How to train in the winter (when you don’t want to!)
The days are shorter, the weather is colder and wetter, and for most runners the next race feels a long way off. Motivation often dips, not because commitment has dwindled, but because eveything is working against you.
Reduced daylight is often the biggest challenge. When work and family life already fill the day, losing the early morning and evening light can make it hard to fit in training; there are fewer usable hours in the day. Cold rain adds another layer of resistance, especially when the rewards of race day feel a long way away. It is easy to fall into an all or nothing mindset, where sessions feel pointless unless they are perfect. Winter training works best when we shift our expectations.
Layers are usually your friend in winter, so you can start warm and shed a layer as you warm up. A light waterproof, gloves, and a hat can turn a run from something you endure into something you can actually settle into. For longer outings it's easy to under-hydrate. Cold blunts thirst, but fluid losses still add up if you're out long enough. You can experiment with the hydration calculator to find out how much you need in different temperatures. Warm drinks and insulated bottles can make a surprising difference to energy and mood.
Consistency matters: on wet and gloomy days, choosing 20 or 30 minutes instead of zero keeps the endorphins coming and the desire to run a little sharper. Choosing between a 20-minute run and a 1-hour run is very different to choosing between an hour run or another hour in a warm bed. These shorter runs still support aerobic fitness, and consistency, even in small doses, helps protect your adaptations. Interval sessions can also be adjusted. Reducing the overall length while keeping purpose and quality allows you to get quite a lot of the benefits without the mental drag of a long session in harsh conditions. An example would be a 30-minute progression run, or a 15-minute warm up followed by 10 x 1 minute fast (1 minute recovery).
Indoor training - including cross training - can also be good in winter, even for trail-focused athletes. A bike session on Zwift in a warm room can replace an icy run, add aerobic load, and provide a small heat training stimulus at a time of year when heat exposure is otherwise minimal. It also removes friction. When training feels easy to start, it happens more often.
Whilst food itself shouldn't be a reward for exercise, you can tempt yourself with a special treat. When I lived in Edinburgh, for my longest winter runs I used to get the train 50km out of town and order a vegan katsu curry to be delivered to my flat in just over 4 hours - nothing quite like the possibility of missing your delivery to keep the legs turning over... You can also run to a cafe for hot chocolate, or to meet a friend.
With races far away, you can put up a visual reminder of what you are training for. A photo of a finish line on the wall, or a short note reminding you how you want to feel next season can boost motivation on days when conditions are uninviting.
Winter training is not about heroic sessions. It is about showing up often enough and quietly laying foundations. Spring fitness isn’t built on a single workout, but by the months when you weren’t motivated to train but did it anyway.
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