On the Run
The weather outside may be frightful, but the snow and the cold are preferable to another boring session on a treadmill.
That's the consensus of a group of Butler County runners and bicyclists who brave snow and below-freezing temperatures to get in their training miles.
“For me personally, it's the beauty of the forest in the snow,” said Tammy McGaughey of Chicora, a long-time runner who took up long-distance trail running five years ago.
“Second, it's a challenge. Outside of that, too, we all need to train year-round,” she said.
“We can take it indoors, but I get bored on a treadmill,” said McGaughey.
McGaughey runs year-round with Butler Babes and Beyond, a group of 40 to 50 runners. She said she can usually count on six to 12 getting together for a weekend run.
McGaughey said she did her first winter trail run of the season on Dec. 29, after a break to let her body recover from a 100-mile event she participated in back in October.“I like the sense of adventure, and once you realize it's really about clothing choices, it's not that difficult,” said Shaun Huppertz of Chicora, who runs with McGaughey's group.“There is something to be said about getting out in nature during all the seasons and seeing the cycles,” said Huppertz. “I love to be the first on the trail after a snowfall to break through the virgin snow.”Huppertz said Butler Babes and Beyond started as a group of women training to run the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge in Allegheny County in 2007.“They now allow men in the group but still go by their original name,” Huppertz said. “The Beyond was for the ladies who were from other local towns. Now we guys are considered the Beyond.”“Running outside in the winter can give a runner a competitive edge,” said Joella Baker of Harmony, a member of the Team USA Long Distance Triathlon
Team and a USA Triathlon coach who runs with the Dawn Crackers in Cranberry Township's North Boundary Park.“It's better than a treadmill, being outside is better,” said Baker. “There's better resistance from the wind if it is blowing hard. If you do all your running inside, you won't be prepared for the elements during a race.”Dawn Crackers takes its name from the 5:30 a.m. start time for the group's first run each day. Baker says the group runs again at 4:30 p.m. Each run lasts about an hour and covers between four and six miles.She said 20 to 30 runners turn out for the morning session and 10 to 12 runners for the afternoon event.Running, even in the coldest weather, just requires multiple layers of moisture-wicking clothes to pull sweat away from the runner before it cools on the body, said McGaughey.“Multiple thin layers of technical gear is the key to staying warm and being able to move freely enough to run,” said Huppertz. “Big bulky coats and cotton are not your friend when running in cold weather.”“Dress in layers, the colder it is the more you want to be sure you have a windbreak,” said Pat Neubert of Saxonburg, a veteran distance runner and running columnist for the Butler Eagle. “You don't want to sweat the whole way through, you'll get hypothermia and have to worry about frostbite. Put Vaseline on your exposed skin and cover up with a mask or a scarf.”
“You need something over your face to warm the air up while you are warming up, that's important,” said Baker.Baker also said she switches to trail shoes and heavier socks when she knows she's going to be running in snow.McGaughey said she sometimes adds a rubber grid with metal springs to the soles of her footwear to supply traction.“And I wear gaiters (a type of protective clothing) on the lower leg from calf to ankle to keep the snow out of my shoes,” she said.Actually running in snow and ice is different from running in the middle of summer, said Huppertz.“Your natural gait changes to more of a shuffle when the footing gets difficult,” he said. “Also, if the snow is deep, you've got to lift your knees or high-step the whole time ... an incredible workout.”“You try to run the same way, but you get an overall body workout,” said McGaughey about running in the snow. “You have to stabilize more. And you have to lift your legs higher. It's a harder workout.”“The running is pretty much the same,” said Neubert. “You are not doing a lot of speed work in the winter, and you are dressed like the Michelin Man. You feel like a bear lumbering down the street or trail.”
However, the harsh winter weather doesn't prove much of a deterrent. “As long as I've been running, it's seldom that I don't run in the wintertime,” said McGaughey.“We've run in subzero temperatures. I've had to cover my nose and mouth, but it's an incentive to keep moving to generate body heat,” said McGaughey.Baker agreed.“Once you are warm, there are no issues with running in cold weather. The hardest part is stepping out of a car and getting started on a cold day,” she said.Training doesn't wait for warmer weather.Baker said a lot of her fellow Dawn Crackers are training either for the May 5 Pittsburgh Marathon or the Feb. 24 New Orleans Marathon.Neubert said she was just happy to be running in any weather. She suffered a stress fracture in her foot in November 2011 and is just now getting back to normal.She celebrated by riding a trail bike with a group of friends in Pittsburgh's Frick Park on New Year's Day.“The snow was pretty packed down. It was fairly easy to ride,” said Neubert. “It was just more or less to be out doing something on New Year's Day.”
