Fit Fanatic: Winter Running at the Cabin

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Happy holidays readers! We're back home after a weekend "up north" celebrating Christmas with my husband's side of the family.

I've written about the cabin many times, but it's usually been in the summer (read about it HERE, HERE HERE, and HERE) but there's lots of activities to do in the winter as well, such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, and of course...running!

I did my "long" run up at the cabin, which was only 10 miles but a challenging 10 miles.

The temperature? About 10 degrees. My eyelashes were frozen by the end. The hills, cold temperatures, and icy roads made it a tough run. I was prepared though, with the right gear!

GEAR:

• Facemask
• Craft running tights- buy them HERE
• Nike Women's Pro Combat Hyperwarm Half-Zip Training Jacket- buy it HERE
• Brooks Adrenaline running shoes
• Yak-traks!
• Two Nike dri-fit layers under the jacket
• Craft split finger running gloves- buy them HERE. I love the split finger gloves; they are more like a mitten, and your hands stay a lot warmer.

{Off I go, over the river and through the woods!}

It was a little too cold for Matilda to join me on my run..(well she joined me for about 2 miles, but she kept picking up her paws as though the salty icy roads were stinging her too much, so I felt bad for bringing her along). 

She preferred to stay close to the yummy treats her grandma gave her...they look like cookies for people to eat, right? But no, they were for the dogs!

The treats were from Sophie's Dog Bakery in Hayward, Wisconsin. They are all-natural and all-homemade! Matilda definitley loved them.

{More treats please!} 

Matilda preferred to run as fast as she could across the frozen lake. 

She always prefers to be off-leash running versus on-leash running with us...And I don't blame her. Off-leash, she can go as fast as she wants. She doesn't have to wait up for the slow-pokes!

There wasn't enough snow to really need the snowshoes, and we didn't have enough time to go cross country skiing. However, we burned plenty of calories doing some runs, and then chasing Matilda around the lake. Cross country skiing will have to wait for the next visit!

 {Beautiful frozen lake}