My Thoughts of This Upcoming Winter Running Season

As I set out for an easy three mile run, yesterday, it struck me at just hard winter running really is. I forgot how my lungs need a couple weeks to adjust to the cold air and how my hands NEED to be covered in order for me to survive 😉 and how my legs sting if I don’t wear the right pants. Yes, winter running is a beast, but I believe it has made me stronger as a runner. As my running continues to build back up to what it was before my marathon, I can’t help but get excited. Part of me wishes, I could just continue to run at peak running season all year long, but another part of me loves the roller coaster that the sport of running truly is.

Running is really a fluid sport. There are so many curves in the road, challenges, set backs, and mountain top experiences. Running has so many emotions, so many un-expectant surprises and that is what I love about it. As I look forward to this upcoming winter season, I expect a lot of road blocks. I expect it will be a lot harder than the summer training. I expect that there will many runs I do not want to run, simply because of having to do treadmill runs or weird lunch time runs. But, I am excited because I know that this winter season of running is going to make me stronger!

After my  half marathon, I am going to focus on maintaining a solid base, continuing my long runs on the weekend (most likely anywhere from 10-13ish miles (?) not more than that) and adding in one or two days of speed work. I also have seen such great results from carb cycling that I will continue living a carb-cycling lifestyle this winter and see what happens!

A few things I constantly remind myself with winter running are

1. It isn’t as bad as it truly seems. Right off the bat, winter running seems HARD. I remember my first run, postpartum and my lungs felt on fire. Thankfully, I remembered that it does take my body at least a couple weeks to build back up to the shock of breathing in cold air, constantly. I have to give myself grace and work up resistance to the cold!
2. Invest in the right gear. I know from experience that running in the cold is not as bad as it looks when I am dressed for it! My biggest thing is that I must have my ears and hands warm. If I have my ears and hands covered, life is much, much better.

With that, winter running seems a lot less painful. That being said, it is harder (that’s guaranteed). But, the hard runs make us stronger right? I think I will do another post, combining all of my winter running gear favorites (thanks for the blog post requests!) and maybe some of my treadmill tips? Anyone else have anything they want to see on here, about winter running?

Hope you guys have an awesome Tuesday and thank you for stopping by the blog, today.

Questions of the Day 

1. Is it cold where you live?
2. How do you handle the winter runs?
3. The best part about this Tuesday is _____?