Winter Running: Training Through
the Dark Months

The Long Game

Why Winter Is the Most Important Block of the Year

Every spring I have runners message me delighted with a half marathon or marathon result, and almost without exception the reason sits in the previous November, December and January. Not in a specific session. In the fact that they simply kept running.

Aerobic development is slow and cumulative. The capillary density, mitochondrial adaptations and structural resilience that let you hold pace in April are built over months of unglamorous mileage. Winter is when that happens, and it is also when it is easiest to let slide, because the weather is grim, it is dark at both ends of the day and there is nothing on the calendar to aim at.

"The runner who does four honest runs a week through December beats the runner who does seven in March and nothing before it. Every time."

My advice for winter is to lower the bar for what counts as a good run. In summer a good run is a session you nail. In December a good run is one you went out and did. Consistency is the entire objective.

Kit

How to Dress for Cold Weather Running

The rule I use is to dress for a temperature about 10 degrees warmer than it actually is. You should feel slightly cold in the first five minutes. If you are comfortable standing at the door, you are overdressed and you will be carrying a jacket by mile three.

Practical specifics:

• Two thin layers beat one thick one. A long-sleeve base with a light windproof over it handles almost every British winter day.
• Gloves and a hat first. You lose a disproportionate amount of heat through your hands and head, and cold hands ruin a run faster than a cold torso.
• Avoid cotton entirely. Once it is wet it stays wet, and wet plus wind is how you actually get cold.
• Warm, dry clothes waiting at home. The dangerous chill is after the run, not during it.

On genuinely icy days, trail shoes with a bit of lug give far more grip on compacted snow and frozen pavements than road shoes. It is not ideal for your form but it is a great deal better than falling.

Safety

Running in the Dark

For most of us in the UK, winter training happens before work or after it, which means running in the dark for four months. A few things make a real difference.

Be seen properly. A single reflective strip on a jacket is not much. Reflective detail on your ankles and wrists is far more effective, because the movement is what catches a driver's eye at distance. A red rear light on the back of your waistband costs very little and works.

Carry a head torch. Not just to see, but to be seen. On unlit country lanes it is the difference between being visible at 200 metres and 20.

Run against the traffic on unlit roads so you can see approaching vehicles and step off if you need to.

Stick to routes you know. Winter is not the time to explore an unfamiliar trail. Potholes, ice and unlit uneven ground cause a lot of the ankle injuries I see in January.

Tell someone your route and roughly when you will be back, or use a live-tracking feature on your watch or phone.

Adapting the Plan

How Winter Should Change Your Training

Winter training should look different, and not just because of the weather.

Prioritise volume over intensity. This is base-building season. Steady aerobic mileage and long runs matter more now than sharp interval work, which is better saved for the twelve weeks before your goal race. Our guide to zone 2 running explains why this pays off later.

Be flexible with sessions. If the pavements are sheeted with ice, do not force a track session onto a frozen canal path. Move it to the treadmill, or swap it for a steady run and do the session two days later. A session you complete safely beats one you abandon or fall during.

Use effort rather than pace. Into a headwind on a wet December morning, your usual threshold pace might be twenty seconds a mile slower. That is not lost fitness, it is conditions. Run the effort and ignore the watch.

Get the strength work in. Winter is the ideal time to build a strength base, because there is no race to protect and the sessions are indoors. Our guide to strength training for runners covers what to do.

Warm up for longer. Cold muscles are less compliant. Add five minutes to the start of every session and do your drills indoors before you head out.

Staying Consistent

The Motivation Problem

The physical side of winter running is straightforward. The mental side is where people actually come unstuck.

What works, in my experience: having a spring race already entered so the training has a point, running with other people at least once a week because you will not skip a run someone is waiting for you on, laying your kit out the night before so the morning decision is already made, and lowering the target when you need to. A twenty minute run in the rain is not a failure, it is a run.

On the health side, it is worth knowing that the NHS recommends everyone in the UK consider a daily vitamin D supplement during autumn and winter, because there is not enough sunlight for your body to make its own. Low vitamin D is associated with bone and muscle problems, which matters rather a lot when you are running on hard, cold ground.

And accept that some weeks will be poor. A block where you average four runs a week instead of five, across three winter months, is a good winter. Perfect is not on the menu in December.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

The Bottom Line

Winter running is not about heroics. It is about turning up four or five times a week in conditions that give you every excuse not to. Dress for ten degrees warmer than it is, be properly visible in the dark, run by effort rather than pace, build volume rather than chasing sessions, and give yourself permission to have an average week.

Do that from December through February and you will arrive at spring with a base most runners around you will not have. That is where the personal bests come from.

If having a coach in your corner is what gets you out of the door on a wet Tuesday in January, that is a perfectly good reason to have one. Our coaching packages include unlimited WhatsApp contact with your coach and access to the JM Coaching community, and our post on how to choose a running coach is worth reading first. Get in touch if you want to talk it through.