Snow-Ho-Ho
I’m a New England boy through and through and for the last 40 years have been cheerily running through the worst that Mother Nature can throw at us. This includes cold, snow, sleet and lack of sunlight. While I will resort to treadmill running if it’s convenient, my default setting is to venture out into the teeth of whatever the weather is on any particular winter day.
I don’t think you should run and hide indoors at the first hint of snow. Distance running is in part about discomfort and fleeing from discomfort in the form of a blustery day is, to use a technical term, chickenshit. The cold won’t kill you. Running on some snow and ice probably won’t kill you either if you approach it intelligently.
You’re only going to be out for the most a couple hours in the elements. This isn’t enough time to die from hypothermia. It’s enough time to get plenty uncomfortable, but you won’t die. If we’ve learned anything as runners it’s that the human body is not a frail vessel. We can take a lot more punishment than we think we can.
The other thing I’ve found is that completing your workouts in adverse conditions makes you stronger on race day. First, because you’re ready for whatever weather gets thrown at you when you start the target race, and second, because you build up a mental toughness reserve.
It increases your confidence. You think to yourself “I’ve seen worse. Remember that time we did the hill repeats in the freezing rain at midnight? “You gain an “I can do anything, I can beat anything” attitude that come sin very handy in a race.
For the record I have raced outside in snow storms, ice storms, wind storms and below zero temperatures. I don’t mean 5ks. I mean 16 milers, 30ks and 20 milers and marathons. I can think of nothing more entertaining than being able to claim bragging rights around a particularly hairy day at the races. Those are stories you can tell forever. That makes you stronger.
What about day to day training? What can you do to keep from suffering too much or getting injured as you sip slide your way out in the darkness?
In the old days when I first started running there really wasn’t any tech clothing. I kid you not that we used to run in long-johns and cotton sweats. The trick was to go out hard in the first mile and warm up fast, then you were ok. Last weekend when I was racing the temperature was just about freezing. The fast guys still wore shorts and singlets because they were working hard enough to stay warm and were only going to be out there for less than an hour.
It still holds true. Once you warm up you’re ok. It’s still a valid strategy to push the first 10 minutes or so to get the steam up. As an alternative you can put your stuff on and do something aerobic, like jumping jacks or calisthenics before you venture out into the cold. You want to be warm, but not sweaty. Sweaty in the freezing weather is bad.
The new clothes that we all have now are much better at wicking sweat and blocking the wind. Some folks I know like to throw their running clothes in the dryer for a couple minutes to heat them up toasty before heading out. I do find that the tech clothes are good but tend to be lighter than the old sweaters and sweat shirts we used to run in. I find they aren’t as warm when you first start out, but then outperform once you do.
The old advice of dressing in layers is still good. I like to wear items that can be zipped up or down to regulate, especially on a long run where the weather can change over the course of the run.
These days I’m more likely to dress a bit warmer than I used to because I just don’t work as hard. One caution I would have for you is consider if what you are wearing would be ok if you had to stop running at the half-way point of your planned run and walk home. Would you make it?
These days, as I do more heart rate based training I’m hesitant to take off and push the first mile to warm up and I tend to dress more warmly. I find, and have always found, that the most important elements of clothing to be comfortable in the cold is your hat, your gloves and of course, your shoes.
A good thick hat that can be pulled down over the ears will keep the heat from escaping from the top of your head. These hats can be rolled up if you get hot or even taken off. The winter hat is very important and very versatile.
What about gloves? Throughout my racing and running career I have favored those cheap cotton gloves that you can find at any race expo. I find for the most part they keep my fingers warm and are absorbent for wiping my nose and brow. I haven’t had much luck with the technical gloves designed specifically for running. They have the finger patches so you can use your touchscreen and sweat patches on the back to wipe with. They are technically gifted but fail in the one important requirement; keeping your fingers warm!
I have a pair of thick wool gloves that I’ll wear if it’s super cold and I have a slower run scheduled. I tend to carry stuff when I run, like the dog’s leash and a water bottle and this causes my fingers to get cold. One of my concession to getting slower is that I now need warmer gloves.
There is an actual physical malady called Renauds Syndrome where people have chronically cold hands. I have friends with this syndrome and they run with special insulated gloves and hand warmers.
