Winter Training for Runners

A lot of the examples in this blog pertain to runners, but the information is extremely beneficial for all endurance athletes to think about.

For a lot of people, another season of running is in the books, and you are probably thinking, “what should I sign up for next!?” It’s possible you have already signed up for some races and are heading into the winter season ready to get right back into training.

That’s amazing, but before you just jump back in, I would recommend being intentional about the type of training you are jumping back into.

I’ve broken down what I believe to be an effective process for winter training. First, we will dive into relaxing and reflecting on the previous season. From there we will transition our training back to the basics and take a big picture look at our overall program. After, I will discuss some recommendations for what your strength and run program should look like before ending with tips on navigating running in the colder season; if you are a runner in an area that brings frigid temps and slippery surfaces.

Relaxing and Reflecting
As endurance athletes, it’s so easy to immediately start thinking about the next thing, but I highly recommend taking a few weeks extremely easy and use that time to be still, quiet, and think about the training and season you just had. Ask yourself questions like:

• What went well?
• What could be improved upon?
• Who was in my community?
• Am I able to be still and not run as much right now? If not, why is that? Dig into that.

Now is also a great time to revisit your why and start thinking about if that has changed at all since your last build. It’s hard to properly get ready for your next year if you do not take any time to reflect on the last year.

Back to the Basics
Once you have a good idea of how the last year went and have revisited why you are training in the first place, it is time to start thinking about the actual training for the next season!

As we drop volume and intensity down in our sport, now is a great time to think about all the non-running activities we are doing and start to properly add those back into our routine. Let’s be honest here, as running peaks, our other activities tend to drop off.

• Sleep: Are you getting 7-9 hours a night?
• Family and Friends: Who have you been focusing less time and energy on?
• Nutrition: How do you feel about your diet and hydration?
• Recovery Modalities: Are you prioritizing mobility, stretching, proper warm-up and cool down routines?
• Strength Routine: Are you incorporating 1 strength session for every 2-3 runs? Winter is an amazing time to build strength and consistency in the weight room. More to come below.
• Gait Training: How are your mechanics? Now is the perfect time for a Complete Gait Analysis and training.

I’d highly recommend dialing in the items above before you worry too much about your running or strength for the next season.

Strength and Run Program
Let’s start on the run side of things. There is a good chance that you just had some of the highest volume months of running. That’s amazing, but we need to remember that those were the highest months of volume on the year and possibly your life. It was your peak volume, not your regular volume.

I see runners get injured or burnt out every winter because they start back up at the same weekly or monthly volume they were at when they ended the season last year. I’m going to challenge that and suggest you think back instead to where you started the season and add 5-10 percent to that number.

Example: if you started the season at 15 miles a week and peaked at 30 miles a week, you should start at 15-20 miles a week and see if you can peak at 35-40 miles this upcoming season instead.

Running is a unique sport that can easily be overdone and lead to setbacks if we do not train with proper periodization.

Types of Runs
As far as the types of runs you are doing, I would recommend focusing on a lot of very slow miles and some very fast miles. Now is not the time to be doing threshold runs, VO2 max workouts, marathon pace long runs, etc. Instead, I would recommend dialing in on things that are 60 seconds or less and working on running as fast as you can over those distances. Think about now as the best time to practice the act of running and running fast. In other words, focus on your run base.

Examples: 100-meter strides, incline sprints, track sprints (50s, 100s, 200s,), hurdle wickets, etc.

With these speed workouts, try and rest until your HR comes completely down. If you are doing this correctly, you may do a sprint in 20-30 seconds and then need to rest for 90+ seconds. Think less about these being endurance workouts and more about them being sprint workouts with the intention of improving our running mechanics and max effort speed. You are working on general aerobic endurance during your easy miles, and you can work on speed endurance later in the season.

The cool thing about base training is that if you incorporate speed correctly, you can do it as much as you want. Yes, even daily if you are taking adequate recovery and only go until you can’t sustain maximum speed in the workouts anymore. For a lot of my runners, we will start with 3-6 days of running with 4-6 strides every day and work on increasing both mileage and the type of sprint they are doing.

Strength Training
When it comes to strength training, the best plan of action is to work with someone certified who can help you achieve the goals you are chasing. I wrote a previous blog on strength training and the general basics of it for runners. If you have not read that article, I would recommend you start there before going into some more advanced tips below.

I personally feel like all runners should be doing heavy and dynamic strength training until they enter their specific training block for their races. This would mean that there is only 2-4 months year in which you may have to focus more on maintenance in the weight room. With that being said, I am not ignorant to the fact that this is not always possible and that we generally have more time to focus on strength in the winter months. So, what should we be doing?

• Heavy strength training: Now is the time to work on lower reps with higher sets (3-6 sets x 4-8 reps). I like to do a lot of compound lifting that follows our 7 movement patterns: bench press, deadlifts, squats, lunges, pull-ups, etc.
  
• Dynamic exercises: plyometrics: speed, agility, quickness. One of the easiest ways to work on dynamic exercises is through fast running (see examples above). However, that does not mean we shouldn’t still focus on dynamic activities in the weight room such as box jumps, jump rope, speed ladders, dynamic lateral lunges, explosive single leg hops to stabilization, battle ropes, sleds, etc. For dynamic exercises, I will typically work in the 10-rep range.

Runners are very used to getting their heart rate up and keeping it there. Often, we may even think we are not working hard enough if our HR isn’t high. I will challenge you here and recommend you once again rest long enough so that you can push for maximal effort in these exercises. If you can start a set again after 45-60 seconds, you likely did not go hard enough for it to be considered a “strength exercise” and are likely utilizing more of your endurance/aerobic system.

The weight room can be a scary place. I would once again highly recommend working with someone so that you feel comfortable.

Tips for running in the cold.
Now that we have a good understanding of what you should be doing for your programming, let’s shift our focus a bit to tips for running in the cold. Below are 5 tips that should help you get through the winter!

• Tip 1: Wear spiked shoes! I have seen way too many people fall and drastically change their upcoming season because of icy conditions. Go to your local running store and grab a pair of shoes that have spikes in them (Ice Bugs are great) or add on a spiked accessory to the bottom of your shoe. *If you are in the Minnesota area, I would recommend Gear Running.
  
  
• Tip 2: Proper clothing! Once again, visit your local run store and talk to someone that runs in the cold weather. What do they wear? I’d highly recommend wearing all the necessary items so that you have 0 skin exposed: tights, long sleeve, windbreaker, balaclava, goggles, hat, gloves, wool socks, etc.
  
  
• Tip 3: Avoid sub 0 temps! There is a lot of research out there that talks about the potential impacts cold weather can have the lungs. To be safe, I try to stay inside if the temp drops below 0-10 degrees, but everyone is different. Know your body! *I Run Far and Runner’s World have great articles on this topic.
  
  
• Tip 4: Run with friends! Running alone can be pretty sketchy, especially when it is cold and dark. I always suggest running with a buddy or a local run group in case of emergencies.
  
  
• Tip 5: Skip the run! Let’s be honest, if you are an endurance athlete reading this article, you already have great will power and a strong mental game. You are likely not skipping many runs so if you are hesitant about the conditions being too dangerous, i.e., Snowy blizzards, ice on the roads, cold temperature, etc., skip the run or hit the tread. *If you are in the Minnesota area and need a good treadmill, Performance Running Gym is the place to go.

Blog post written by Jacob Oak | personal trainer, run coach, and gait analyst that works with endurance athletes through Oak Endurance and Performance Running Gym.