November is here.

The leaves are coming down, the temperature continues its steady descent, and Halloween is a preposterous memory. Daylight Savings Time comes to an end this weekend; it’s the good time change, as I annually remind my wife. We “fall back” and get that blessed extra hour of sleep. Election Day (which really ought to be a national holiday) is next Tuesday, Thanksgiving menus are being finalized, and Christmas music is on the radio. We’ve officially transitioned to late-autumn.

So what does this have to do with running? Well, quite a bit, actually. Distance runners (including me) are transitioning from marathon training to winter maintenance. My next big race is the Portage Winter Blast Half-Marathon, but that’s a good three and a half months from now. I’m still, technically, in the recovery phase from Grand Rapids, but my obsessive mind is already telling me that it’s time to pick the mileage back up: further, faster, longer. We’ll see.

I’ve started unpacking my winter running gear. The jackets, hats, gloves, and, yes, even the Snow Trax. The brief flirtation with warm, summer weather is something of a misnomer here in Michigan; as I get reacquainted with my gear, I’m reminded that I’ll be wearing this crap until April. Hopefully I’ll have a few more weeks in long sleeve tees before needing to add layers. One thing’s for certain, however, I’ll still be wearing shorts until January 1st. It’s an old stubborn rule and I’ll never change.

Of course, the transition from training to maintenance isn’t the only change impacting the running life: Cross Country season will come to a close this Saturday in Brooklyn, Michigan. For the first time in my 3-years as a varsity coach, I am sending a runner to the MHSAA State Final at Michigan International Speedway.

We had a heck of a season this year. Our girls came close to qualifying as a team last Saturday at the Regional meet in Centreville, but were outmatched by the very strong team from Galesburg-Augusta. However, they ran their hearts out and did everything in their power to run their strongest races of the season. One of our runners lost a spike in the first 200m of the race and ran the entire thing in her sock, somehow managing to tie her best time of the season along the way. The race had everything you’d expect from a high stakes XC Regional: blood, sweat, tears, and puke. At the end of the day, our freshman front-runner climbed 8 spots in the rankings to take 14th overall and earn an invitation to State.

Not to be outmatched, our boys ran incredibly hard and four of the seven picked up personal best times. Qualifying for State wasn’t in the cards for the boys this year, but that didn’t stop these young men from running with purpose, clarity, and pure guts on Saturday. All In, if you will. It was a proud day for me, on all levels.

Hard to believe, but after the States, we’ll be getting Winter Run Club started at school. A few of us coaches got the WRC started last winter and ran outside with a dedicated group of runners from November to March, regardless of the weather. The club is not just for XC or track athletes, it’s open to anyone interested in running for any reason, whether it be staying in shape for spring sports or personal fitness, training for individual road races, seeking relaxation and mental clarity, or just for the fun camaraderie and conversation out there on the (often snowy) roads. This year we are upping the ante by adding a handful of fun 5ks to the WRC calendar, including the WMU Turkey Trot on November 17th.

This time of year is great for running, especially for newbies or those whose training has fallen off a bit. If you’ve got that itch to knock the dust off your running shoes, get out there! At least in Michigan, the weather is perfect right now: not too hot, not too cold. Even a rainy run with these temps can be invigorating. Also, with the days getting shorter, running in the dark can be a fun change of pace, just take some safety precautions (reflective gear, flashing lights, stick to neighborhoods or sidewalks, etc.). Don’t wait around until after the holidays to get moving. Start now and maintain the habit through the holidays and into the new year. There’s never a bad time to start running, but November has some advantages over January. Get out there!

I’ll leave you with some words from Diamond Dallas Page: “If you say I Can’t you better add on Yet. Once you start to change that inner dialogue, things that would seem completely impossible become possible.”

Happy Running.