questions → any tips for running outdoors in the winter?

vote-for14vote-against

Any tips for running outdoors in the winter?

Nov 18, 2011 3:26 AM

Living in the frigid state of MN, winter is always lurking, and this year I have decided to brave the elements by not moving my run training indoors. Any tips or gear advice for running outdoors when the temps will be in the single digits for the next, oh, 4 months? I'm already starting to re-think this whole thing ... .

danthonyross danthonyross

6 Answers answer

Sort By:

vote-for3vote-against

I'm not a huge runner, but I did train for a marathon through last winter so I'll throw my two cents in.

I loved my Under Armour long leggings. My husband loved his Under Armour long leggings. I paired those with a long sleeve tech shirt, the inner layer of an older Columbia 3-in-1 jacket, and a New Balance hat and gloves. I think the lowest I went out was about 6F. After a few minutes of jogging, I didn't feel cold.

I found the potential issues with winter jogging to be:
1. Runny nose - exercising in cold weather sets my nose off; carry tissues
2. Dry air - my lungs would let me know; drinking water helped
3. Heat regulation - I'm sweating and I want to take off my jacket and gloves; I still did it, but it was probably a poor idea
4. Frostbite - if the weather is warning about frostbite risks, you are still at risk even if you feel warm; I just stopped going out when it was windy

Cont'd

travelchic75 travelchic75
vote-for2vote-against

5. Sidewalk clearing (or lack thereof) - I discovered a deep dislike of specific people without ever meeting them or even knowing their gender
6. Running in cold rain/freezing rain/sleet - don't do it
7. Stretching is actually important - I'm bad on doing prestretching routines, but I learned not to skip them in the winter.
8. Cool down - I prefered to do just a minute or two of cool down outside before heading in to finish; freezing temps seep in fast especially ears and toes

Even with all that, I enjoy winter jogging so much more than summer. Have fun!

travelchic75 travelchic75
vote-for4vote-against

I agree with everything you said, under armour is the best. Also a face mask for those REALLY frigid days so you don't destroy your lungs. I do not run, but hubby is one of the top runners in the area, and when the snow builds up he runs in the park. Good Luck!

gigi889 gigi889
vote-for4vote-against

@travelchic75: @gigi889: I appreciate advice! I'm also thinking of investing in some Yaxtrax ( http://www.thewarmingstore.com/yaktrax-pro-ice-traction.html?gclid=CNCki5G2wKwCFQyFQAodu1Jmrw ) for traction. Any experience with these or similar models?

danthonyross danthonyross
vote-for2vote-against

Yes, please wear clothes. Your parts can stick to icy objects.

aksman44 aksman44
vote-for2vote-against

@danthonyross: Sorry, didn't get the notification by email.

I bought Yak Trax when they first came out for just normal day to day use. I hated them. They were difficult to put on my boots. They didn't seem to help with my traction in most cases, and if you wore them on a smooth floor going in our out of a building they were worse than being on ice.

I don't think a normal running shoe would be sturdy enough for them, but it should work for trailrunners. I prefer running shoes over trailrunners myself and just accept that I'll need to purchase new ones in the spring.

My solution instead of Yak Trax was to avoid the snow/ice pack where possible, run on soft snow if necessary (not that much different than running in sand), and being very cautious when I had to cross sections of ice or packed snow. I did a few runs on snow-covered rails-to-trails, and the previous worked fine except for the eventual wet feet and slow times.

travelchic75 travelchic75

Stats

Asked
Nov 18, 2011 3:26 AM
Asked By
danthonyross
Answered
6 times
Viewed
659 times
Voted Against
1 time
Voted For
15 times

Similar Questions

Related Deals

Not a farewell, just a forced redirect.

It's true, Local.Woot is no longer, but please don't despair.

Never-ending savings are still to be found on Deals.Woot each and every day, so come on in. Don't think of it as a time for tears. Think of it as a way to bring us all closer together under one roof.

Sorry

This is only for people who have bought woots

We restrict voting to users who have purchased something from one of the other Woot stores. It's not just because we want your money (which we do) - it's the best way to be sure all the votes are coming from real people and not spam-bots or phony accounts. The best way we can think of, anyway. For now.

You can always get voting rights by buying something from one of Woot's other sites:

Purchases through Deals.Woot don't count, because in that case you're not buying anything from us. And we don't have your account information for those purchases.

If you think you've bought something from Woot before and still can't vote, make sure you're logged in with the same account you used to buy from us.

Geez, why so negative?

You have to vote up more before you can vote down.

Don't get us wrong. Negativity has its place. And downvotes are just as essential as upvotes when it comes to making Deals.Woot a useful place to find deals.

But when your votes lean so heavily toward the dark side, we have to wonder. Go vote up a few things. Accentuate the positive for a little while. It'll do you some good, and it'll do the site some good, too. Then you can get back to dealing out the smackdowns, OK?

Too late, we all heard you!

Hmm... you're wanting to take your vote back?

Well, that's a bit tricky. See, we do a lot of stuff with your vote, using it to work out the popularity of what you voted for, compare that to all the other things voted on, tally up our leaderboard, work out your reputation. Someday we'll do a little cartoon showing just how hard your vote is working.

Anyway, taking votes back messes all that up, so we give you five minutes, in case you just mis-clicked. After that we've got to say no take-backs. Luckily, votes are free, so feel free to throw them around left and right wherever you see fit.