For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the next three months may be our greatest fitness challenge. They are full of big meals for the major holidays, devoid of early morning and evening sunlight, and in many parts of the country - frigid.
A clear plan of attack will be needed for each of us to the start of spring in good shape. I like to start with seasonal activities like snow shoveling, snowmobiling, and playing hockey with my boys. My sons play hockey five or six days a week, but there are only a few outings a year that include parents. If I total up the number of days of exercise that I will get in those three categories, it will be somewhere around 30 and that will not be enough to get me to spring ready to run.
Has anyone else noticed that in the process of having children there is a natural shift that occurs in athletics from participant to spectator? That has definitely happened to me. The other thing I have observed is that the caloric burn as a spectator is much lower.
I enjoy getting to their games to show support, but it takes a huge bite out of the day. What that means is that I will have to use a skill that I tend to shun - time management. I thought that time management ended when I finished Optometry school, but I guess not. I will need to carve out chunks of time early in the day, over lunch, and later in the evening for exercise if I hope to hit the warm days of spring in close to top shape.
My workout plan for the winter months is to squeeze in a short run or weight lifting rather than wasting time on less valuable pursuits.
My next step towards my marathon goal is a race in mid-December in North Carolina. I will let you know how it goes.
Keep warm.