Why You Should Embrace Bad Weather Running
This weekend the weather in Chicago was lousy. On Friday, it was cold and a little rainy.
On Saturday, raining ice. And on Sunday, more rain. It made for some incredibly difficult joggling. If you’re curious, the Chicagoist gave the relevant weather statistics.
Since I have no weekend access to a treadmill, I ran outside. The juggling runs were short, 3 miles and 2 miles and slow 8:30 per mile pace. That’s how I thought everyone’s experience in the cold was until I read Runner Gal Leana’s post about the things she loves about cold weather running.
Why someone might love cold running
She lists the following as positives about cold weather running.
- You go faster
- You don’t have to take ice baths afterwards
- Your water stays cold
- You pay more attention
- Your shoes make a fun crunching sound
- Other people talk about how crazy you are
I’ve never found that I go faster in the cold, always slower. I rarely take ice baths and cold water isn’t much benefit as my temperature palate is non-discriminating.
But I have to agree with her that there is something fun about a cold, crappy weather run. You do pay more attention to ensure you don’t slip and fall on the ice. The juggling makes this extra challenging. Your shoes do make a fun sound and other people will really think you’re nuts!
More cold weather running tips
For running in the cold or wet weather here are three more handy tips.
1. Run in one of your old “retired” pairs of running shoes. No need to ruin you good shoes for a training run.
2. Run more flat-footed than usual. This will help minimize your chances of slipping on ice or snow.
3. Use a water-resistant set of juggling bags. I like to use my soggy balls for wet runs. They get a bit sketchy but as long as you put them on a drying vent afterwards, they’ll be fine.
For more tips on joggling in foul weather see these previous posts about rain and cold joggling.
This Post Has 4 Comments
I had a great cold weather run last Friday. It was one of those runs where it felt great to be alive. I tried real hard to set a good example for all the kiddos on the school buses 🙂
With that said, cold AND wet I can do without! LOL! That doesn’t seem to be a problem in the south these days.
While I don’t joggle, I find that I run about the same in cold weather as I do in moderate weather — heat (defined, for me, as anything over about 72°) slows me down more than cold. OK, Richmond, VA doesn’t get the nasty weather that some places get and cold here is generally 13-24°, not sub-zero. And, I’m with Wes — I don’t do cold and wet.
Today it is 32F and ice/rainy in Chicago. This is proof that jogglers are just as dedicated as hard core runners.
[…] old running shoes and took out my water-resistant joggling bags. I reviewed the tips from the bad weather running post and went joggling. In the winter, you will encounter a variety of running surfaces and you’ll […]