Wintertime Blues

I've never really hated winter.  I've gotten sick and tired of it to the point of strong dislike, but I'm not a cold-weather hater.

On the contrary, since taking up running I see it as an opportunity to put some major mileage in without worrying about dehydration.  And snow is a little easier to be out in - I'm not sure why, once it melts you're just as wet, but if it's snowing out it doesn't give me as much pause as when it's raining and I'm planning a big (or even a small) trail run.

But this winter the weather has gotten a little out of hand.  Trails are still runnable under 5, 6, maybe even 10 inches of snow. 

They are not runnable under 22 inches of snow which we got on Friday and Saturday.  In fact the roads are barely runnable.  At lunch today I did most of my run in the driveway/parking lot of my office (which is about a 1K loop) because it became quite clear to me that it was nearly suicide to run out on the roads today (despite the roads being generally clear).  And we've got more coming tomorrow. 

 

Not only has my ability to run now been challenged, but also the will. It's hard to run in snow weather you're on the trail on on the road.  And it's probably even harder to do a long run on a treadmill (at least mentally).  But I've got two long runs left before Chambersburg, and chances are we'll have a melt off before the last one so I'm sticking with it.

But this winter has definitely made me rethink my winter training strategy.  Maybe time on the trainer isn't so bad after all.  I just need to invest in some good DVD's.