For weeks now, I’ve been seeing the classic Instagram posts about how much someone misses this oh-so-dear-to-them sport they haven’t been able to play since last year’s season ended.  

I’ve also seen the countdowns on multiple Snapchat stories showing the number of days left until soccer or track practice starts.

I hate to burst your bubble, but I wouldn’t get too excited quite yet. Practice might start, but the way the weather’s looking, you’re either going to be inside on a gym floor or freezing your butt off outside.

Sure, practice is practice and you’re still with your team, theoretically “having fun.” But when you stretch, you’re stretching on the hard floor of a gym instead of the soft grass in the sunshine. When you run, you’re running lap after boring, little lap instead of running one, only halfway torturous lap around the field and being able to look at the mountains as you go.

If practice hasn’t officially started, as with all the track kids, then good luck. Getting in shape for track might have to be done on a treadmill, taking step after step on the thin plastic mat going in circles. Running in the weird, awkward way treadmills always make you run; where everything is just enough different from your normal stride, foot placement and pace that it makes you feel like you’re a newborn giraffe running across loose sand.  

And if you are outside, that’s just as bad. With the recent below-zero temperatures and the Wyoming wind that chills you to the bone, stepping outside in anything less than a 5-inch thick, wool-lined coat, four pairs of socks, three pairs of pants, gloves and a hat is agonizing.

At this point, one of the most common complaints I hear in the morning when I get to school is how cold it is. This person can’t feel their hands, another can’t feel their face, and that person can’t remember the last time they weren’t shivering.

It was warm all during the winter months and we had hardly any snow. At least until the groundhog predicted spring was on its way. Then Wyoming decided it wanted to prove that groundhog wrong.

So if you are in spring sports and were looking forward to going outside into the warm sunshine, I’d put that picture out of your head for a bit. Get used to the cold temps and blinding snow.