Winter Wonderland

After several weeks of bitter cold in December and January, I finally have been able to be out and enjoying the outdoors again. As much as buckling down and doing indoor training on the treadmill and trainer seem to help me focus on form and mental toughness, it is a huge relief to be enjoying the outdoors during my training sessions again.

While the roads have yet to clear up enough for a good road ride, I have enjoyed quite a few trail runs on packed snow. I've considered snow biking on the 4"wide tires, but I've been told that you pretty much grind your way through every ride on a snow bike. Seeing as my biggest challenge on the bike is getting my cadence up and consistent, I've decided to put off any snow biking for the time being.

Living in a place like Wyoming, surrounded by beauty and open spaces, it can sometimes be killer to be inside on a treadmill on a blue sky day that looks so inviting. But one step out the door into the sub 10 degree temperatures you realize why you are training on a treadmill. The temps have risen above twenty and I am back out on the trails as often as possible. I couldn't be more thankful to live in such a picturesque place. I've gone from hour long treadmill workouts that make 5 minute intervals feel like an eternity, to hour and a half runs in the snow that make me want to keep running further.