Talk Yourself into Running in Cooler Weather

It’s coming. Winter running season.

When I head out to warm up for my run, I mean it literally.

It’s harder to get out the door this time of year, there’s no question of that. But the benefits to running outdoors are possibly even greater come the cooler months, when we might not get outside otherwise. We’re relying on those cool-weather runs for our sunlight-driven Vitamin D stores, and it just feels so good to get outside when we might not otherwise.

I crave feeling of freedom I get from heading outside for a cool weather run after spending a larger percentage of my day trapped indoors.

So do it; talk yourself into getting out there for a run, even though you know those first 5, 10, 15 minutes will be tough.

Sometimes when I’m having trouble getting out the door, I talk to myself like I’m an over-enthusiastic outdoorsy friend who can’t wait to get outside.

Come on! You’ll feel warm less than a mile in. It’ll be great. The trails will be empty. The ground is finally hard, no mud on the brook path! It’s so nice not to get over-heated on a run. I just love seeing the landscape transform with the seasons. Let’s see who’s taken down their Halloween decorations! You don’t have to run nearly as far in this weather to feel accomplished. Just getting out for 3 miles when the ground is frosted over makes you a total achiever. Let’s GOOOOO! Wait, is it going to get dark while we’re out there? How awesome! We can try that running headlamp. This will be GEAR-TASTICK. No one will doubt our serious adventurousness now. We need these endorphins, the busy holiday season is coming up. Let’s spend the entire time thinking about PIE! I love pie. We need to head out on this run so we have time to think in peace and quiet about types of pie. We have to plan pie season. You know what puts you in the mood for pie? Running in the freezing cold. YEAH!

I don’t know how well this strategy works, but I enjoy brainstorming feeble reasons why running in 28 degree weather is going to be totally awesome.

If you’re thinking ridiculously over-optimistic thoughts, your brain isn’t going through the litany of reasons why you’d rather stay inside where it’s warm and get something else done. Just keeping your brain away from those thoughts while you’re getting dressed can really help.

The more times you power through your “don’t feel like it” urge to stay home, the stronger your “get out the door” muscle will get, and it’ll be reinforced by how good you feel each time you come back from that run.

Happy running, you gear-tastick adventurous non-overheating runner, you.