I love running in the winter, but you will never find me in below 10* temperatures! I also love the treadmill, so I use that often as a good training tool. Thankfully I invested in an amazing treadmill for indoor runs at home and I’ve been on it a lot lately thanks to solo-parenting this past week. Hence the blog post on a Sunday rather than Friday (like I wanted)! I have a quality session to do later today and temps are only getting into the teens, so I’ll probably be on the treadmill again. BUT when it does warmup, I will be outside and wanted to share a few tips that have helped me be a consistent outdoor winter runner.

• Dress like it’s 10 degrees warmer out.

• If it’s snow-packed roads, wear trail shoes/kahtoola spikes that go on over your shoes (or something similar)/ shoes specific for running in the winter months (I think I saw some from Saucony)

• Wear layers to dress-up/ shed if you get too warm

Warm your hydration bottles or wrap them in hand warmers if going out for a longer run

Wear knee-high socks if you might be in some snowy areas

Tell someone your route and wear bright colors if there’s a chance it might snow (or is snowing)

Finally- be ok with reduced paces and shift your goals for the run. Maybe you only get out for 2 miles instead of 4- that’s ok! I would sometimes run a very small route near our house on snow days, but I knew I was ‘safe’ and close to home. Think of winter running as trail running- it’s more about time on feet rather than hitting exact paces or mileage (I hit the treadmill if I need to get in speedwork or a specific workout when the weather outside isn’t great).

-What are your winter running tips? What’s a temperature that you definitely do not run outside in?