I run MOSTLY year round outside here in Northern Ohio. When there is snow on the walks/roads/paths, I choose not to run outside. But the cold alone won’t stop me.
I don’t prescribe to any one brand or even a couple brands. I like variety. But I will say that even in the coldest weather (I won’t probably run outside in anything say under 25 degrees) the most I usually will wear is long running tights, a long sleeve close fitting dri-fit/base layer, a long sleeve quarter zip fleece, running gloves (though mittens are actually probably better for cold fingers), a thicker fleece headband (I don’t like full on caps/hats) and MAYBE an additional turtleneck type dickie thingy if I need extra warmth around my neck. Now,my runs tend to be in the 3-4 mile range,not oodles like some others here.
Someone (Deb922 and others) can share “extras” to make running in the snow possible. I am just leery of running when pavement is covered because here that often means ICE underneath. No thank you!!!
That said, aside from many of the brands often mentioned here, I do seem to often like Marmot and LLBean for cold weather products.
Rode for an hour and 18 minutes today. Feel “good tired.”
Working a 10 hour day tomorrow, so no exercise planned.
I have a follow up doctor’s appt. on Wednesday after my shockingly horrible check up and labs of early April. I know I feel better, but I’m kind of nervous that the next round of blood work won’t reflect that hard work I’ve put in to improve.
Guess we’ll just have to see what we see. I don’t expect everything to be “normal,” but I’m going to be pissed if I don’t see some actual good improvement.
“If an 8:30 pace is a dead bug crawling, I can’t imagine what I am!”
Sorry!! Did not mean to imply that it was slow - I just felt like my legs were about to fall off, was huffing and puffing trying to stick with my plan of doing some speed work.
acollegestudent, I live in the rain capital of the USA (or so they say), and I hate running when it is cold and rainy. A little drizzle and temps above 45-50 degrees is ok. I wear a Nike cap, sunglasses or clear plastic glasses to keep drizzle out of my eyes, a fast-drying tech tee (Lulu makes awesome ones!), and a Brooks Nightlife vest. What I wear on the bottom depends on the temperature - above 55-60 I wear shorts, below 55-60 I would stick with capris. No cotton anywhere on the body is the main rule. You will need to experiment with clothing to figure out what works for you.
Can’t offer any advice on running on snow - we don’t get this stuff here often. But I heard a great tip from a lady living in Alaska: put some screws into the soles of your winter running shoes for traction and use plastic grocery bags to wrap your feet (with socks on!) prior to putting your shoes on (this keeps your feet warm and dry).
Did a quick 2 mile walk on Friday–rest of the weekend my exercise consisted of gardening. Lots of weeding and cleaning out areas where I wanted to put in new plants. Spent way too much money on those new plants, but it was fun putting them in and creating a beautiful flower beds. I was out in the garden for 5 hours on Sunday–went way over m goal of 10K steps.
MOWC: I, too, wonder how to get more movement into my day–even on days when I go to the gym or yoga or pilates I’ll sometimes get one of those inactivity alerts on the Polar Flow. I wish it made some noise, so I could get up and move around right away; often, I don’t see the alert until it’s too late. I do freelance work from home and I bought a standup desk that I love–so, I’m standing but not always moving when I start working.
My youngest D is visiting from Philadelphia and the two of us are going to hot yoga tonight. She’s going to be staying with us for a month later this summer–she got a part in a play at our vacation place, which is great for me because she’s always up for going to yoga and I’m sure she’s up for the new Pilates studio I discovered. It’s so much easier for me to exercise if you have someone with whom to share the experience–definitely keeps me from changing my mind.
Congrats to all the runners who did well in their races and to M&K on your ride! Great of you to support your friend PG. I’m not a runner–what is a color race?
Did a quick 2 mile walk on Friday–rest of the weekend my exercise consisted of gardening. Lots of weeding and cleaning out areas where I wanted to put in new plants. Spent way too much money on those new plants, but it was fun putting them in and creating a beautiful flower bed. I was out in the garden for 5 hours on
Sunday–went way over my goal of 10K steps.
MOWC: I, too, wonder how to get more movement into my day–even on days when I go to the gym or yoga or pilates I’ll sometimes get one of those inactivity alerts on the Polar Flow. I wish it made some noise, so I could get up and move around right away; often, I don’t see the alert until it’s too late. I do freelance work from home and I bought a standup desk that I love–so, I’m standing but not always moving when I start working.
