Winter is coming

Since it is summer, or nearly, and temps will begin to soar, it's time to think of cold weather wear....

There are decisions to be made about what to wear in winter. It is similar to what happens in summer. Where you ask yourself: what is my tolerance for heat? You are now asking yourself, what is your tolerance for cold? What do you need to be comfortable on a winter run? Everyone is different. When I am still running in long sleeve and shorts, my fellow Madrid runs are bundled up for the Antartica. That said, where I back in try USA, I would layered the Pillbury doughboy in a real PA winter.

So what do you wear?

In the winter, and I am going to be talking about a PA or New England winter here because a Madrid winter is just water and a little cold....so in winter, you need a hat because of the windchill and the temperature. You lose 40% of your body heat from your head! Precious heat in the Boston mornings of January. So buy a good hat. Something made of fleece. When I was living in the states, I had a dozen of them. I had one that was a jester's hat and another that was a moose's face and antlers. Have fun with it.

For the coldest days, and I invested in this one year for runs in Maine, buy a balaclava, which covers your head and neck. You look strange and a bit scary if you weren't running. But they really help when you want to avoid freezing your face off. Easter in coastal Maine taught me a level of cold that might have drove me to Spain.

Now, gloves. Gloves are important in winter. After your head, the palms of your hands are the next greatest sources of lost body heat. You can go with mittens if you prefer, but use something to cover your hands. In winter races, you will see elite runners with summertime wear on, but the gloves are there. Less is more at that level, but even they know gloves a essential.

And anyways gloves can come off. I take them off and put them back on and take them off repeatedly during a 3 hour winter run. I emulate the great John Kelly, and tuck them in my waist band, with the fingers pointing down my legs to the ground. Once saw him dressed like that a Boston marathon.


And that brings us to the topic of layering. Something near and dear to every runner.

Ok, first thing to know is that layering solves the confusion of winter wear. You make a mistake, you take it off. Or put it on. I've done this more times that I can count. And I am have run in too many winter runs to what to remember. Layering is key.

You must remember that your body will generate 15 to 20 degrees of heat as you run. You will often overheat and so layering will help you with this problem. And let you keep running. You don't want to be the person, bent over struggling with overheating. Dress to chill. As I have said in an earlier entry, leave your home cold. If you overheat, take a layer off.

Finally, tights. I know quite a few people who have a problem being out in something so revealing. But for lightweight warm drag-least clothing, it is the way to go. If you have problems, you can always just wear a pair of shorts overtop of them. I've found, in Madrid, the heavy duty winter tights of PA don't really work. Something lighter goes a long way.

For Boston, I also wore some trail shoes. The ice in the city was a serious problem almost all winter long. Also, a flatmate of mine's dad used to screw bolts into the soles of his shoes. I tried that once, and didn't really enjoy that so much. But I standard pair of shoes should be enough for most people's winter surfaces. Her in Madrid, winter running really only means water for the city and mud for the parks.

So, don't let the winter make you stay inside and be lazy. Get out there. Winter will be here before you know it and you want to be ready for it.





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