What to do when an outdoor workout is scheduled for a day when the weather is less than ideal? Perhaps you want to do a speed workout, but it is extremely hot and humid, or perhaps it is snowing with 40 mile per hour winds. Or maybe you just want to go for a bike ride and it is raining with very little visibility. Perhaps you would like to go roller blading but you fell asleep on the couch and now the sun has set. When outdoor sports call for workouts performed outside where weather can play a part, sometimes things have to change. Different people have of course different theories on what should be done in those situations.

I try to do the workout planned as often as I can. When that does not work out as planned, then I will normally do that workout the next day if possible. Otherwise, I will tend to skip the workout and go on as if I had done it in my normal schedule.

This weekend, I had planned on running back to Portland from Freeport (about 18 miles). Driving out that way, however, we could not see anything, and since half the cars did not bother turning their lights on during the trip I did not feel it in my best interest to try running with traffic. Instead, I ran this morning. I would not have minded running in the rain, but getting hit by car seemed like a bad idea. I ran an 8 mile loop that only a couple miles on the roads twice in a row, and then did a four mile loop instead. Great confidence builder for my upcoming marathon, but rather boring all in all.

What do you do when the weather plays with your plans? Run through it no matter what, reschedule, or skip the workout and make do? Do you restructure the rest of your schedule around a missed workout? Or do you have something else that works for you?