How another easy winter has turned me into a giant wimp

Sure, we’ve gotten a lot of snow in the past few weeks, but realistically, as Canadian winters go, this has been another pretty easy one. While not as easy as last year, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a span of more than three weeks where the temperature did not get above freezing where I am in Southern Ontario.

And to be frank, this has been a bit of a problem for my running.

My winter has looked a little like this:

Random cold day: Hmm, it’s really cold and windy out. Oh well, maybe I will run on the treadmill today; it’s supposed to get warm again in about 5 days.

5 days later: Wow, it’s really wet and gross out there. Maybe I will run on the treadmill today; I need to find out what’s going to happen in this TV show.

2 days after that: Yikes! It’s below freezing and all those puddles from two days ago are making surface conditions really treacherous! I don’t want to break any bones, so I think I will run on the treadmill today.

Rinse, repeat.

Take today for example. I got dressed in my running gear and went out to shovel the driveway. It’s a gorgeous +4C out, but when I got to the bottom of the driveway and l saw that the roads were still buried in a good six to eight inches of wet, heavy snow – you know, the kind that builds up on the bottom of your shoes to the point where you have to knock it off every 8-10 steps and you start to look like you’re rehearsing a number from the Wizard of Oz – I retreated back into the house.

Meanwhile, in those winters where “cold” is the rule rather than the exception, you wouldn’t find me in my basement more than once a week – and that was only when it was too icy for outdoor speed-work.

So there you have it. It’s been a light winter and I have no right to complain. I am bored of the treadmill despite being addicted to a TV series I have seen twice from beginning to end; yet I am in a rut and I don’t seem to have the mental energy to get over it and get out the door.* Anyone else having this struggle?

I am ready for more daylight, clear surface conditions and fewer layers. Yup, I am ready for spring. How about you?

*A fact that is even worse when you consider that I do run outdoors with my beginner clinic. It doesn’t count as a workout for me because I am busy trying to keep track of everyone, but you would think if I could deal with wet socks and dangerous surfaces with them, I could do it on my own…