Will spring 2017 be your season? The case for ending your winter hiatus now

Not all runners pound the pavement year round. If you’re someone who likes to take winter off, we’ve got news for you: the break’s almost up. In some spots in Canada, running through treacherous conditions is nearly impossible. (If you’re running daily through Whitehorse’s deep-freeze arctic conditions in November through to March, we applaud your commitment.) If you tend to hibernate in winter, you’re part of a very large group. But what if we suggested that you end the hibernation early? Hear us out. We have a few convincing arguments to kick-start the routine this week. 

The evenings are about to get longer. For most of Canada, the clocks go forward on the second Sunday of March. That means that in less than two weeks, we will get an extra hour of daylight before sunset. So if you’re someone who tends to not like running in the dark, short evenings will no longer be an excuse. 

READ MORE: Keeping the menu from sabotaging the Sunday morning long run

A mild winter means much of your competition is in shape. Winter 2017 has been a mild one for many Canadians. Some regions in the country saw less snow than usual and many of us experienced record-setting warm temperatures. If you think your competition sat indoors watching Netflix that whole time, you’re wrong; they were running.

Your body misses vitamin D. Get outdoors and do your body a whole lot of good. In the winter months, with lack of sunlight and with being outdoors for less hours of the day, the body misses its dose of vitamin D. If performance-oriented benefits won’t get you off the couch, the health bonuses should. 

You won’t waste the best weather trying to get fit. Start now and be fit by the time the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming. There’s nothing worse than wanting to experience great scenery of spring and summer but not having the fitness level to stay out as long as you wish. 

It will take a few weeks before the run becomes a habit. It takes about three weeks to form a solid base which a habit is built of off. If you invest the time and energy now, your daily run will be a habit by April. You won’t even think twice about it and you certainly won’t be trying to talk yourself into going for an easy few kilometres– it’ll just happen naturally. 

End hibernation, end winter blahs too. Getting sick of winter? Stop winter behaviours like staying in and being lazy. Winter is just about up and by changing the routine, your days will feel more energizing. 

You’ll get a chance to do an early-spring race before the goal race. Usually do a late-May race that you start training for in April? By getting back to your running this week, you could sign up for an early spring race. Not only will you become more fit as a result, but you’ll also have a time from this season to use for comparison.