The dangers of predicting December weather

Even despite the restrictions, there's something magical about this time of year; the decorations are up, the houses are festooned with lights, the kids are increasingly full of sugar and there's a general air of excitement as the advent countdown continues. In terms of running, however, the situation is slightly different.

 

To the casual observer the great outdoors is increasingly cold, wet, unforgiving and requiring of one’s ‘big coat’ at this time of year. Temperatures plummet like Donald Trump’s chances of scooping the award for 2020’s Most Dignified Loser of The Year and mobile phones across the land ping with assorted weather warnings for ice, snow, floods and gales. Those in Scotland, meanwhile, have even managed to trump the spectacle of a December snow storm by inventing an entirely new dramatic weather phenomenon of their own, thundersnow. 

 

All this may suggest to the humble runner that it is indeed time to dig out the base layers and spend Black Friday hunting for bargain thermal gloves and hats, all of which may now be needed before trainers are donned and GPS signal connected...right?

 

Wrong. This is a false dawn. December, it transpires, is a liar.

Glance out the window and the dark, grey, blustery conditions seem wholly uninviting. The neighbours are getting blown up the road as they take their reluctant dog for a walk, the rain-filled clouds are whipping across the sky at speed and the autumn leaves are being dashed against the glass. It looks bad.

 

Under such circumstances the runner does what any sensible person would do after peering through the curtains, he wraps up for the weather. Squeezing into running leggings, sliding on an Under Armour top and accessorising with hat and gloves, he heads out for his Sunday long run prepared for the arrival of the next ice age at some point over the following two hours. The thing is, it never arrives. In fact, by the time he gets to the end of the road he already realises he's made a terrible mistake, as I did this weekend.

 

Three minutes into my Sunday run and my head was already too hot. My hands, meanwhile, were enjoying the warmth, but in a 'this is nice, but not really necessary' kind of way, while my legs were embarrassed to be wrapped in glorified stockings.

 

Yes, it was cold and yes December is cold, but it's amazing how quickly one forgets that the act of running makes you hot. The appearance, five minutes further into my run, of a fellow runner in nothing more than shorts and t-shirt, only made matters worse.

 

"Morning," he said as we passed, the smug look in his eyes betraying his real thoughts; "what's this loon thinking, dressed up like we're in Siberia? He'll regret that!" And I was regretting it. I had the prospect of a further 17KM ahead of me, either overheating or having to carry my redundant hat and gloves, looking like a cross between an amateur athlete and a Victorian squire.

 

Damn you December!

 

So my advice to you all at the tail end of the year; look after the extremities (in my case gloves and a hat to keep my ears from freezing), but don't worry too much about the rest, unless you're in Scotland, in which case take a shovel and a week's rations with you, just in case.

 

[Adapted from a post first written in December 2018, when I wasn't injured and could run 17KM in the wrong kit!]

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How to run when you just can't be bothered

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10 tips for running when you just don't feel like it

Whether you're a seasoned runner, a marathon regular, a trail running addict or a newbie, we all have days when we just can't be bothered. The kind of days when our motivation has evaporated and the thought of donning trainers and heading out the door is about as appealing as making a trip to Ikea on a Bank Holiday Monday. 

Such days are, of course, more common during the winter months when the warmth of home is in stark contrast to the Siberia-like scenes on the other side of our triple-glazed windows. However, this running lethargy can be overcome and see you casting off the pyjamas and slippers in favour of shorts and trail shoes. The answer is distraction, and here are my top 10 tips:

1. Choose an album you loved when you were 17

I once heard a very successful, and stupendously wealthy, TV advertising chap explain how you can sell anything to anyone, as long as you use a soundtrack from when your target audience was 17. The idea was that your music taste is defined during your teenage years and, as such, the artists and albums you listen to during these years are the ones that have the biggest influence on you. So, rewind 17 years, download that album you listened to with your mates at that teenage house party where you passed out on the kitchen floor and head out the door. My aged 17 album of choice? Dummy by Portishead.

2. Run in reverse

A few weeks ago I wrote about the benefits of running your regular routes in reverse. The simple process of picking a route and then running it backwards can transform a familiar five miles into a completely new experience. But will you run it in the same time? Give it a go and find out. 

3. Out and back

A running club favourite and great for practicing pacing. Set yourself a time goal - say an hour - and run at a steady pace for half an hour before turning around and heading back. If you've paced it right, you should find that you arrive back at your front door bang on 60 minutes. Go out too fast and you'll pass the hour mark before you get home, too slow and you'll have to go straight past your house!

4. Podcast

However niche or bizarre your hobbies or interests, there's a podcast out there for you. There's also a growing number of great running-related podcasts to choose from too. Running Commentary is a favourite of mine, as is the UK Run Chat podcast. Downloading an episode or two is a great way to distract yourself while you're running, just don't forget to keep an eye out for traffic too!

5. Run to the family

Ok, perhaps not one for lockdown times, but if your nearest and dearest are heading out for a day trip, going to the supermarket or heading to the swimming pool, let them take the car and  you can run to meet them for a lift home. As along as your family don't mind sharing the ride home with a sweaty mess, you'll be fine

6. Live album

A great live concert album, at high volume, on a speedy threshold run, can help you pick up the pace and see the miles fly by. However, be warned that the general public do tend to look at you rather oddly if you sing along and bash out some air drums as you pound the pavements. I can recommend Oasis at Knebworth Park for starters.

