It’s the most wonderful time?
By Kaitlyn
I have a confession. I love winter running. The summer is so hot and gross and you overheat and get headaches and blergh. But the winter? Love.
Last winter I trained for a 1/2 marathon through the snow and ice and while most people questioned my sanity, there was really only a few runs that were too cold. Layers, foot warmers, face masks, I had it all. And it was awesome. Sure sometimes, the going was slow and the sidewalks were covered in three inches of ice and the drivers grumbled and possibly gestured rudely at me when I ran on the roads, but I’d choose winter running over summer running any day.
This morning we woke up to a covering of very wet snow. My kids immediately lost their minds, so we were outside building a very small mis-shaped lovely snowman at 7:45. EY-EHM. Huh. Anyway, the point is not how early it was but what I saw when I looked at the driveway.
The bike and bike trailer. Covered with an inch of snow.
Now, the snow won’t stay, and biking season isn’t yet over (although it is soon to involve snowsuits for the kids and toque and mittens for me), but it’s coming to an end. And I… well, I’m afraid.
I take the girls out for a bike ride most days that we’re home. If my husband is with us, he pulls the trailer, if I’m alone then I do (75+lbs of extra weight, go strength training!). I’ve been swimming once a week, running twice and biking on my days at home. The kids are only in daycare three days a week (my running/swimming days) and I have no idea what to do when I put the bike away for the winter.
Steve is gone for work by 7:20 every morning and doesn’t get home until almost 6. It’s too dark before or after he leaves to run outside. The bike trailer is one that converts into a jogging stroller, so I think that I might switch my biking/running days and take the girls with me on a run and spin at the gym on day care days. But… eventually it will be too cold. I’ve considered asking our babysitter who lives next door to come over for an hour or two on Saturday mornings (hubby works Saturdays, ugh) while I get a long run in (the triathlon book I’m reading said I should keep my long run at about 15k to be able to complete an Olympic distance) and then run with the stroller one other day a week.
Last winter, I was a member of an awesome gym with an awesome child-care service (Steve used to be in the Air Force and the base gym was great for families), so I’d drop the girls off and run at 9:30. I’m realizing that if I’m going to get in the training hours for this tri, it’s going to take some serious organizing.
Oh, did I mention my husband is going to do the same race? Sundays will most likely be his long-run days, and he’ll head to the pool one or two mornings a week before work. Swim for a half an hour then spin for a half an hour.
Am I the only one who gets a little too overwhelmed by my busy life? Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if I could just give up on exercise, but I know that really, it’s much too important to quit.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Doesn’t get that could here, but I love to run in the rain. Soccer is all the better in the rain too. Once you push yourself out the door at least!
I totally get overwhelmed by my busy life, and mine doesn’t sounds as busy as yours!
November 13th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I used to play soccer and *loved* the rainy days too
Running in the rain is very freeing, the only bad part about it is getting hit with those first few drops.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:39 am
I love winter running, too! It’s so much more invigorating than sweating one’s face off during the summer months. I live in Boston and I’m training for a late February marathon (my first– it’s in 15 weeks!). I’m in a similar situation to yours. My husband leaves for work at 6 am everyday and also works many weekends. We have two children, a 3 year old and a 9 month old who still wakes to eat during the night. I used to take the kids to daycare at the gym, but the baby was getting so many colds that I’ve decided not to do it for a while.
So…. I’ve given myself permission to hire a babysitter to help me with my training. I’ve always wanted to run a marathon and this is really the only way I’ll be able to do it. I do some of my shorter runs with the double jogger, but this won’t be safe once there is snow on the ground and less space on the sidewalks. Having the babysitter come a few mornings a week is just so liberating. I don’t have to stress all week about finding the time to squeeze in the long runs. Also, it pretty much guarantees that I will stick to my training schedule because I’m paying for training time and scheduling it out in advance.
If you can afford it, I’d go with the sitter! Good luck!