Running in the sun with your friends by your side, a slight breeze at your back, surrounded by beauty, and feeling unstoppable are moments we welcome—sweet and pleasurable. Surely, we’ve all experienced such breathtaking occasions. But there are other periods in a runner’s training as well.

This time of year in the Intermountain West it’s more common for a runner to be out there alone in the cold and dark. Shorter daylight hours, long work days, and below freezing temperatures limit options to run in more hospitable conditions.

If a runner wants to achieve their goals, they must go out alone into the cold and dark, make friends with their solitude, and embrace the quiet sound of their own labored breathing.

Like the winter season in a runner’s training regimen, we all go through times of isolation, with limited options. As runners, we too must push through the dark and cold if we are to realize the beauty and fullness of being that only comes through consistent and steady effort.

Ultimately, the key may be in embracing struggle as it comes and welcoming the embryo of strength such exertions create. After all, it is out there on our cold, dark runs that we discover ourselves and make running in the sun even more brilliant.