Winter

Winter returned to the Front Range with a vengeance this morning. I awoke at 6:30 to a misty, icy scene with a temperature of 25 degrees. This ice fog left 1/8" of ice on every surface outside, which took almost 10 minutes to clear from my girlfriend's car. By the time I started out on my run at 10Am, the temperature had dropped to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and it had started snowing, disguising the layer of ice on the roads and sidewalks.

Nevertheless, I bundled up, strapped my carbide spikes on my shoes, and headed out the door to pound a little pavement. It struck me as I started out into a brisk east wind that many, if not most, runners have difficulty finding the motivation to run, inside or out, on the worst days of the winter. If you run outside, you're cold. Treadmill runs, on the other hand, are rarely fun or exciting. It seems a catch-22.

I have never had a problem with winter running. Part of the reason for this is no doubt that I am a Minnesotan native, and have experienced a lifetime of cold weather. But there are more reasons that I believe translate more readily to the average runner. With the proper mindset, winter can help motivate runners, rather than take away their motivation.

I have distilled my thoughts to three points.

First, think of the other less-than motivated runners. Chances are good that, if you are hesitant to step out the door into the cold, nearly everybody else is thinking the same thought. Many of them will no doubt opt out of running, and in the doing lose fitness. Every mile you run on such a day is money in the bank, and translates on race day into those crucial extra second you need to pull out the win, or PR, or whatever your race goal.

Second, winter provides an adversary. The very things that make winter running so daunting, the cold, the snow, the gray skies, make great motivators in themselves. They give you something to strive against, an enemy to beat. And a good enemy is the best motivation you can hope for.

Third, and my favorite, is that it can be really fun to be seen as a little nuts. If you go out running in 15-degree weather with 5 inches of snow on the ground and more falling, people will think you're crazy (and they might be right). But those are my favorite runs. I recall one particular incident, two years ago now, when a snowstorm hit in Boulder and I headed out for a short run. Halfway through, a car full of what I can only believe were college students pulled along side me and, rolling down the window, yelled at me to "go home!" Taking this as a challenge, I picked up my pace and raced them to the next stop sign, half a mile distant, and beat their car by over a block. It remains one of my favorite runs.

There are more reasons that winter is a great motivation to run. Running in the cold burns more calories. Running in the snow strengthens your stabilizer muscles. Running in the winter is starkly beautiful. The three reasons I listed above, however, are the ones that tend to get me out the door on cold, snowy mornings.

And I am going to need the motivation tomorrow and Wednesday, when the temperature is not forecast to break 0 Fahrenheit.