Are you a new or seasoned runner who struggles with continuing your training during the hustle and bustle between Halloween and New Years? I have a few suggestions to hopefully help!
1. Understand not every run will be perfect. This time of year can be very stressful, this crests emotional and physical stress on your body that you may not notice during the rest of the year. If you are in a maintenance phase I suggest that you adjust your mindset about how your runs are supposed to go. Take a step back and just run an easy pace, by easy I mean 2-3 minutes slower than you usual pace. Nobody cares about your pace, you're still out logging the miles and it will cause less wear and tear on your body during this time of high stress. If you are training for a spring marathon be sure to give yourself recovery weeks every 3rd week. Decrease your mileage and intensity for one week.
2. Eat all the food! Obviously do not eat 5,000 calories a day but don't worry about the extra piece if cheesecake or pie! Enjoy this time with friends and family. You'll enjoy this time of year more if you're not obsessing about counting calories and carbs.
3. Take an extra rest day but be smart about it. If you're still doing speed sessions take the day after as a rest day, same with long runs take the following day off or do a 2-3 mile recovery run. Nothing hard and fast two days in a row.
4. Plan your runs a week in advance and put them in writing! If you put them in writing this will make it more difficult to skip. Additionally if you add them to your calendar that will help with accountability.
5. Be flexible! Maybe some morning when that alarm goes off at 5 A.M. you decide that you would rather sleep in, go for your run after work if you have time. Ask your spouse to help with cooking dinner so you can get your run in. Join a running group, especially for winter running. This can help with accountability as well. Maybe being flexible means you need to change up your run time multiple days a week in order to get them in. Maybe it means you need to scale back and run 4 days instead of 5. Any run is better than no run!
If you're still struggling and want to prioritize running I would suggest hiring a coach. many coaches charge a monthly fee, you can join for just a few months then take time off and come back again.
Hope you enjoyed my tips for training during the busy holiday season! Watch for winter running tips coming soon.