Snow, ice, cold - What do runners do?

Delaware is known as a mild state when it comes to winter weather, and for the most part, runners and walkers are able to keep their workout regime consistent throughout the winter. At the end of this week, we may hit 60 degrees, and runners are loving it, running in their shorts and T-shirts. Just last week, we had temperatures in the teens with 12 inches of snow and sub-zero wind chills.

Delaware’s Vicki Huber-Rudowski of The News Journal once wrote a beneficial piece on pros and cons of treadmill running, and this week I will look at two other sources of indoor workouts.

Treadmill running: Without a doubt, the treadmill is the most popular piece of equipment for indoor workouts, and many prefer it to outdoor workouts for reasons of safety, convenience, and the ability to control and calibrate different workouts. Secondly, the treadmill has more give than concrete or asphalt, and, as a result, you will feel less pounding on the legs. Lastly, with music, an iPod or a TV close by your treadmill, you will find that the workouts go by much quicker than staring at a wall or mirror. Expect to spend over $2,000 for a decent treadmill. 

Pool workouts: One of the absolute best forms of indoor exercise is pool running. My favorite workouts in college were in the pool, and any runner who has experienced any type of injury has probably found themselves working out in the pool. Running in deep water while wearing a vest or belt makes water running a non-impact activity. It has become a saving grace for runners with lower leg problems. Working on your form is a great item to focus on when water running, but don’t expect your heart rate to get as high as it would during a workout of the same intensity and aerobic benefit on land.

In April 1989, I spent a whole month of two-a-day workouts in the pool with a slight hamstring pull and opposite-leg calf pull. My coach had me do the same workouts in the pool as my distance group did out on the track, but mine with a heart rate monitor, light ankle weights and longer intervals. The only outdoor running I did was a half-mile jog to and from the pool every day. Three days after my final pool workout, my team left for Florida to compete in the conference track & field championships, where I ran my personal record in the 5,000 meters in 15:50 for third place. I truly believe the pool was the key to being in condition to compete at the conference meet.

Elliptical trainer: The last indoor workout I will talk about, and one of the most popular in the last three years, is the elliptical trainer. Its selling point is that you get a workout that is both non-impact and therefore easy on the joints, and weight-bearing, which can help keep bones strong. The elliptical trainer is a great running alternative if you have a heel or foot injury, such as plantar fasciitis, something I can relate to quite well.

If running outside is your ticket regardless of the weather, remember to wear the proper clothing, stay away from ice and run defensively while giving yourself extra time on the roads. 

Tips for running in cold weather

Not many people enjoy running when it’s under the freezing mark and the wind is blowing. I remember running on a Sunday morning in winter 1988, which was the Delaware State University long run from Smyrna to Dover, and following a plow that my coach, the late Joe Burden, had arranged with his City of Dover connections. My teammates and I ran down the shoulder on Route 13 layered with red Hornets gear and white athletic socks over our double gloves and stocking hats, wondering why we were doing what we were doing. Some runners just do things that seem like the right thing to do at the time, but a bit silly years later ... like my buddy Chico Barranco who did laps around his Milton basement water heater during a blizzard in the early ‘90s.

Here are 10 tips from Runners World to make winter running less miserable:

1. Get motivated  

2. Arm your feet

3. Get dressed well  

4. Be seen

5. Warm up pre-run 

6. Deal with the wind

7. Forget speed

8. Change quickly post-run

9. Deal with rain

10. Go someplace warm.

Cape finishes second in Snow Hill

The Cape Vikings indoor track & field teams competed Jan. 10 at the Snow Hill Invitational with a smaller-than-normal meet field of 10 teams. Due to the weather, snow and school being cancelled in many places around Delmarva, some of the usual 20 teams couldn’t make it.

The boys of Cape, enjoying a fine season with a young, hardworking team, finished second to the Riders of Caesar Rodney, scoring 91 points for the meet. The Riders easily won the championship with 135 points.

The Vikings only won one event on the day, as junior Kenny Witherspoon jumped a season best 5-feet-8-inches in the high jump to capture the gold. More importantly for the Vikings, they grabbed seven second-place finishes: Junior Greg Boyce ran 2:13.6 in the 800 meters, Jordan Jefferson was second in the 300 meters in 40.08, Isaiah Fillyau ran 8.63 in the 55 hurdles, Jordan Keener logged 5-feet-6-inches in the high jump, junior Patrick Tkach tossed the shot put 38-feet-1-inch, junior Curtis Purnell jumped 19-feet-8 ½-inches in the long jump, senior Garrett Elgin leaped 38-feet-7-inches in the triple jump, and the Vikings logged a time of 3:55.1 in the mile relay.

The Vikings captured three third-place finishes, as Jefferson ran 6.97 in the 55 meters, Giovanni Bendfeldt cleared a season-best 10-feet even in the pole vault, and the two-mile relay team of Boyce, Owen Allen, Gabe Best, and Kolbe O’Donnell clocked a time of 9:08.0. 

The Cape boys will return to Snow Hill Wednesday, Jan. 17, while the Henlopen Conference Championships will be held at Snow Hill Thursday, Jan. 25.

On the girls’ side, the highlight of the day was the shot put toss by junior Ce’yra Middleton on her final throw of the competition. Middleton tossed a distance of 37-feet-10-inches for a season and personal best (indoor and outdoor), easily winning the competition by more than 7 feet. Middleton’s toss is the farthest of the season at Snow Hill and 1 foot from the Snow Hill record of 38-feet-10 ½-inches set in 2017 by Smyrna’s Myrissa Mcfolling-Young.

Sophomore Rose Minni won the triple jump with a season-best leap of 30-feet-4-inches, and she was also third in the triple jump at 14-feet-8 for 16 team points on the day. Sprinter Timesha Cannon was second in the 55 meters at 7.79 seconds and fourth in the long jump at 14-feet-2-inches. The Vikings placed third in the mile relay with the team of Bre Kusen, Haley Craig, Hannah Lorah and Taylor Johnson in a time of 4:49.4.  

The Vikings scored 52 points to finish fourth in the team standings overall.  

The girls’ team will travel to the Bears Invitational Sunday, Jan. 14, at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., with more than 30 teams scheduled to compete. Next week, Wednesday, Jan. 17, the girls will also compete in the Snow Hill Invitational, before traveling to New York City for the New Balance Games to be held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19 and 20, at the New York Armory, a 200-meter banked oval and home of the popular Millrose Games.