I love running in cold weather and have a personal best of -23F from last year! One unique thing I have found when running in the cold is regardless of how I dress, I will get a little inner elbow sweat. The sweat then freezes and I can feel my pinky and ring fingers get a little numb from my nerve cooling. Has anyone experienced this and do you have any suggestions? The rest of my fingers are perfectly fine.
Minus-23!!!!! Wow, man. I have also experienced the elbow sweat. I don't have any great remedies, but I try to remember to let the arms hang a bit so the elbow isn't so tight.
I use jackrabbit.com and gearup.active.com in addition to runningwarehouse too! All have good prices on things. Big props to the gear talk! I was always taught "dress for ten degrees warmer than it says". Again, like you mentioned, but in my own words, wind can be a b*tch and break that rule! I'm loving these winter posts!
Thanks, and big thanks for the recs. I've tried that 10 degree rule and just wind up confusing myself. People ask me about my least favorite weather and it's always wind.
Great tips. I have a great hiking base layer from costco that works well (and another set that is more mix/match). But, I was hoping you would get into footwear - is that coming? I am using brooks running sneakers, but will upgrade to a trail runner when there are more races to run. What do you use in the snow?
Thanks, for sure footwear is going to be featured. My first trail runners were Brooks Cascadias. Great entry shoe. I wear Sportiva Akashas on most of my runs. They're pretty rugged and hold up well in snow.
Great advice all around. I especially like the part about having a rough guide for what to wear at different temperature levels. That's something that I've found useful and it's a nice confidence booster to know that you're dressed appropriately for the conditions even if you maybe don't feel great right off the bat.
I live in Minneapolis, so perhaps out of necessity I've convinced myself I enjoy winter running. I run mostly on city sidewalks and paths, so the ice/snowpack problem is a real issue to navigate. Flat ground is gonna be way easier to navigate, so I'll often drive over to a lake and run on lakeside paths that are dead flat. Plus, you can get the surreal experience of running around the perimeter while people are cross-country skiing or playing hockey out on the lake.
Being in the Bay Area, I don't get the pleasure of running on snow much, but in terms of gear, I have gone through (and, am still going through) the comparable experience in choosing the right hydration vests/packs for longer runs in warm, dry climates. What is your pack setup?
Oh man, it changes all the time. Saving that for a later post. I've tried to a couple of different packs -- UD and Salomon. I like both, but I'm mainly a handheld guy.
Super grateful for some of these recommendations. I live in SW Connecticut and we are just now about to start getting the heavy winter stuff - a major storm is predicted to occur tonight into tomorrow. I am excited at the prospect of my first post-snow run on Thursday/Friday after slowly building my collection of cold-weather gear over the course of this autumn. For the budget conscious, the collection of base layer and performance underwear at Target has been pretty great lately. It's always a crap shoot in terms of quality at the chain retailers, but I have generally always liked their store brand stuff. That said, your fingers and toes probably always demand some extra expense for quality protection. Ears too for that matter!
+1 to all this. Some additional things I think about when doing cold-weather running:
- You can just stuff gloves, hat, buff etc into your waistband. You don't necessarily need a backpack.
- I know that for myself I need to be warm when starting out, so I'm at peace with getting hotter and then taking off layers. Having wool glove liners and than an overglove or mitten is clutch for me as my hands get cold, then hot.
- I found it helpful to track my outfit at the end of my run for a couple of months, just the practice of writing it down helped me get better at dressing for the weather.
I love running in cold weather and have a personal best of -23F from last year! One unique thing I have found when running in the cold is regardless of how I dress, I will get a little inner elbow sweat. The sweat then freezes and I can feel my pinky and ring fingers get a little numb from my nerve cooling. Has anyone experienced this and do you have any suggestions? The rest of my fingers are perfectly fine.
Minus-23!!!!! Wow, man. I have also experienced the elbow sweat. I don't have any great remedies, but I try to remember to let the arms hang a bit so the elbow isn't so tight.
Thank you! This has been a fantastic substack. I appreciate the efforts.
I use jackrabbit.com and gearup.active.com in addition to runningwarehouse too! All have good prices on things. Big props to the gear talk! I was always taught "dress for ten degrees warmer than it says". Again, like you mentioned, but in my own words, wind can be a b*tch and break that rule! I'm loving these winter posts!
Thanks, and big thanks for the recs. I've tried that 10 degree rule and just wind up confusing myself. People ask me about my least favorite weather and it's always wind.
Great tips. I have a great hiking base layer from costco that works well (and another set that is more mix/match). But, I was hoping you would get into footwear - is that coming? I am using brooks running sneakers, but will upgrade to a trail runner when there are more races to run. What do you use in the snow?
Thanks, for sure footwear is going to be featured. My first trail runners were Brooks Cascadias. Great entry shoe. I wear Sportiva Akashas on most of my runs. They're pretty rugged and hold up well in snow.
Question: what is winter?
It's the season after wildfires.
"you sir are a hearty mf-er". Great line!
Great advice all around. I especially like the part about having a rough guide for what to wear at different temperature levels. That's something that I've found useful and it's a nice confidence booster to know that you're dressed appropriately for the conditions even if you maybe don't feel great right off the bat.
I live in Minneapolis, so perhaps out of necessity I've convinced myself I enjoy winter running. I run mostly on city sidewalks and paths, so the ice/snowpack problem is a real issue to navigate. Flat ground is gonna be way easier to navigate, so I'll often drive over to a lake and run on lakeside paths that are dead flat. Plus, you can get the surreal experience of running around the perimeter while people are cross-country skiing or playing hockey out on the lake.
That sounds awesome. Minneapolis cold is a whole different level of cold.
Being in the Bay Area, I don't get the pleasure of running on snow much, but in terms of gear, I have gone through (and, am still going through) the comparable experience in choosing the right hydration vests/packs for longer runs in warm, dry climates. What is your pack setup?
Oh man, it changes all the time. Saving that for a later post. I've tried to a couple of different packs -- UD and Salomon. I like both, but I'm mainly a handheld guy.
oops! hope i didn't ruin your bigger outline here. i am still looking for that perfect pack, holding onto one of my 3 handhelds...
Oh, not at all. If you find a perfect pack, be sure to let me know. I like the ones I've tried but I'm not in love with any of them.
Same! Nathan speed draw has been my go-to for years. I’ll look forward to that post on packs!
Super grateful for some of these recommendations. I live in SW Connecticut and we are just now about to start getting the heavy winter stuff - a major storm is predicted to occur tonight into tomorrow. I am excited at the prospect of my first post-snow run on Thursday/Friday after slowly building my collection of cold-weather gear over the course of this autumn. For the budget conscious, the collection of base layer and performance underwear at Target has been pretty great lately. It's always a crap shoot in terms of quality at the chain retailers, but I have generally always liked their store brand stuff. That said, your fingers and toes probably always demand some extra expense for quality protection. Ears too for that matter!
Good call. Enjoy the snow. I can't wait to get out in it this week.
+1 to all this. Some additional things I think about when doing cold-weather running:
- You can just stuff gloves, hat, buff etc into your waistband. You don't necessarily need a backpack.
- I know that for myself I need to be warm when starting out, so I'm at peace with getting hotter and then taking off layers. Having wool glove liners and than an overglove or mitten is clutch for me as my hands get cold, then hot.
- I found it helpful to track my outfit at the end of my run for a couple of months, just the practice of writing it down helped me get better at dressing for the weather.
The glove struggle is so real. Saving it for part of the ramble. Good tips.