So now that the wintry cold has finally descended upon us in all of its breath-snatching, soul-freezing glory, I thought it was appropriate to write a post about braving the icy climes in the name of good ol’ fashioned exercise. Temperatures have been colder in Germany than they have been in over 25 years, and I just read a statistic that almost 300 people have died from the cold in Europe so far. Also, a good friend of mine recently got terribly ill from attempting to run without hat or gloves, wearing just a T-shirt and shorts. (Silly man, though I must admit I’ve done stupider things in my day...)
Yes, I’m talking about winter running (in particular, but this generally applies to other outdoor sports too). Now while most joggers hang up their sneakers for the season or seek refuge in the warm and crowded gyms, some us of on the more insane side refuse to give in the Mama Winter’s freezing breath, completely disgusted by the thought of having to run many a mile on a treadmill or worse: not at all. You see, for more experienced runners and committed joggers alike, we possess an absolute need to run. As most of my friends know, I get quite grumpy, anxious, tired, and restless when having to suffer a pause from running. And after having had to run a 70-mile week on a treadmill once, those blasted machines make me cringe. So it’s out on the streets for me, despite the biting cold.
But winter running is an entirely different beast than running during any other season in reasonable temperatures. It actually requires a lot more planning (and clothes) than otherwise, and if you don’t prepare for it properly, could have disastrous consequences for your health. “But surely I wouldn’t go running in the cold without appropriately dressing,” I can hear you saying now. I used think that, too. But sometimes you don’t have time to prepare, you forget your hat back in your apartment, and you think you can get away without it just this once...
WRONG. I can say that I’ve done it myself: I once got hypothermia from running in -10 (-23C) degree weather, and had to be brought back to proper warmth by wrapping myself in towels freshly hot from the clothes dryer. I had ridiculous long hair at the time, and could get away without wearing a hat for most of the winter, until temperatures dropped below 0....and it didn’t help that my gloves were of quite poor quality. Needless to say, it only took getting hypothermia once to prevent me from ever under-preparing that badly again.
So how do I prepare for such awful weather now? In one sense, the answer’s simple: the determination to first get you out the door into the icy hell that is winter, and layers. Layers of clothes, that is. Here’s a list of what I where in 5 (-15C) degree weather:
Compression shorts
Athletic shorts
Spandex pants
Spandex long-sleeve shirt
Long-sleeve cotton T-shirt
Dri-fit T-shirt
Synthetic quarter-zip long-sleeves
2 pairs of socks (one thick, one normal)
2 gloves (one winter running, one thick ski gloves)
Beanie
Scarf, wrapped around face like balaclava (I seemed to have misplaced my balaclava....)
The first things to freeze are the hands, so I take special care to prevent that at all costs. I’ve actually been getting into the habit of placing my gloves, hat, and scarf on the heater in my room so that they’re nice and warm before going out, because I’ve noticed how immediately my hands freeze when putting on cold gloves (they were sitting in a room that wasn’t heated). Also, if you have been sitting in a cold room and then try to run in the cold, you’ll soon regret it.
One crucial thing to keep in mind when you start running is that you’ll feel unnaturally cold for the first couple miles or so. It takes your body a little while to start generating more heat during winter exercise, but after the first couple miles or so you should be fine. A good rule to winter exercise is that you should feel a tad chilly when starting—if not, you’ll soon start to roast in your clothes! If, however, you are still very cold after 20-25 minutes, it’s best to head back home. In this case, it’s more than likely that you’ve not put on enough clothes.
Also, be aware that winter running is (as we say in Pittsburgh) slippy. Yup, not only is there ice, but when the treads of your running shoes are packed with snow, there’s no hope of regaining any traction. So be careful!
Otherwise, enjoy the muffled silence and lazily-falling flakes of the white stuff when running! Though in one sense miserable, winter running is in another quite a beautiful and calming experience. Not only because frolicking through a landscape covered in deep snow is quite the magical adventure in itself, but also because there are far fewer people outside. It gives you an excellent opportunity to reflect, or better yet to calm your mind, relaxing the processes of thought until you become pure reception of feeling and perception—it’s times like these where I find that we are the happiest.
