Sharpening the Senses with the Winter Treatment
Running in frigid, snowy and icy conditions builds strength, resolve and character
By Joel Wolpert
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine
Winter is a boundary. It is both the end of one year and the beginning of the next. The natural life cycle anchors to it. In the cold parts of the world, it is a time when we reacquaint ourselves with the physicality of water. It is a time when the landscape fills in, smoothes out and builds up to meet the clouds. It blurs the line between earth and sky.

The season technically exists for one quarter of a calendar year, though the reality can be much longer. The winter solstice, December 21, marks its beginning in the Northern Hemisphere; the vernal equinox is its end. This solstice is both the shortest day of the year here and the longest night. The deep heart of winter is still a month or two away: The earth still holds some residual warmth from the summer.