My sisters were in town this weekend. It was so fun to have them around and get into the Christmas spirit. We got our Christmas tree, decorated it and made a Gingerbread House.
We were not that creative in our Christmas tree shopping…We crammed into my little Subaru and drove to Home Depot to get the tree. There really weren’t a ton of options, but we found a diamond in the rough.
We decorated the tree and my sister, Julia, dressed up as Santa!
Group shot!
The weather has been so touch and go lately. Sometimes it’s freezing cold and other times it’s manageable. I have been staying inside a lot lately, but I finally got outside for a run on Friday and I am so glad I did. It was cold and a little slippery but so worth it. I had gotten into a bad routine of staying inside to workout, but I was determined to change it up. To be honest, the impetus to get outside was the other day at the gym, this girl came in from a tempo run outside, wearing shorts and 6 months pregnant! Granted she is an incredible runner and competed in track and road races her who life but regardless, I was like “ok if she is running outside, I can run outside!” So I did. Sometimes it just takes a little extra push and competition.
Today I went for another run outside and thoroughly enjoyed it. The biggest thing preventing me from getting outside to run was the cold weather. I hate being cold and sometimes would rather go to the gym than freeze on a run outside. Some things I do to motivate to get outside are below:
- Warm up at home – The hardest part about running in cold weather is the temperature and initial shock when you step outside. Before you go out for your run, spend 5 minutes doing active stretching so you get your heart rate up and your body warmed up. If you are warm before you start your run, you will stay warm for the entire run.
- Dress warm – Nothing can ruin a cold weather run more than being cold (go figure!) so bundle up! You never know how the wind chill or snowy weather can affect your run. I like to wear more to ensure I am warm. I can always shed layers if I have to.
- Do loops around your house. Because I am so worried about being cold, I always were a lot of layers. By picking a short loop near my house, I can shed layers at my apartment when I get hot and then continue running. Do figure eights around the house so you don’t get bored doing the same 1 mile loop.
- Sign up for a race – Being on a training program and having a plan that you need to stick to always helps motivate
- Just Do It – the first 5 minutes might suck, but just get out and run.
Do you run outside in the winter?
What do you do to get outside and workout in cold weather?
