The Great Winter Running Debate

When to run outdoors vs. indoors?

To treadmill or brave the elements?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Winter is around the corner and holiday cheer is bubbling up, but that also means the cold weather returns and presents challenges for the avid outdoor exerciser.

No where is the challenge fiercest than in the running community. You have pavement warriors who all of sudden retreat into the hibernation of the indoors, wishing the elements well and turning to the treadmill as their lone friend in this season of darkness.

A couple of my mutuals on social media have stated their positions on opposite sides of the battle.

Michael Donatelli

and

Brady Holmer

both make good points despite the ‘tongue in cheek’ nature of the posts below.

How do you know what’s better for you? It all depends on what you’re aiming at.

Where is your training aimed?

The most important thing to recognize about all physical training is the aimed orientation.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Before you decide on running inside or outside during the winter, make sure you have a clear understanding of your training aim.

I’m going to break down how I see this question into two categories: Physical Progress and Mental/Spiritual Progress. These are the two main aims people have with exercise and sport. Below I’ll go over what each aim requires and why you’d be better off indoors or outdoors depending on where your heart is leading you.

Important qualifier here, just because you primarily aim at one doesn’t preclude you from gaining in the other category, it’s just which one takes precedent over the other.

I’ll even add a little twist at the end, nudging both types of runners towards eachother because it shouldn’t be an ‘all or nothing’ mentality in either direction.

Physical Progress

People who aim here want to get better at the sport or exercise.

They want to see objective progression, faster times, longer distances, technique improvements, gear enhancements, etc. To them, exercise matters because it’s an arena that gives them the satisfaction of working towards and completing a goal.

In the running world, it’s almost always related to running faster at an easier effort.

For these runners, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to brave the elements which both make running with good form a problem and also increase the potential for injury.

The mental fortitude they gain through training comes in the form of rote discipline to a training plan, going hard and easy, and finding restraint to execute.

If you have serious pacing goals for upcoming road races in 2025, you’re not going to gain a lot of training progress sloshing through the slush and snow, dodging cars and snow banks, slipping on ice.

If you are getting into running to establish a consistent exercise habit, it’s also not a great idea to put so much resistance in your way. Hitting the gym 3x a week for the winter is way better than waffling between good weather and bad weather days to get out.

Mental/Spiritual Progress

A lot of us use exercise as a means to enter our minds and train our spiritual will power. We use the training to learn about ourselves and attempt to use the knowledge and lessons to improve our character. We have physical goals, but they are secondary to the process of self discovery.

We need to be outside in the adverse weather. That’s the challenge we seek. It’s not faster pace times and progression in form. It’s guts, resiliency, adventure, challenge, and determination we seek.

If your aim is to callous the mind and not give into excuses, winter running is the exact exercise you need. It involves courage, creativity, adaptation, humility, and grace.

Trail runners and people going after ultra marathons should get outside as often as possible. People who want to gain ferocity should scream at the cold and demand more!

If this is your aim, heading inside is a capitulation. Don’t quit. Bundle up instead.

A Twist

No here’s the real deal friends. Both groups should learn from eachother.

Indoor runners, on those nice sunny days where the roads dry up you need to get BACK outside. None of the adverse situations relating to health, safety, and performance are present anymore. It’s just chilly. But you’re a runner, you know you’ll warm up fast and enjoy the bracing outdoor air when you finish.

If the conditions allow it, get outside.

Outdoor runners, don’t be silly. Some days it’s not smart to get outside. I’ve driven through some gnarly blizzards that were more dangerous than the trails I ran when I arrived. It’s OK to be indoors every once and a while.

The treadmill offers good training for anyone. I personally like doing test runs on those days I’m forced inside. Running a fast mile and then doing backwards, side lunges, and hills afterwards as a good 20-25 minute workout.

Takeaway

At the end of the day, it all comes down to preference. What one person likes about running another person finds distasteful, all good. We shouldn’t be insecure about our own preference because someone else has a different one. If we do feel that way, it’s a signal that we’re not aimed correctly.

If you head indoors to run in the winter but feel slighted by the jabs of the outdoor runners, rethink your aim and mmake sure your calibrated to the target.

Same things with outdoor runners, if you are drawn to the stability and consistency of the treadmill in the winter but don’t want to be seen to be ‘weak’ in the eyes of other runners, again reclarify your aim and make sure you’re on the right target.

The biggest issue in this debate isn’t what’s right and wrong for everyone. It’s about what’s best for you, your running goals, and what you want to get from exercise. Once you figure that part out, it doesn’t matter if you’re indoors or outdoors.

What matters most is playing from the heart, and always letting that be your guide. I’ve helped people who want to run outdoors but fear the cold conquer winter trail runs. I’ve helped people who live in crazy cold conditions find peace in the gym with creative and inspiring programs. Whether you want to be indoors or outdoors this winter, if you want guidance on powering your exercise from the heart, send me a message using the button below and let’s get working on what’s best for YOU!

Happy running my friends!