Winter is almost over, but you wouldn’t know it this year. 2024-2025 has been one of the longest, coldest winters in recent memory. We’ve also had more snow than usual by recent standards, although compared to years like 2010 and 2016, it hasn’t been too much. All told, I’m not going to complain. We’ve got what figures to be the final cold snap of the winter hitting us over the next day or 2, with morning temperatures predicted to be in the low 20s. I’m hoping to take advantage of it and get out for a couple more hikes up at Loch Raven Reservoir, which has been my go-to winter hiking destination for the past couple of years.

Running has been steady this winter. I haven’t missed a run in several weeks. I’m running around 25 miles per week: 7 to 8 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 to 13 miles on Saturdays (days subject to change due to weather conditions, etc). I’ve gotten conditioned to the point where I can run 10 miles and not feel it the next day. I try to go 13.1 about once per month, but I definitely do still feel that distance the next day. This week, my weekday runs went really well. I typically leave the house at 8:30 to avoid school traffic, but Thursday, I had to leave at 6:30 due to a morning dentist appointment. Fortunately, by late February, it’s no longer pitch dark at 6:30 (at least until the time change in March). Today (Saturday), I had some issues with low energy. I made it 10 miles, but I was really dragging through the middle part of the run. I ate a protein bar at around 7 miles, which gave me enough energy to finish the run. I suspect it might have been a hydration issue. There isn’t really a quick fix for dehydration: you can’t just slam 32-48oz of water right before a run, because the body can’t absorb it fast enough, and most of it comes out the other end. It takes a lot of discipline to remember to stay hydrated over the course of the day. Sometimes I’m good about it, and other times I’m not. One encouraging thing is that I have learned to pace myself so that I don’t struggle during runs, even when I am not feeling 100%. Also, I have found that singing songs is a great strategy for willing myself to finish difficult runs. Sometimes, I’ll run through an entire album. Today’s selection was “Rubber Soul” by the Beatles, which I chose because I know the lyrics to most of the songs, and most of them have a tempo that goes well with my 180 steps-per-minute running cadence. Singing takes my mind off the physical act of running, and it also forces me to take it a little easy, as I have to save my breath a little bit more.