🙀 The Case For Cold Weather Running
Here’s why I spent the winter months toughing it out in 20° weather.
Good Morning!
Just last Friday, after posting about how spring was coming, all of a sudden it’s freezing in New York again.
And make no mistake, I hate the cold.
But I forced myself to continue feeling my passion — a newfound passion — for running this winter, despite the temperature of being 20° and sometimes below that.
Why?
Well for as much as I sh*t on ice baths (reminder: they literally do nothing but improve your tolerance to torture) it was like my personal ice bath exercise for the season.
I wanted to develop a sense of grit about my running, but I also learned there are some benefits for running outside that will help me train for this year’s NYC marathon.
Newsletter Summary
The case for cold weather running and it’s benefits
One quote about tolerance to start the week
The case for cold weather running
On a 19° January afternoon, I laced up my Puma’s, grabbed my Nike heat gear, and threw a beanie and two pairs of wool socks on for a 10K around my neighborhood.
Before I started my smartwatch, my pre-run heart rate was around 90 bpm.
I was excited.
I felt like even though the cold wind was going to smack me in the face like Will Smith did Chris Rock, I’d have some fun, and I was ready for a challenge.
And a challenge is what it was.
The right playlist, a creative route circling Astoria Park and the East River waterfront, and a few close calls with some drivers speeding through yellow lights brought my internal temperature right where it needed to be for this run to actually be…fun.
The first argument I’ll make for cold runs is that they can be invigorating.
I know I sound like David Goggins trying to pitch this to you, and you might not feel it right away, but there’s a certain body heat that comes with running outdoors that honestly makes the cold feelings dissipate.
This is purely anecdotal, and I can’t guarantee it for everybody.
But it does come with unique benefits that will bode well for springtime and summertime running:
improved heart health, which is a byproduct of blood vessels working harder to pump blood to chillier areas of the body during cold runs
Better sweat management, where (with repetition and proper winter hydration) the body is conditioned to sweat less and retain more water during cold runs, which is great preparation for hotter temperatures where sweat is more frequent
Ample Novelty for the brain; something new and challenging strengthens our anterior mid-cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that deals with difficult things, and makes future difficult things easier
The spring runs that will (eventually) be here soon will be so much easier because I got out in December, January and February.
Not just psychologically, but physiologically too.
If there’s one thing that this newsletter will constantly challenge you to do, it’ll be to do hard stuff.
But what can’t be underscored is how often hard stuff benefits your body at a microscopic level, too.
Unfortunately, most of you won’t have a chance to give this a try if you’re not brothers or you haven’t been running this winter. The cold days, thankfully, are going to be behind us soon.
But that’s okay.
I’ve got a marathon to run in November, and it’ll be cold again for that when it comes.
So getting the reps in now — loooong before I need to be ready to run 26.2 miles across five boroughs — will pay dividends down the road (literally).
One Quote About Tolerance To Start March
“What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.
— Voltaire
Love this quote right here.
We have to learn to endure things.
That’s what makes us, us.
If you’ve been here a while, you can do 300 something newsletters. That’s impressive.
I’d highly encourage you to suggest this newsletter to somebody who could benefit from learning a thing or two.
Thanks in advance! See you Wednesday.