I run year round outside, but we get a lot of snow here. Currently, there is about a foot on the ground. I've been training for a marathon in May (goal of 2:40) and according to the plan I have been following, I should be doing workouts (mile repeats, 400s, 2 mile repeats, hills, etc). There is not really any clear areas for me to do this. Should I just be focusing on getting miles in and long runs until the snow is gone? What do others do in the snow? There are no indoor tracks near me...treadmill gets pretty boring, would rather be outside.
How does everyone train in a lot of snow? Speedwork in the snow?
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Do you know how to use a shovel? Just shovel off a mile route that you can run on. That will make you tough!!!
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Or you could not shovel and be like this guy. He would seek out deep snow.
http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=234 -
Treadmill?
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Roads are usually better cleared than sidewalks, so if you're lucky enough to have some low-traffic roads nearby, you can design some kind of a loop for speed/tempo work.
For the longer stuff, just focus on time spent at a given effort level rather than worrying about mileage. As far as your cardiovascular system is concerned, and hour at easy run pace is an hour at easy run pace regardless of whether you trudged through snow for 4 miles or ran 8 miles on dry ground. -
I hate running outside in the cold, but if I was forced to, I would head to our state park. Wouldn't touch the trails either. Just run cross country through the woods up and down all the ravines. This is massively difficult and is a great workout as well as being fun.
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Same amount of snow here. I bet there's a safe, dry section of pavement within running distance from your house. All you need is 800 meters. Still better than the treadmill.
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Have you considered race walking? This is an up and coming sport and will make good use of the muscles/cardio system developed through running. You will need the fanny pack for proper fueling and don't forget the SONY Walkman!!
Good Luck and God Bless! -
We've had a cold and snowy winter. And I do not treadmill it. Just no.
I have no trouble getting all my miles in. Some are slower than others, thanks to fresh snow or slippery footing, but it's pretty easy to get out there and do it.
With my workouts, I have to be a little more adaptable. I skipped a workout this Tuesday because we had just gotten 5 inches of fresh stuff the night before and there was nowhere with good footing. I moved the workout to later this week and it was great.
As others said, look for places that have some consistent clearing. There are a couple bike paths near me that get plowed (or sections of them get plowed). I do my workouts on these, and sometimes it makes for quite a few out-n-backs. I also tend to make these workouts (the shorter ones) time based so I'm not overly stressing about splits or anything. So instead of 800s I might do 3 minute intervals, or whatever.
So yeah, my advice is get in the miles, do the workouts when you can and don't be afraid to shift things around. Skipping a fast workout and just doing a steady 12 miler in the snow still makes for a really good workout. Especially for a marathon still a few months away. -
there has got to be a mall parking lot that gets plowed. or parking garage, go before it opens.
If the marathon is in May you should be able to get most key workouts in March & April -
Your normal training runs and long runs you can probably get away with running outside. For anything faster, run on a treadmill. Doing mile repeats in the snow might make you tough, but it will also make you slow.
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Ohh... wrote:
Treadmill?
Yes, this.
Doing speed work on sub-par and unpredictable surfaces is asking for trouble and eventual injury. -
Softies, softies everywhere....
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fleet wrote:
I run year round outside, but we get a lot of snow here. Currently, there is about a foot on the ground. I've been training for a marathon in May (goal of 2:40) and according to the plan I have been following, I should be doing workouts (mile repeats, 400s, 2 mile repeats, hills, etc). There is not really any clear areas for me to do this. Should I just be focusing on getting miles in and long runs until the snow is gone? What do others do in the snow? There are no indoor tracks near me...treadmill gets pretty boring, would rather be outside.
I run shorter workouts round our local supermarket car park.
Anything longer, I find a quiet plowed road. -
I don't like running in the snow either.
I also don't like treadmills.
Or the cold.
Or pavement.
Or shoveling.
So I just don't run. -
All of you who are like "Just go to a dry, plowed road near your house" clearly don't actually live in snowy areas.
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pussification wrote:
Softies, softies everywhere....
I agree. Throwing down 30 or 40 half mile intervals on the treadmill is not for the weak. They are usually outside knobby jogging up and down their driveway. -
ThatAverageRunner wrote:
All of you who are like "Just go to a dry, plowed road near your house" clearly don't actually live in snowy areas.
pretty much.
why do regular runners make stuff so hard?
There are tons of videos of mo farah and galen ( side by side) training on treadmill because its too windy or too much rain outside.
good lord.
if it is too cold out or the conditions are terrible for running, hit an indoor track or the treadmill and be done with it. It's only for a short amount of time. Your body is too focused on survival in cold weather, so energy is lost. The body is fighting to maintain core temperature, and the body is sending blood away from the muscles to important organs to keep them warm. All vessels become constricted, so hands and feet don't get the blood that they require to function properly, and they go numb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edK5UedgIlo -
fleet wrote:
What do others do in the snow? There are no indoor tracks near me...treadmill gets pretty boring, would rather be outside.
For a marathon, it's not the end of the world to miss track workouts. If you can find a spot that isn't slick, just do strides as best as you can.
Do your tempo runs on a treadmill. If you find that boring, check out the thread on shows to stream on Netflix.
