Dressing Appropriately

I'm still running in the mornings, 3 days a week at about 6am. We've had a noticeably cold spell here for Kentucky, with below freezing temperatures more often than not lately. This is the time of year when I pay attention to the forecast overnight lows, so I have an idea how to dress for running when I get up.

The norm for summertime temps is short-sleeved Tshirt and shorts. When temps get down to the low 40s I usually switch to a long-sleeved T-shirt. In the 30s, it's time to start wearing gloves. I have had some episodes of Raynaud's phenomenon, which are quite painful, so I've learned to keep my fingers warm. In the low 30s to 20s I will add a headband to cover the ears, and another layer of shirt, but still running in shorts. Even in the 20s, while the legs get cold, it's not especially disturbing, and when your thighs get numb, it's not a big deal. I would add that everything I wear is porous -- even though cold air does leak in a bit, occusive clothing causes a serious buildup of sweat underneath. I can't say that's bad, but just that I don't like it.

Today it was in the upper teens (19 when I got in my car to go to work), and at this point, it did become a little painful in the thighs, not so much the skin as the muscles underneath (or seemingly so). I also was reminded of why I have used some running pants when it gets in the teens. There was a noticeable genital chilling this AM, and even in my short run (I'm only running about 1.5 miles), it was, shall we say, a bit distracting and disconcerting by the time I finished. Penile frostbite is not something to sneeze at, so to speak. So I'll keep this in mind as I peruse the paper on the nights before running.

We'll see how the winter goes, but generally, I get careful when temps are in single digits. There is some risk of lung injury when it gets that cold and colder, so in the past I have skipped some of those days. If I do run, I usually add some kind of scarf to loosely wrap around my face, since if nothing else, 0 degrees on the face, especially with wind, gets to be quite painful.