The benefits of winter

Although the winter has been mostly wet and mild so far, there has been the occasional day where it's dropped below zero.Chilly stuff and something that makes it even harder to leave the nice warm house for a training run. It's especially tricky deciding how many clothes to wear. There's a running adage of 'be bold, start cold' to encourage you to not overdress and end up too hot and sweaty, but as I run with a small backpack (all part of the training) I can get away with a few extra layers and take some off as I go.


A winter landscape to draw you on - not seen this much though .....

But some proper cold winter weather can have some benefits. Scenically, I'm especially fortunate living in the Lake District where a cold clear day after some overnight snow can give a run a very pleasing alpine element and make everything feel just that bit more intrepid and adventurous. As long as that snow and ice doesn't come down too low that is - I'm quite happy looking at it from a distance but I don't fancy running on it too much.

A much more familiar sight this winter - wet feet ahoy!

Which sort of leads me on to an admission. I'm not a massive fan of winter so I can't really think of many other benefits, I'm mostly trying to convince myself here. But there is one more: Get out quickly for a good run on a cold morning and there's few things more pleasing than returning home with a good appetite and whipping up a good cooked breakfast/lunch. Or brunch if you will. There's still plenty of winter left yet so I'm looking forward to lots more of these - Well, I am in training ....

Well earned!