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Winter Runderland: Winter Running Tips for Enjoying the Season

Shift Your Mindset to Enjoy the Best of Winter Running

If one of your New Year’s resolutions this year was health-related, you’re not alone. Now at the end of February, you’d also be in good company if you found yourself feeling burned out from those resolutions. Instead of offering Winter running tips to help you push through and hit your resolutions, I suggest a different approach. To find more joy in the Winter season, use it as a natural time to recover and rebuild.  

Why the Best Winter Running Tip is to Shift Your Mindset

We know intuitively that starting off with unrealistic New Year’s resolutions is a recipe for frustration. But that doesn’t stop us from doing it. Sure, you might be able to power through for a few weeks, but you’re more likely to hit your goals through incremental, sustainable progress than giant leaps. Often, the goals we have require a real lifestyle change, which is why my best winter running tips are really all about changing your mindset. Your mindset is your relationship to running.  Essentially, it’s your approach to how you train and why you run in the first place. It forms a sort of code that you live by, and greatly reduces the need to obsessively track your progress in the form of workouts completed, miles run, or weight on the scale. It helps you zoom out to what really matters, and forms your motivation to do it. When you get this part right, it becomes so much easier to accomplish the details, too. 
 
Some mindsets you might consider adopting are below. Try them out and see what feels right for you, or make your own.
  • I run because I enjoy it.
  • Eating healthy food gives me the energy my body needs.
  • I avoid alcohol because my sleep and energy are more important. 
  • Daily stretching supports my overall wellbeing.
  • I will prioritize how I feel over how I look. 

If your goal for 2024 is real change, it needs to be built gradually, and consistently, so that it actually sticks for longer than a few weeks. This is why having a training plan tailored to your goals is so helpful: it sets you up for success and helps you avoid burnout! 

Winter is a Natural Time of Rest

Another great way to avoid burnout is to ensure that you have meaningful periods of rest both during your training program, and in between training programs.  Our modern culture emphasizes constant achievement, in everything from our careers, to our relationships, to our training. But no one can be at the top of their game all of the time, not even professional athletes. This is a recipe for burnout. Mentally and physically, we need time to recharge. This is why training programs always include periods of rest, both within the program, and between programs. 

If you can’t remember your last easy week, now is a great time to have one. Start by decreasing the intensity, duration, or frequency of your workouts. Is it single digits outside? Freezing rain? Ice? Take some guilt-free time off, and don’t sweat it. Your fitness level won’t be negatively impacted by a day off, here or there. If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re already highly motivated in your training, which means you almost certainly need more easy days than you’re giving yourself. If you want to stay active and healthy long-term, learn how to rest and relax, too. 

Just like the rest of the natural world, humans need time for rest. With shorter days and colder temps, Winter is a perfect time to rest and recover, so you’re better prepared for Spring and Summer training.

Lean into Other Winter Activities

One of my personal mindsets for running is that I run to enjoy it. While I love planning racecations or hitting PRs, I genuinely love to run for the sake of running. This mindset shift means I don’t have a “bucket list” and I don’t “cross off” goals. I want to be happy running for decades to come, so what’s the rush? To keep a good relationship with running, I take breaks when I’m not feeling it. Winter is a perfect time for this. If you live in a particularly snowy and cold climate, lean into that! Maybe that means going on a short, slow run in the softly falling snow. Maybe it means skipping a run and watching the snow from inside. Or maybe you want to go all-in on Winter activities like sledding, making snow angels, and building snow forts. My point is, don’t treat running like a chore, or just some other thing on your to-do list. Getting some exercise while doing some fun seasonal activities will leave you recharged and ready for your next run.
 

Enjoy Winter Running, Spring Will Be Here Soon

Like everything else in life, the Winter season is temporary; Spring will be here soon! I encourage you to try these winter running tips for yourself, and enjoy the rest, coziness, and (albeit cold) beauty of Winter, while it’s here.  

Ready to level up your running? Reach out for a free consultation for individualized, virtual, 1:1 coaching with me! 

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