The Great Indoors

Just Another Runner’s Perspective January 2026 Written by Gale Fischer  

The Great Indoors

“If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done.”

—-Ecclesiastes 11:4

1/22/2026; 11:30 AM: I turned west off of Beade Lake Road and entered Harper Creek High School’s parking lot. A robo call from Harper Creek Schools, announcing that the district had issued a snow day, woke me from a deep sleep six hours earlier. I had planned on squeezing in a run after school but now with the day off from work, my schedule was suddenly much more wide open. I climbed out of bed, completed some paperwork for work, ate breakfast, and spent an hour outside shoveling snow. Before bundling up to clear the snow from my driveway, I hadn’t yet decided if I would run inside or outside later in the morning, but as the weather continued to deteriorate while I worked outside, my motivation radar left no doubt that I would run inside. Wind gusts out of the west sent a wall of snow my way as I drove across the parking lot. Like a superhero bursting through a tunnel of smoke and flames, a runner appeared as the wall of snow dissipated.

From the physical stature and gait of the runner, I had a pretty good inkling of who it was. As I pulled up beside her and rolled down my car window my hunch was confirmed. It was Laurie Oleksa. We exchanged a few words. I told her that I was going inside the high school to run on the indoor track and asked her if she wanted to run inside. She indicated that she only had a few miles to go and she would just finish outside. I told her she was a bad ass. She responded, saying she was a dumb ass. 

Frigid air, road conditions with ice and snow, and winter winds creating below zero windchills challenge the motivation of even the most dedicated runner. It was only mid January and it seemed like this year’s winter had already given us at least a full season dose of bone chilling elements if not more. My legs had grown weary of running on snow, ice, and slush after slogging through too many runs with less than ideal surface conditions starting the weekend after Thanksgiving. There had been days with dry roads to run on since the end of November, but it seemed like I had logged more miles than normal with challenging road and trail conditions so far this winter season. Snow accumulations had been the theme for the past week and with the arrival of below zero wind chills, I had taken my previous two runs indoors on the track circling above the perimeter of Harper Creek’s basketball court. Seven mile runs on a tenth of a mile track was not ideal, but seemed like a better option than a treadmill or traversing through the uncomfortable conditions outside. Although running in a circle for seventy laps may seem like it might require less focus than running on the roads and navigating traffic and unstable surface conditions, a different mental focus is required to count each lap. Laurie had driven to Harper Creek’s campus to run. She still had to deal with bone chilling temperatures, blows to her body from the winds out of the west, and snowy roads surrounding the parking lots to run on, but remaining on campus took away the element of staying out of the way of traffic. 

Our limits are often higher than what we perceive in the world of running.  Sorting through one’s personal limits as a runner can create a mental and emotional puzzle. It can lead to a series of head games. Limits are never constant. They fluctuate from day to day, run to run, and mile to mile. It’s a constant give and take of where one’s current physical, mental, and emotional state lies at any given time. This give and take is what determines a runner’s limits on any given day.

As a runner of more than twenty-five years, I have logged my share of miles in extremes. I have my own personal limits for running in high heat and humidity, pouring rain, below zero wind chills, and challenging road and trail conditions. These limits vary over longer periods of time but also fluctuate within any given week, month, or season.  I have certainly run in colder temperatures than Mother Nature has unleashed in recent days, and more challenging surface conditions than Michigan has seen the last week. These limits are different when running alone compared to running with others. I have found that the limits of what I can withstand as a runner are typically higher when I am able to run with other runners. Running with others will often raise the bar for what I am able to withstand. 

We are still in January and there are another six to eight weeks of winter remaining. I’m sure I will run some miles in conditions similar to or more extreme than what Mother Nature has unleashed the past week. Perhaps my mental limits will extend to a higher level than what they have for the last three runs.  Although the miles logged this past week have not been the most satisfying, the most relaxing, or the most intoxicating, I am thankful to have had an indoor option for running. As we navigate through what Mother Nature is predicted to pummel us with in the next few days, I hope all of you are able to find a way to somehow keep running. 

Until next time, this has been just another runner’s perspective.