Perch Lake crossing
at -31 deg C (comfortably)
There’s no shame in
hitting the treadmill when conditions get tough—not
only is the moving belt free of slippery ice, but indoor
running is also a great way to train for a fast 5K, hone
your pacing, or give your joints a break from pounding
cold, hard pavement.
However, provided you feel
safe, there’s an upside to logging miles al fresco
in the colder months, says Kimberley Dawson, Ph.D., a
mental performance consultant and professor at Wilfrid
Laurier University in chilly Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Many of the Olympians and other runners she works with
describe winter running as a simultaneously soothing and
invigorating experience—“like a cleanse,”
she says.
There are a few caveats to
consider before heading out in the cold. Exercise physiologist
Daniel Craighead, Ph.D., an assistant research professor
at University of Colorado Boulder, is careful to point
out you should always protect yourself from the elements.
“Layer up to keep your core temperature in a normal
range and avoid hypothermia,” and also to ward off
frostbite, he says.
There are other risks: Inhaling
cold air can trigger bronchospasms, asthma-like bouts
of coughing and wheezing that hamper breathing. And elevated
blood pressure in the cold could lead to heart attacks,
especially in older people or those with underlying heart
conditions. That’s one reason shoveling snow sends
so many people to the emergency room. The risk is lower
with running, especially for those who do it regularly,
but still worth acknowledging, he says.
Regardless of your baseline
health, there are some days when conditions might warrant
staying inside. There’s no single cutoff temperature
that’s dangerous, because wind, precipitation, and
sunlight play a role. Instead, Craighead recommends checking
your local weather forecast and heeding windchill advisories
and frostbite warnings. Additionally, consider how much
ice is on your route; slipping and injuring yourself could
keep you inside for much longer than you intend.
But on days that don’t pose those dangers, consider
gearing up and getting out there to reap the benefits
of winter running. Besides psychological sensations like
peace and clarity, braving the elements comes with some
physical perks, too. Here’s more on why cold-weather
training just might be worth it.
It
helps take the sting out of winter
On the first frigid day of each season, your sympathetic
nervous system swoops into action, revving up your fight-or-flight
system to save you from freezing. Your blood shuttles
inward from your skin and extremities to preserve your
core temperature and your vital organs, says Craighead.
And if you weren’t generating heat by running, you
might start shivering.
But as you repeatedly encounter
cold weather with no life-threatening consequences, your
body learns to tone down its stress response, a somewhat
mysterious process called cold habituation. As winter
wears on, fewer stress hormones, such as catecholamines,
flow through your bloodstream. And more of that blood
stays close to your skin, making you feel warmer.
Unlike heat acclimatization,
cold habituation has no proven performance benefits; nor
does it seem to add to the health perks you’re already
getting from exercise, Craighead says. However, regular
runs can speed the adjustment process, making any other
outdoor task—from walking the dog to waiting for
the bus—more bearable.
You’ll
decrease the impact of seasonal sadness
Millions of Americans—especially those who live
in northern climates—notice that their mood dips
in colder months. Health experts believe one key reason
for this condition, called seasonal affective disorder,
is that less exposure to natural light throws off our
circadian rhythms.
Training outdoors during
daylight can help reset those rhythms, says Paul Winsper,
Under Armour’s VP of Human Performance, Science
and Research. Sunlight exposure also increases production
of vitamin D, a key component of mood-regulating neurotransmitters
like serotonin (and, Winsper points out, critical to a
healthy immune system).
Add to this the mood-boosting
effects of both physical activity and exposure to green
space, and cold-weather running can serve as a salve,
Dawson says—an antidote for “nature deficit
disorder,” a term coined by author Richard Louv
to refer to disconnection from the world around us. In
addition, exercising outdoors may also decrease fear and
uneasiness; in one large 21-year study, Swedish cross-country
skiers were about half as likely to develop anxiety as
non-skiers.
All of this is particularly
critical right now, with an ongoing pandemic that has
worn away at our collective mental health. “When
you look at what COVID has taken away from us, it’s
really taken away our sense of control,” Dawson
says. “We get that back when we are outside, when
we are one with nature, and we are grounded.”
And,
you can rev up your metabolism
Shivering definitely increases your body’s energy
expenditure, but if you’re running, your core temperature
probably won’t drop enough for you to start shaking.
However, research suggests less significant drops in body
heat can trigger a phenomenon called nonshivering thermogenesis,
an increase in metabolism mainly accomplished through
the activation of special tissue called brown fat. (There’s
even some evidence this effect increases as you become
habituated to the cold.)
“As the weather is
colder, people tend to be less active,” Craighead
says. Add pandemic-related restrictions and routine changes,
and many people have been moving even less over the last
two years. The one-two punch of exercising and colder
air can keep your body’s fueling systems humming
along.
You’ll build mental skills
for racing
Say you’re training for a spring race—for
instance, the Boston Marathon, which in 2022 returns to
its traditional third Monday in April. The weather for
these events can be unpredictable, as anyone who ran Boston
in 2018 can tell you. Persevering through less-than-ideal
conditions in training can prepare you to cope with any
forecast come race day, Dawson says.
“You get this really
nice sense of, I am mentally tough, I can do this,”
she says. “If I can navigate this, then I can navigate
that spring marathon in terms of whatever it throws at
me.”
But,
also enjoy some relief from expectations
The chemical reactions that produce muscle contractions
function best at warm temperatures, meaning you can’t
always perform as well in frigid conditions, Craighead
says. That, combined with the extra challenge of ice or
slush, means you can stress less about putting up a good
pace on Strava.
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