What is it like to be a dedicated runner year round in northern new england??

Inasmuch as being able to cut glass with my nipples and genitals shrunken to "fun size" by the freezing cold sucks, there is a strange beauty and serenity to running in the winter. Night runs when the snow falls gently under the street lights are some of my most memorable training runs. You become acutely tuned to yourself and nature. Things feel ok with the world, and nowadays that's not an easy feeling to come by. You know, I said I would never turn into George Sheehan. I'm no George Sheehan, but after 30+ years of running, I'm starting to see where he was coming from....

I've lived in northern NE for seven years now. Last winter was the first that was really an issue, as we had a lot of snow and bitter cold which really limited where we could run. I used a treadmill at the Y more than I wished. But the previous winters had me outside most of the time, with treadmill runs twice a week as a break. You can race indoors virtually every weekend in NE, even as a masters runner or a relatively slow open competitor (BU, Smith, Harvard, etc. have open meets). I'm fortunate to live across the street from a college that has a lacrosse team that begins training in January, so the all-weather turf is kept clear most of the time -- great for speedwork and 300- or 600-meter reps. You have to be somewhat creative with opportunities up here, but if the temp approaches 20 it's generally very comfortable once you start moving.

Running under streetlights gets old after you fall a few times - and you go down hard and fast on icy patches. If you put screws in your shoes or get ice spikes you still have to worry about the idiot drivers - and the roads are narrower due to snow banks. Running on snowmobile trails is a death wish as 75% of snowmobilers are drunk and the other 75% are going too fast. The only safe thing to do is XC ski or snowshoe. Both are great workouts and nothing is a better workout that running in showshoes. As stated by others in this thread, tread mills are for woosies. Snowshoe running is the best running of the year because the solitude an beauty of the season in the woods is a secret to most, but not to snowshoe runners.

In addition to what other people have said, there are a lot of road races and indoor track races within an hour or two (unless you're talking north Maine/VT) that can serve as your speed work. I wasn't getting much quality in this winter, but was able to get in shape by racing every week or two.

OLD SMTC SOB wrote:

When I got back and took a hot shower..............well I don't need to tell you how painful it was. No lasting damage however :)

First and last rule on frozen rope. DO NOT TAKE A HOT SHOWER.

You change into dry clothes. Then thaw out under the blankets. Only THEN can you take a hot shower.

Come run all winter over here in Traverse County Mich. if you want some real winter training.

January intervals for milers.

Try a 6 - 8 mile total road run. Three layers over your weenie for the guys on the coldest days, and you can do this down to 10 degrees. Otherwise, layer up with cotton then windbreaker material as necessary. Glove and hat depends on temp also.

1.5 mile warmup. 3 x strides @ 2 phone poles.

Then do 3-4 phone poles x 8 at a bit faster than mile pace. Maybe do 10 repeats. Be an animal. Enjoy!

1 mile warmdown.

OK to do on layer of packed snow on plowed streets.

I did this as a college kid one winter break in my home town of Sudbury, MA, then up to the Dartmouth invite meet, and won my 1500 heat.

People would ask, "doesn't the cold air burn your lungs?" NO, it does not. This work out is FUN! Getting out in cold weather and doing this is the most fun you can have on a cold winter day! No lie.

Oh, and give up skiing. It messes with your legs, no zip left for running.

just like the birds..... wrote:

Never understood what people have against treadmills.

I've run in all kinds of weather. I just don't enjoy the cold so as soon as it gets below 50 I'm inside on the treadmill. I ran a race last weekend and it was right at 50°. I wore a hat and gloves.

If you like the cold weather, good for you. It doesn't make you any better of a runner though just because you slogged a few miles in the snow. Same as being in a hot humid area in the summer. Slogging your way to overtraining won't help much when it's time to race.

Running in the cold slogging your way to overtraining.

In Sweden there is a saying, "Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder". There is no bad weather, only bad clothing. Winter running is awesome; a great base training period - especially in a good snowstorm.

It sucks but it is doable. Any temperature under 20 degrees I bundle up really well. I make sure to wear my balaclava, a fleece, jacket, wool socks and wind breaker tights. Also I always wear mittens instead of gloves.

I usually try to mix it up and hit the treadmill to save my legs a bit since it's usually too snowy to hit the trails. I made the mistake last year of hitting the road everyday and by mid-March my legs were dead all the time.

I will add that Kjell-Erik Ståhl, who still has the Swedish record of 2:10 from the 1980's and who ran 70+ marathons under 2:20, had said in an interview: I opened the blinds and said 'great', and then it didn't matter if it was snowing, 80 degrees or pouring rain.