What about shoes? If you’ve got a clear trail or a dry road you can run in the cold weather with your regular road shoes. You may notice that the outsoles of your normal road shoes get harder when it drops into the single digits. If you have the opportunity you can try shoes with a stickier outsole that won’t get so hard when the temps drop.
I have never experienced it, but some folks get cold toes when running in the winter in their road shoes. If you find this to be a problem there is a product called a ‘toe cap’ you can buy or make that is essentially a piece of fabric strapped across the top of the toebox upper to break the wind.
Again, I don’t have an issue with cold toes, but those runners who suffer from this use special insulated socks in the winter time as well. It all depends on what you need.
For the ice and snow there are several alternatives. I’ve tried most of them and returned to the simplest solution. I just run in my normal trail shoes and manage the surface conditions with my stride. If you are a do it yourself prepper type you can put screws in the bottom of your shoes – just search for the tutorials on YouTube. If you want a more commercial approach you can get YakTrax or one of the other snow and ice traction products.
But, like I said, I tried them all, they work fine, but I prefer the simpler solution of just putting on my trail shoes and managing the surface conditions with my stride. What do I mean by that? When you are running on winter surface conditions of snow and or ice the biggest issue is traction. That traction is created by the friction between your foot and the surface.
When there is ice and snow this friction, specifically the coefficient of friction, drops. This means that it takes less force to overcome the friction between the surface and your foot. Your foot slips and you fall and crack your head.
The screws and YakTrax overcome this by creating more surface area and different angles on the force vectors. When I say I’m managing my stride I mean I’m consciously aware of the surface conditions and adjust my foot strike to lessen the forces, especially the shear forces. Shear forces are the sideways forces. If you run in a straight line with a good, clean stride you won’t produce a lot of sideways shear force and you won’t fall down and crack your head.
It takes practice and you have to pay attention to the feedback from the ground surface. When you feel the surface getting slippery you shorten up your stride and ‘feel’ the ground with your foot plant. You use rapid, light foot strikes without too much toe off, so if one foot slips the other is not far behind to catch you.
If you run aggressively or with a pronounced heel strike you’ll end up on your ass. If you try to plant your foot to take a corner or accelerate you may end up on your ass as well. You just have to run cleanly and feel the ground as you go. You’ll naturally go a bit slower but you’ll get more of a workout having to hold your core and stride tight.
Perhaps the most challenging thing where I live is the lack of sunlight in the winter. If you need to run in the morning or in the afternoon, chances are you’ll be running in the dark. I have no problem going out to run in the dark on the trails or on the roads. I try to wear some reflective stuff as well as my headlamp. If I’m on the road I will wear a blinky light as well if I can find one.
No matter how lit up you are you can’t be complacent. People are idiots when they get behind the wheel. Always run into traffic so that you can watch the cars approach. You’ll know when they see you and if they don’t you need to be prepared to hop into the snow bank. You’re not going to win that confrontation no matter who has the legal right of way. Assume every car doesn’t see you whether it’s dark out or not.
In the winter up in New England we can get a fair amount of snow. This narrows the roads and gives you less margin for error, especially in the dark. When it warms up during the day the snow banks by the side of the road melt. When it cools back down at night they refreeze creating black ice puddles that reach out like dangerous fingers into the road. Again, you have to pay attention and realize every dark spot on the road could land you on your ass in front of oncoming traffic.
I really have no silver bullet tips for you other than to understand the conditions, be careful, run clean and pay attention. But don’t be afraid of going out into the winter elements. It’s very peaceful and quite beautiful at times.
I love those night runs when the air is so cold and dry and crisp that it bites your lungs. There are no sounds in the woods other than my breathing and the crunch of snow underfoot. On a cloudless night you can see and hear forever. It’s really special and quite stunning.
If you have to do some sort of speed work that’s probably not going to work in icy and dark conditions. I’ll try to schedule my more challenging workouts either at lunch time or take them inside on the treadmill. If I can get out at lunch it helps me get some sunlight too and I can navigate around the hazards much more easily. Many colleges and schools and some gyms will have indoor tracks as well and these can be used for some of your more proscriptive workouts.
When you have finished you outdoors winter workout try to get out of your wet stuff and into something dry. Sitting around in your wet stuff can give you the chills and cause skin problems.
In summary, I love running in the winter whether it’s a crisp January night with the full moon glinting off the crusted fields or the white hiss of a hard snowstorm. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just another challenge and adventure in our sport that is full of opportunity for challenge and adventure;