06 January 2013

Winter Running


I was all but ready to give up running a few months ago. My legs were sore and my motivation was low. Then November rolled around and the days were gorgeous. I figured I better get out and run because I never know when the weather will take a turn. I ran or walked every day that month. December proved to be pretty similar - out of character warm, dry weather. So, I kept running. I also increased my "base" run from 3 miles to 4 miles. In all of my running life, 3 miles have been the absolute minimum I will run. Lately, I haven't run anything less than 4 miles.

In late December the weather did turn. But, I just kept at it. Turns out that dressing appropriately helps with winter running. And it turns out that keeping active over the winter months helps with extra pounds over the holidays (shocking, I know). It's been very helpful to run without any particular goal. I'm not registered for any races. My only goal is to keep running. And so far it's working.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep it up! =D It's always been so hard for me to find the motivation to run alone in the winter, so I've been running on the basement treadmill.

I get what you mean about running without a goal- I've found that I enjoy running more when I'm not focused on achieving so many miles in such and such a time. My brother teased me about running 2 miles in a half hour but I was proud of myself because I had such a fun time.

life's a bear said...

I'm not sure what's worse - running in the cold or on a treadmill!

And, yes, running without a goal is so liberating! Just getting out is a feat in itself!

Thanks for visiting.

Colleen said...

I miss when 4 miles was a minimum. Well 3. Now I'll do 2 no problem. Sometimes on a treadmill I do .5 at the end of a workout just to help get more miles in for the month.