My motivation for running outside dwindles as the temperatures plunge below zero. Needless to say I have been inside running on my treadmill. I’ve gotten into a groove so it’s not as mentally draining as it could be. Staying active is so important in the winter.
I just have to ask myself – What is the purpose of the run? What happens if I don’t run? Remember tomorrow. Those kind of questions. It’s nearly March. It has to warm up above zero and the snow has to melt sometime, right? I just know if I am not active, I will get stuck in a rabbit hole of feeling depressed.
I’m slowly building the mileage every week. It feels good to look at the numbers on Strava. I can’t bring myself – yet – to run over 20K on the treadmill in one go. I am crossing my fingers that I will be outside sooner than later on those long run days.
Fortunately I found a great TV series to watch on Netflix that keeps me distracted and ready to jump back on the treadmill. That’s one of my tricks to staying treadmill happy. Make sure you have something that keeps you distracted. You’ll forget you are running on a treadmill.
I also like playing around with the elevation on the treadmill. My favourite workout is upping the elevation every 30 seconds to a minute until I reach the top, then I do the same going down. I do this about four times and run a few flat kilometres between climbs.
I am happy with my consistency both at the gym and on the treadmill. Next week I meet my trainer who will assess my body fat percentage, lung capacity etc. Hopefully it won’t suck too much. I am looking forward to having someone assess my form and introduce me to a new program.M
Vegan gains
I am starting to see some baby gains in my upper body. My arms are starting to show some muscle – without flexing. The biggest challenge has been balancing gym time time with running on the treadmill. I know once the weather improves running will trump the gym every single time. Right now it is just a matter of making my time count at the gym.
I’m adding a little extra protein to my diet. Nothing too fancy. And nothing too complicated. I don’t want to drink my calories that often so I am simply having an extra bit of lentils or scoop of peanut butter to my meals.
I have some Hemp yeah! and PB2 that I occasionally add to my smoothies. I’m not a huge fan of the hemp powder but I don’t want to waste it. I add enough greens and fruit to my smoothies that I don’t even taste it. I won’t buy this brand of PB2 again. I realized after I took it home that sugar is added to the mix. Grrrrr! Why do they need to add sugar? (Another reason not to buy this crap.) I am going to get back into making my own peanut butter in the next bit. I don’t know why I ever stopped making my own.
As well I believe I don’t need to add protein shakes and such to my diet in order to get those muscle gains. Right now I am going to use up what I have in my pantry and go from there.
Let’s face it. It can be challenging to stay active and motivated all winter long especially when the frigid temperatures and buckets (and buckets) of snow last half the year in Canada. We all know that the work we do in the winter will make us a stronger and fitter runner the rest of the year. I feel a little soft running inside this winter. But I have the option to run inside and avoid the cold and potentially re-injuring my ankle. So why not take it?
What are you doing to stay active this winter? Please let me know in the comments below.