THERE IS NO REASON TO put the running shoes on the shelf even though it can be cold and gloomy outside. After all, we live in Norway, and for many, the winter months are the most important time to lay a solid foundation for the coming spring and summer season.

This is the time where you can add basic training that is based on several kilometers of calm running, good core strength, train fitness in alternative ways, and use the skis frequently for long trips when the weather is good. Enduring forms of exercise such as skiing, cycling, elliptical machine and not least treadmill, are still a supplement to running outdoors. Unless it is extremely cold or slippery, it is perfectly fine to run most trips outside in the winter. Spike your shoes, dress well and enjoy the fresh air, even if the speed is slightly reduced by the snow as a surface.

A mix of forms of exercise can do the trick for most exercisers. We have well over 600 muscles in the body, and each of them needs training. A good long trip on skis on the weekends will give less weight load, but at the same time give a lot of strength and train the condition as well as running. Shorter runs and intervals can be reserved for weekdays when we have less time.

Many people today have access to treadmills, and I would recommend that these be used for fast running and interval training when conditions are poor, so that the quality is maintained.

Interval training on slippery surfaces means that you are more prone to muscle injuries and not least can slip and hit yourself. Legs and hoarding can also be easily overloaded when you run fast and it is cold. Ideally, we should therefore take leisurely running outdoors, and fast running indoors. But a rule of thumb for 5-6 workouts a week, is that 2/3 of the workout is done outdoors as best you can, and the rest indoors.

Under slightly demanding conditions, there are a few basic rules that can be easy to follow:

• It is important that you shorten the stride length a bit and get the body's center of gravity somewhat forward. Relax your shoulders and upper body well and move your arms in the running direction. This helps you keep your balance.
• Remember that you activate some muscles that you do not use in the summer, when it is slippery, cold and you need to keep your balance. It is therefore important that you spend some time getting used to the winter running.

Olympiatoppen recommends that you do not train hard at more than -12 degrees and stay indoors at -18 degrees.

If there are really bad conditions with rain, sleet and wet conditions, you must remember to dress well, and you may want to run short trips, and not make the really long trips on such days. You may also want to find suitable places for running. Some places are more often maintained with salting and plowing, and some places may be better lit than others.

Grete and I had to be very creative in the first years of Grete's career. It was a couple of weeks in the south through the winter, but the majority of the running training took place in all conditions outside. When I look back in Grete's training diary, I see that even rubber boots were frequently used during the worst snowfalls. Parking garages and subways were also used! Today I would probably hardly recommend the same, but then today's equipment is better and access to treadmills easier.

You can do well through the winter with traditional running shoes, but there are shoes that are adapted to slippery conditions. Several are also waterproof. You can also get spiked shoes. To find what suits you best, you will get help from a knowledgeable business.

In short, it is about looking at weather and driving conditions as a challenge, and not as an obstacle.

The article has previously been published in Runners World.