Although temperatures are often below freezing, winter athletes still continue to practice outside. The boys and girls track teams have had a very difficult indoor season. With all the snow and ice covering the track, they have been forced to run indoors or on long street runs.

Dustin Franco, a sophomore on the boys track team, said, “during warm weather our athletic performance is at its best whereas in the colder months it’s harder to perform to our full potential.”

Gregory Urso, a senior on the boys track team, added,  “running in the cold makes it harder to psyche yourself up for a run.”

Both boys and girls track teams have resorted to running on the second floor, or in the gym. Running indoors is very different from running outdoors. The hard running surface of the second floor can cause stress to the joints. “I don’t enjoy running in the gym, because the hard floors hurt my legs,” said sophomore, Connor Murphy.

“I think running on the gym floor is idiotic and usually results in shin splints and ankle soreness, especially if you are running around the boys gym in circles for a long period of time,” said Franco.

Jonathan Strandberg agrees with Franco and Murphy “I hate running indoors, it’s not the same feeling as running outside and getting fresh air.”

Along with weather changes comes workout changes. Workouts have to be designed for both indoors and outdoors. Many days this season, coaches have been obligated to move their athletes inside to run. Indoor workouts usually consist of speed workouts, core, and arms. “In the warmer weather, we do long tempo runs, but in the cold weather we do more hill and speed workouts,” said Justin Strandberg.