Past couple of night’s Reach the Beach and Baystate Marathon training runs have been sweet, cool and fast. Gets me thinking… Here’s my list of fall running favorites. Feel free to add yours!
1. The temperature’s perfect (most days)
2. There are a ton of great races, from 5Ks to marathons and ultras
3. You’re probably peaking in your training cycle and feeling great
4. Stunning fall foliage can help distract you when running those hills
5. As roadside bushes and trees lose leaves, visibility increases and those tight corners and narrow road shoulders become less dangerous.
6. Warm apple cider, creamy hot chocolate or an autumn seasonal beer make great post-run recovery drinks
7. Save money on Gu and Powerbars by taking leftover Halloween candy on your long runs.
8. Long runs burn plenty of calories to make up for all those Halloween and Thanksgiving treats and feasts
9. Stacking and splitting wood makes for a great warmup, cooldown or crosstraining activity
10. It’s not winter yet
Tags: autumn, fall, marathon, Running
I like the smell of woodsmoke from chimneys and wearing some other running clothes other than my sweat-stained summer togs!
I’m new at this running gig, so this is probably elementary stuff, but I really love the way my fingers start out cold and gradually become warm along the way. There’s some kind of deep body consciousness that comes along with this trivial metabolic shift.
Those are both great ones. Kris, Smell of woodsmoke is one of my favorites! What a mnemonic trigger that is for me. And Rick, great observation. I’ve noticed that forever and never actually thought about it. But many days I’ve finished a long late fall run with gloves off my hands (which were freezing when I began) tucked into my belt or the pocket of a windbreaker.