
A couple of years ago, I really started pushing the idea of ‘BWE’ with my people as well, which is that every winter has the potential to be the best winter ever. And if you go into the winter feeling like this winter could be the best winter ever, instead of being like, ‘Ugh, winter is around the corner. This is the time where everything is bad,’ if you change the mentality a little bit it really helps.
Ali: How big of a role does seasonal depression or that aspect play a part in what you do? And aspire to do?
Whitney: One of the big pushes of it's time to start planning those walks is anticipating that winter's coming. So I like Mia's attitude of, ‘Yay, it's coming!’ And for me, it’s this realization, I could move somewhere warmer, or I have to realize this is going to be half of our year, every year, right? We cannot just throw out half of our year.
I think sometimes I fall into the participant category where I'm like, so, what are we all doing? Who's going to put it on the calendar? But being the friend that’s like, 'Today is soup day. That's it. There's no explanation to get here. Maybe I have soup for you, maybe I don't. We’ll figure it out when you get here.' Because those winter blues are so real. And, getting outside for walks does not fix it at all. But it kind of supports the [ability to stabilize]. Like, every morning on the weekday, I go for a walk, I get to the blue bench and then I turn around. It's like a little vitamin. It's a support for other stuff and mental health that you can work on. What about y'all?
Noel: It plays a huge role in the evolution of my mentality toward winter. I moved back to Wisconsin after college, and it was like the most depressed I'd ever been for like six months. And I graduated in December so it was winter time.
Similarly, I live in Wisconsin, unless I'm moving somewhere else, I have to figure out how to be active and connected in winter, even though this is the time where a lot of people like to move indoors. And so to do that, I started trying out a lot of winter activities. I didn't grow up snowshoeing or cross-country skiing or any of those things. But I was like, 'That's what people do. I should try and do those things.'
I really love sledding. When my husband and I first started dating, I would be like, 'Let's go for a quick sled after work.' Because when you're an adult and you don't have a lot of endurance, sledding is hard. You walk up and down a hill and after like 30 minutes you're like, that's good. But those 30 minutes are so fun. And then he'd go to his house and I'd go to my house and be like, 'That was really cool. Just just a quick sled.'
Ali: That short amount of time can do so much for your day. Seasonal depression, especially for these runs, has been a key inspiration. Living my whole life here, I've hated the winter. I grew up taking a bus and I still take the bus on a consistent basis. Being outside has become a chore. It's frustrating to look forward to. But you said something, Erin, you said this is half of the year. Am I going to waste half of the year? Either I do it and I'm rewarded or I don't do it, and I have to have whatever that looks like. That's been one of the prime inspirations for myself.
Noel: What advice would you give other folks who are trying to get outside a little more in winter?
Whitney: Start small and celebrate that. And give yourself some nice preparations, like it’s not pleasant going outside in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. That's not what I look like here today. I know that feels like a lot of work, but that little preparation is going to make that walk real nice and cozy. Or pairing it like a sommelier of walks — pairing your walk with like a coffee shop or go wave to the river and then turn around. Those are really nice. But I think the biggest thing is doing it with others, finding a pal and letting them know that we're not here to like climb a mountain.
Ali: For one, small wins. I quoted Will Smith earlier and I said, 'It's simple, but it's not easy.' On paper, walking or running one mile, you've done that a billion times, is very simple. But it might seem difficult and it might be difficult, quite frankly. But, just doing it [because] the hardest part is starting. Sometimes you got to muster up every ounce of emotional intelligence you got so that you can overcome whatever barriers that you might be facing internally and realize that it's so much better on the other side,
Noel: If you're just going solo, and that's OK, try to notice how you feel after something. Try to notice things on walks or what's happening outdoors. See what birds you can see, look at buds on trees that are promises of spring. All these really beautiful things that you see in the winter that you can only see in the winter. And then if you are a person who's looking for a community, there's like all these different ways that you can plug in. [You] can go to Havenwoods State Forest, you can go to the Urban Ecology Center, you can go to Nearby Nature events.
There's all these people doing free cool stuff in the city pretty much every single week that's supporting getting outside, getting active, being connected to community.
And then I think on a very basic level, don't wear cotton close to your skin. You want to dress in layers. You don't want to have cotton be the nearest, closest part to your skin because it traps moisture, and moisture makes you feel cold. Sometimes I talk to people about what they wear because they may think, 'I have to have the coolest mountain climbing gear to get outside.' You just have to dress warmly. Staying dry makes a big difference in how much you enjoy being outside.