3 tips from Ed Griffin on beating those mid-winter running blues

By Ed Griffin

The days of January and February can be hard to keep your motivation for running, exercise and fitness in general. As a public service, I offer three helpful hints that will help you get to March, when we will hopefully be on the downside of winter.

Tip No. 1

There are countless running apps out there that can shake things up, give you something new to explore and keep your mind off the weather. Most are free and connect to an iPhone or Android device. Want to give yourself goals, get workouts, chased by zombies or hear a story? Believe it or not they are all out there on various running apps. I like Garmin Connect, Smashrun, RunKeeper and Runtastic. All can connect to most GPS watches.

Tip No. 2

Make treadmill workouts more tolerable on those days when you just can’t go outside. Sometimes a 30-minute run on the treadmill can seem like three hours but a few wrinkles can make the time fly by. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be awesome. There are a million different workouts or just make up your own. After an easy warm up, alternate either fast or incline running with easy running. Use one- inute intervals to start and increase it over several sessions.

If all else fails and you have an access to a television or Netflix, watch something interesting during a HIIT session or just a normal run. "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," has been getting some play at my house.

Tip No. 3

The weekly Cold Feet Run at the Fleet Feet Sports Bridge Street location is the cure for winter running blues. First, there will be a lot of people, some weeks 150 or more. You are bound to find a group to run with. Run any distance and leave your earbuds home. Time flies by when you are talking and laughing with friends, old and new.