What It Means to Be a Winter Warrior

These are the faces of a Winter Warrior.

When days show more darkness than sunlight and temperatures hover at freezing point, it’s hard to show up. But making a commitment to keep showing up? To create a new habit? That’s tough stuff.

Summer has ended, fall has begun, and winter is coming. Chicago Endurance Sports' Winter Warriors 10K to 10-mile group and virtual training program aims to make running throughout the winter enjoyable. An experienced team of coaches creates a custom, 10-week training program that is challenging and motivating no matter what your experience level is. 

We asked three participants from the 2019 program what they learned, and what kept them showing up throughout winter and what it means to be a Winter Warrior. Follow along and register for Chicago Endurance Sports' Winter Warriors by clicking here.

Melanie

Melanie met Amanda while in Chicago Endurance Sports' marathon training program over the summer. She moved to Chicago from Montana so she's no novice when it comes to winter.

Amanda

Moving from China to the midwest, Amanda has quickly adapted to winter in the Midwest.

Joe

Joe lives in the Chicago suburbs but chooses to commute to the city to train with the group and enjoy the city's restaurants, shopping, and views.

Lauren

Lauren is a seasoned Winter Warrior and regularly helps with Chicago Endurance Sports.

Q: What helped you the most to stay motivated during the winter when days are dark and temperatures are cold?

M: It’s just knowing that everyone is going to be there and seeing my running friends. I joined Winter Warriors because Amanda and I met over the summer during marathon training and there were a couple of other girls so it’s like “well it's Saturday morning if it's crappy out, at least I get to see my friends."

You're going to have to do it anyway so why not do it with friends.

A: Yea, and it helps keep each other accountable. We have a group chat if someone is not there we’re like “oh what happened to that person?"

J: I’m from the suburbs, so I enjoy coming to the city. It gives me a chance to meet new friends and just hang out more in the city. It’s extra motivation after a tough work week or a long work week. It’s different, to me, there’s a lot more to see. There’s a bunch of restaurants, maybe some people don’t mind the stink afterward but you can get breakfast and do what you need to do in the city.

L: (laughs) We collectively stink together. But for me, it's camaraderie. The friendships you make. You first start with your personal motivation, then you stick with it because of the people you see. I’ve been doing this for years now and there are friends I can only see on the Saturday runs or Wednesday runs. Occasionally we’ll get together at other times but this is a great way to catch up with people with who I have a long-term friendship with.

Q: Do you have a mantra or routine that helps you stay motivated?

M: I mean definitely the thought of drinking coffee in the morning. I have coffee right before I come here. I definitely have a routine. I drink my coffee and change the sheets on my bed. Once I’ve done those things, I’m ready to go run.

A: During the run, I guess it’s just “keep going”. When things get rough, I just say “keep going”. I identify myself as a runner so in a way I’m trying to live up to the title.

J: Mine is just “stay in shape”. Obviously, it’s winter so it’s easy to gain some extra pounds. It’s a bit hard to take it off in the summer but if you’re constantly running and doing the same thing over and over again it’s easy to maintain. I also convinced one of my buddies who hasn’t run longer than a couple of miles, to do the half marathon with me so it’s more motivation for him so that I stay on it so I’m not slacking so I can keep him in check so we can both finish at the end.

L: The only mantra I can think of is like sometimes when we have the terrible weather we keep saying “this isn’t as bad as last time, this isn’t as bad as last time.” Reminding yourself of how we’ve had some really hard runs and weather so telling yourself "if you can do that then you can do this."

Q: What was your favorite part about Winter Warriors?

M: I think actually for me, it’s made the winter go by faster. I haven’t been as scared of cold weather. We’ve been lucky it’s been relatively mild in Chicago but even something as simple as standing on the "L" platform. Last year I was standing under the warming station freezing my butt off but this year I’m like “whatever, I go running in this”.

A: I lived in the midwest for seven years now. This is the first year ever that I've run outside. This is my first winter in Chicago. It makes winter Chicago much better. I was like “I can’t run in the winter, it’s cold, it’s dark, it’s snowy" but I’m here and I met these crazy runners and we’re like, "let’s do this all together." 

Q: In your own words what is a Winter Warrior?

M: Like, a crazy person that goes running in the winter. 

L: It’s the dedication that allows us to say “hey I’m a runner but I’m a runner regardless of the weather”. It’s nice when we’re out there on days like today when it’s just us and there’s not the chaos of the summer. It’s almost like a badge of honor that says "hey we run through it all”. I used to think “who are those crazy people running in the winter?” Now I do it and I actually like it.

Q: Are you more inclined to join a spring program because of Winter Warriors?

M: I have too many races planned. But I’m taking a break. We’re both doing the F3 Lake Half Marathon and then we’re doing a trail race in February. And then I have a half marathon on March 1st. And then I think after that I kind of need a break.

A: Yea because we both have a fall marathon again. Chicago Endurance Sports really helped me. I cut my marathon time almost a half hour so I qualified for Boston.

M: Dude, I didn’t know that.

A: I never imagined myself qualifying for Boston because that's just so far off from my first marathon. So, 2021 I’m running Boston.

What did Winter Warriors help you with or teach you?

A: Speed training. Before, when I trained by myself I would run everything the same pace. Not just speed training but tempo runs too. Just mixing it up. I didn’t realize how much it can help with your overall pace.

M: I’m pretty active anyway because I do Crossfit but if I hadn’t done Winter Warriors I would be like “yeah I'm just going to do Crossfit every day because it’s warm and it’s inside" but now it’s like “no I can run outside it’s totally doable and it’s fun and I think we’ll be able to see the benefits of all of our training when it starts to get warmer we can start to shed all of these layers and run a little bit freer.

A: Yeah and just the community. I’m really going to miss all of these people when Winter Warriors is over. We’ve already made plans. We’re going to try a week for lululemon yoga and just keep this friendship together.

L: In general I attended one of Fleet Feet’s winter apparel seminars so it definitely taught me how to dress appropriately for it and in the past I hated running in the winter, the wind was blowing at my neck and throat and I was getting windburn and it sucked but now I know there’s way to modify that. So, I think it teaches you perseverance. You didn’t necessarily know you had it in you now when it comes to race day I can handle it all because we’ve been put through it all