What a crazy winter it's been. We've gone from lots of snow in December, to temperatures in the 60's with all the snow melting. And now it's back to biting cold. That presents a lot of challenges for runners, especially runners training for spring races.
I thought I would post a couple pictures from races last fall as a reminder of what the weather was like just a few short months ago. It should obviously come as no surprise that cold weather and snow are part of winter in Chicago. Even in mild winters we still tend to get hit with the severe cold for at least a few memorable days or weeks.
It seems one of those weeks is about to hit in a few days. As I write this the forecast for Saturday, the day of my next planned 'long run', is a high of 8 degrees and a low of -4. Yeah.
Contrary to some of the advice we routinely give in news reports: you know, limit physical activity and stay inside, I don't really believe that's necessary for well-conditioned runners. I have trained for spring marathons a couple times, and there are always a couple of challenging days when you have to get a long run in and the weather seems to make that almost impossible. But it's never impossible. It just presents different challenges.
Common sense has to prevail. Running in extreme cold weather can be dangerous, and if you're going to do it, you should probably lower your expectations a little. I've done 20 milers on some of those days when it was 8 degrees. I've also cut my planned 12 mile runs to eight on some of those days. In retrospect, that seems the smarter choice. The reality is that the body has to work much harder when the conditions are extreme, and cutting your run a little short generally means you are still getting a pretty good workout.
I've also found that getting out during those days makes for some of the most memorable runs of the year. My running partners and I still talk about the day in Barrington a couple years ago when we turned around early because we could no longer feel our toes. Or the lakefront run several winters ago when we forced ourselves to run 20, and were never more happy to have a run be over. But we had a great sense of accomplishment when it was finished.
It can be a real challenge to train for a spring marathon or other long race when you live in Chicago. People in warm weather climates have a real advantage. They usually have no cold or snow to interrupt their training. But we in chicago have the advantage of the mental toughness that winter helps develop. It also builds character. At least that's the spin I like to put on it.
Of course if you don't want to deal with the cold, there is always the treadmill...
As for me, I'll see you on the roads.
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