7. Go slow

If you're not really feeling like your usual long run or the thought of your threshold session is making you feel a little nauseous, just go slow. Much has been written about the benefits of slow running to improve both speed and endurance, so there's no need to feel guilty. You're still lapping all those still at home in their PJs.

8. Halve the time

Half a run is better than no run at all. If you're really struggling to get your head around the fact that your schedule has you down for a two hour long run today, cut it in half. Heading out for an hour - or however long your demi-run would be - is less daunting, and you'll make up the time or distance on one of your more motivated days.

9. Explore

When the thought of heading out on a regular route is utterly uninspiring, challenge yourself to run a route, road or trail you've never done before. No matter how well you know your local area, there's always a turning or side road that you've never ventured down before. So set off with no route in your mind and see where you end up.

10. Run with someone

Another one for post-lockdown times, but when you're struggling to motivate yourself, running with other people can be the perfect tonic. Not only can you moan about it together, but  you can embrace the opportunity to do what all runners do when they get together; talk abut running injuries, routes, races and gear.

If none of these 10 ideas gets you out of the door, however, then today may just not be a running day. But that's ok. Sometimes taking a day off to veg in front of the telly is exactly what our bodies need, so far from stressing out at your apparent lack of motivation, embrace it, reach for the remote and plug yourself into an epic boxset...I'd recommend the new Simon Pegg and Nick Frost series, Truth Seekers, on Amazon Prime for starters.

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"Tim’s 16-month journey is filled with worry, hope, belief, determination and achievement. Relatable and even funny at times, Tim overcomes so much and will hopefully help many other people think twice about the importance of health checks, at whatever age. The Running Drug made me smile, as well as think about all my male family and friends. The included information could be really helpful to them and may even save someone’s life. It’s a great book, highly recommended."

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Runinng with a cold during the coronavirus pandemic - snot easy!

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A year ago, a cold was a cold. If I had one, I’d be miserable, I’d look like death and people would generally refrain from a cuddle, but we’d all otherwise go about our days. Today, however, venturing out in public with a cold feels like you’re threatening the security of the nation. People stare in horror, hurry their children away and tighten their face masks at the mere sight of your blood shot eyes or, heaven forbid, the sound of an involuntary sneeze, however muffled by your incendiary tissues.

 

My cold this week has put me firmly in the ‘he must have coronavirus, let’s avoid him’ camp, but I can’t blame people for scrambling to the nearest exit in their bid to escape the fallout zone of my nostrils. While I most definitely don’t have coronavirus  - no fever, no continuous cough and no loss of taste or smell – I’ve not exactly been an advert for positive wellbeing either, a point that was brought starkly home to me on my first post-cold run.

 

In hindsight, I should have left it one more day, but in my Lemsip-addled brain, I was determined to show this cold who was boss and get back to running. Over compensating for the slight dip in temperature, I spectacularly over dressed for the gentle 5KM I had planned, donning leggings and a buff around the ears. These served to almost instantaneously warm me up to a beyond comfortable temperature and set the trend for what was to be the most uncomfortable run of the year.

 

Without wanting to put you off your dinner, colds inevitably come with mucus and the kilometres that followed saw much of that mucus attempting to find its way out of my nose or down my throat. The result, I imagine, was the sight of a sweaty man whose bloodshot eyes were streaming and whose nose was running faster than he was. The strange gurgling/hacking noises, meanwhile, were not too dissimilar to those you’d expect from your average zombie. No wonder people were crossing the road 50-metres ahead of me, they were probably rushing to find the nearest cricket bat with which to bring my undead suffering to an end.

 

My energy levels were low, but at the back of my mind I had a nagging voice – most likely that of my old PE teacher – telling me; “This is good for you. It’ll sweat it out of you.” Of course, a large part of me wanted to believe it, but another part of me wondered whether “sweating it out of you” was supported by any kind of clinical evidence. Much in the same way as “run it off” was often used in my school days as a cure for sprained ankles and lower limb fractures, I doubted whether there had ever been a published study of either practice in the British Medical Journal. Nevertheless, I kept going.

 

Labouring around the familiar route, I was of course aware that I was still poorly, so I purposefully ensured that I maintained as much distance as I could between myself and anyone else on the pavements. The result was that I zig-zagged across streets and stumbled off kerbs, looking like I’d taken my last two paracetamol with a pint of Jack Daniels. However, I know that I did the right thing by my fellow pedestrians – as the majority of runners always do, despite the occasional glassy-eyed stares of those sceptical of anyone breaking a sweat.

 

By the time I reached home, I felt like I’d been in a fist fight. Everything ached and I had a ringing in my ears, but my breath eventually returned, my eyes stopped watering and, as I stepped into the shower, I realised that I actually did feel better for it. My body had needed a bit of a beasting to get it functioning properly and my mind had needed the wake up call to stop moaning and get on with getting better.

 

Granted, running with a cold is perhaps not a training session any of us would ever opt for, but when you’ve got no option – and providing you can accept the fact that you are going to look the worst you have ever looked – my 100% non-clinical advice is go for it. Just remember to take a tissue or two with you.

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