I love it!

Running in the snow.  Wearing 3x the amount of clothes I usually wear (layered, of course).  Being (really) alone because all of the other runners with even a little bit of self respect, and/or brains, have taken their running indoors.  Winter running is in full swing!  Last week I talked about the advantages of running on a treadmill during this time of the year.  Today I’d like to explore the idea of running in the cold, snowy, icy (did I say cold?) outdoors.  One reason I am doing this is because I had the brilliant idea to try something I have NEVER done before: run every day.  I want to see how many days I can run in a row without taking a day off.  Why I picked JANUARY/FEBRUARY (in Chicago) I don’t know, but I am up to 35 days and I don’t want to quit just yet.  Hence my need to run in the snow.  That’s because I have stumbled upon an unspoken law of long distance running: YOU CAN’T RUN ON AN INDOOR TRACK OR TREADMILL EVERY DAY.  I never knew that was a rule/law.  It just dawned on me day 3 of my self challenge.

Yesterday, I was all ready to head to the gym when my wife said it was beautiful outside (it was snowing!) and it was too bad I couldn’t run out there.  I had an idea…I went through my old winter running gear and found almost all my stuff including my cleats!  For those who don’t know, cleats are strapped to the bottom of your shoes so that you can run through snow and on top of ICE!  Crazy, I know, but they actually have these things for people who want to do this.  It wasn’t terribly cold outside and the wind was down so I headed out.  And I was so glad I did.

One of the down sides of doing this for a long time is you get stuck in your ways.  You think you have it all figured out.  I was that way about winter running.  I was wrong.  After I dressed appropriately, strapped on my cleats, I went for a thoroughly enjoyable run!  To think I almost missed this because of the “I don’t run outside in the winter” mindset is upsetting.  The air was crisp, the snow was falling and it made for an erie quiet that has to be experienced to believe it.  Yes, I am a seasoned athlete, and yes, I have been doing this for a long time, my whole adult life in fact.  But I am also learning new things about myself every day.  Isn’t that what it’s all about?  This is such a great sport.  You can participate in a group, or you can spend time with yourself, learning new things and growing as an Antiquated Runner.