There’s nothing quite like running in winter. Those cold crisp mornings, the fresh breeze on your face, reminding you you’re alive, or the crunch underfoot from a light dusting of snow. It’s not just the sensory pleasures either – running through the winter is the ideal time to build that base for any events you’ve picked to enter the following year. You’ll get a lot more enjoyment out of that spring marathon if you’ve put the work in over the winter. Of course, it’s not always easy. Shorter daylight hours mean most people will struggle to run after work, and dragging yourself out of bed on a cold winter’s morning – especially if it’s a cold, damp, winter’s morning, often feels impossibly masochistic. Speaking from plentiful – sometimes painful – experience, however, I can safely say it’s pretty much always worth it. It helps that winter runs don’t need to be big long ones – even just a steady ticking over can make a world of difference to next year’s goals. But it’s also worth remembering that there are significant differences between trail running in winter and summer. From safety to gear to planning, here are a few things to consider.
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