A Message on Cold Weather Running

It seems the overall theme around the country is the bitter cold weather that is coming.  I know here in Louisville we are supposed to get some snow and sub-zero temperatures, with wind chills getting into the double digits below 0.  With that in mind, here's just a few cold-weather running tips for those brave enough to get out in that bad weather:

1) No matter how many layers you wear, make sure on of them is a good wind-breaking layer.  If you wear a bunch of cotton or even dry-fit clothing you risk the wind getting through and making things uncomfortable for you.  I made the mistake 2 nights ago of going out for a run in 20 degree weather wearing 2 long sleeved dry-fit shirts.  I noticed pretty early on my stomach was freezing, and when I got back in my stomach was bright red due to the long exposure to the cold.

2) If you start feeling body parts going numb you may want to consider stopping.  If your fingers, ears, toes or any other part of your body are going numb, you are risking frostbite, among other things.  Do whatever you can to keep all body parts warm.  One trick I have is that if I'm wearing gloves and my fingers still get very cold, I just ball up my fist inside the gloves and leave the fingers of the glove empty.  When your fingers are inside gloves, they are not feeling the body heat from the rest of your hand and are more likely to get cold.  Personally, for very cold weather, a pair of wind-resistant mittens is probably your best bet.

3) Avoid the wind.  If at all possible, try not to run directly into the wind for long periods of time.  For me on the coldest days, I prefer running in neighborhoods where you can just run up and down random streets, allowing myself to change directions constantly.  If the temperature is 10 degrees and the wind chill is -5, you're getting that -5 air by running directly into the wind.

4) For guys, ALL extremities well.  You know what I'm talking about.  If you don't know about Toni Reavis, he's a great writer and runner, and wrote about this very topic in this blog post.

5) Be smart.  I personally like to run in all the worst weather, just because of the old idea of, "my competitors are probably inside right now."  Whether that's true or not, knowing that I am running in the worst possible conditions gives me confidence later on that I can push through anything. 

With all that being said, I'm going to head out for a 10 mile run...thanks for reading!