Surprise! wrote:

Running in the cold slogging your way to overtraining.

How does this make sense? It's too cold to train hard, so somehow that means you're going to overtrain? I guess you're using the "boo hoo I'm tired" definition of overtraining.

What's wrong with all of you people?

I consider myself pretty soft when it comes to training intensity. But the cold is just no big deal. You just go run. And it's fun. Way better than the heat. I'd take any temperature under 70 over any temperature over 70 any day of the week. You just put clothes on. And it's magic! You stay warm.

I guess I will concede once it gets under -20 you have to worry about the cold air cutting your lungs a bit but there are masks for that. But this doesn't happen this often. I will also say that different people have different susceptibilities to cold induced asthma. Not a problem for me but I generally avoid doing high intensity workouts if it's under 15. Any lower and when the breathing gets hard I find I cough a bunch. But easy to moderate running is no problem in this regard down to -10 or so with no mask/scarf. Depends on the person though.

Here in the boonies of Maine, winter is base building time for me. Nice and easy on the roads in just about all kinds of conditions. Tempo's, pace work, and an occasional long, hard run are reserved for my treadmill. Personally, i'd rather the Winter over the Black Fly Season!

bbaldy wrote:

just like the birds..... wrote:

Never understood what people have against treadmills.

I've run in all kinds of weather. I just don't enjoy the cold so as soon as it gets below 50 I'm inside on the treadmill. I ran a race last weekend and it was right at 50°. I wore a hat and gloves.

If you like the cold weather, good for you. It doesn't make you any better of a runner though just because you slogged a few miles in the snow. Same as being in a hot humid area in the summer. Slogging your way to overtraining won't help much when it's time to race.

Lol, you think below 50 is cold? Unless you have some rare medical condition, that's really soft.

I do have a bit of Raynaud's syndrome so maybe that is why. I just got done roofing a barn for 7 hours and it was 48 with wind gusts to 40 mph.

I ran a marathon a few years ago where it was between 5 and 10 degrees the whole race.

I go out a couple times in the winter and run through the woods and 6 inches of snow for a couple hours.

Most days though, if I have to put on sweats to run outside, I would much rather just jump on the mill in a pair of shorts. Besides that, if I go south for a couple races in the winter, I want to be heat acclimated.

malmo wrote:

just a person wrote:

That's stupid. If the roads are too slippery your chances of getting injured skyrocket. Most of the time you'll be able to find roads that have been plowed enough, but if it is blizzard and not just a regular snow storm, you should go treadmill.

What is your evidence that your chances of getting injured "skyrocket"? I've never gotten injured running in the snow. Snow is soft. Snow slows you down, so footstrike impact force drops waaay down.

Boston runnaah has it right. Running in the snow is fun. It's peaceful. It's quiet. Think of it as cross-training -- for both the body, and the mind.

Bundle up and enjoy one of nature's simple pleasures.

I've gotten injured running in the snow. I slipped badly and strained the crap out of my groin. That cost me about six weeks of running.

Running in the snow is certainly fun when it's fresh. After a few days of it getting trampled into uneven ice, not so much.

As for the other annoyances of winter -- there's something to be said for doing hill repeats in the dark with a biting wind in your face; it really helps develop what Mike Tyson called "bad intentions" for racing.

Training in the cold, wind, and snow is fine and you can earn your man card but rest assured you're not running nearly the pace you should be running. If you are then it's probably a lot harder than it should be. Your runs aren't as good as the Kenyan sailing along on the dirt roads of Eldoret at the same time of year.

Treadmills can help bridge that gap. In shorts.

I think of it as a good base building environment. Lots of cross training options like xc skiing and alpine touring. Those activities encourage you to keep the heart rate up for a longer duration than you would get from running alone b/c of less impact. Really good stuff for your aerobic capacity. Your running pace is inevitably slower b/c of the footing but that is not always a bad thing if you are one that tends to run too fast on training runs. Your choices are limited which leads to lots of repetitive routes, but again not such a bad this as you become very in tune to how your body responds. It is hard to get tempo's and intervals in but possible. You can't make a schedule in advance, you have to take into account what the day gives you and decide what the best work out is on the day. The treadmill is a useful tool when there is no daylight. I came out of last winter in better shape than I went into it and last winter was absurdly cold and about average snowfall. Unfortunately got injured this spring and took all summer/fall to recover.

OP here, thanks all for the ideas. I'm in Vermont and will get with some cross country skiers. I like the idea of looking at winter like a good opportunity to try new things.