My youngest D is visiting from Philadelphia and the two of us are going to hot yoga tonight. She’s going to be staying with us for a month later this summer–she got a part in a production of the summer theater at our vacation place, which is great for me because she’s always up for going to yoga and I’m sure she’s up for the new Pilates studio I discovered. It’s so much easier for me to exercise if I have someone with whom to share the experience–definitely keeps me from changing my mind.
Congrats to all the runners who did well in their races and to M&K on your ride! Great of you to support your friend PG. I’m not a runner–what is a color race?
Got back on the horse today and ran for 20 minutes of an hour workout. I was very happy to see that my stamina had not decreased with the week off, but I also decided to start slow and work back up from 20. I don’t know what a color run is, but my S and his gf did a retro run in Central park yesterday. The outfits were hysterical!
I am not a fan of the color runs, as pizzagirl knows. My daughter got talked into one once (free entry) and she said it was horrific. Basically, it’s a gimmick where you walk or run (mainly walkers) and get sprayed with paint throughout the event. You pay a hefty entry fee and so many thousands do this that it goes off in waves. Paint everywhere- hair, eyes etc. I can get behind 5Ks that encourage participation and walkers, but not this stuff. Huge for-profit mess!
Also (as with some other themed races) I believe color runs are not timed. Most people are not looking to break any records - other than the amount of color in their hair!!! The intended purpose it seems is fun, an event for everyone.
Wow, never heard of that! I wouldn’t like it either.
My only 5K was a themed event: “A day at the beach.” People were dressed up, some to hilarious effect. I saw one young woman running with a huge stuffed shark on her back. It was in June and was hot and humid as the devil. NO THANKS, lol.
sabaray, yes I did survive, although there were times when I thought those 20 year olds in my group were going to kill me as they dropped me on hills and I struggled to catch our peloton (Something glitched and erased most of my post. I will post more later when I have time.)
It is hot and humid here also. Some major storms moved through here last night and this morning but instead of cooling things off, it just seems more humid. Saturday was a 9.5 mile run that I struggled through and yesterday was no formal exercise but a lot of yardwork that left me more tired and sore than a workout at the gym. Planning on a 5 mile run tonight.
MOWC-congrats on your half marathon! Very cool to be the Champion Grand Master! And your time was great, especially with the heat and humidity and those hills!
Pizzagirl-you are a wonderful friend to do the 5K and encourage your friend to participate.
Nrdsb4-good luck with your appt on Wednesday. I would be shocked if there isn’t improvement in your numbers with the changes you’ve made and the weight you have lost. Keep us posted!
runnersmom-glad you are back at it with your running!
I woke up with very sore arms. At first, I was super puzzled - I have not done any weight lifting or anything that could have triggered this soreness yesterday. Then I realized that I held the pressure washer wand for almost two hours! Guess my muscles were trying to counterbalance all this vibration! Wow.
So here’s part 2 of my post. The last day ended up with 70 miles and more than 3600 feet of climbing, at least half of it in the first 20 miles and 1/4 of it in the last 20. It was tough, particularly given the amount of climbing done in the 3 prior days. And the young’uns kept the pace on the flats quite brisk, rarely falling below 20 mph and at times more. There was one hill where after struggling to the top, we were rewarded with a 48 mph descent, quite exhilarating to say the least! At the end of the day, I averaged mid 15’s which I was quite happy about given all the climbing. Best of all, my ride nutrition and hydration paid off with no cramping over the 4 days, something that had me greatly concerned.
Doing a 4 day ride like this is quite an experience. You really get to know the other riders and develop a synergy that keeps things flowing. When the pack gets into its grove on the flats, wheel to wheel in a pace line drafting, the miles just get crushed as you move like a train on a track drafting off the rider in front of you. Riding like that requires a whole lot of trust in the skill sets and predictability of your fellow riders but when it all comes together it’s like a telepathic connection as the peloton moves and reacts to changing road conditions and you feed off the energy of those in front and behind.
Long distance touring like this also gives you an opportunity to see parts of the geographic area that you otherwise would never encounter. Incredibly beautiful lakes with fully developed water sports recreation and related facilities, buried out in the boonies where for an hour there was nothing but thick forests on winding country roads and suddenly, bam there it is; or beautiful little villages litterally 4 blocks long that suddenly appear out of nowhere, with all sorts of restaurants, cafes, music and artisan/craft shops; there are hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.
It was quite an adventure, one that I will gladly do for the 4th time next year. Four days of combining my passion for cycling with fund raising for a most worthy cause, surrounded by people who combine their athletism with caring and social consciousness. It doesn’t get any better than this!
