Cold weather running

So, as happens from time to time, I get so many great reviews out at once that there's something missing... you know... like a blog post.

As weather begins to cool (I say "begins" because we've now had a couple weeks of colder weather with a couple of days in the mid 30s... followed by this week of 3 days in the 70s #welcometoeasttennessee) I begin to pay more attention to my cold weather gear.

One of the first things I tell people for running in colder weather is to start of with a negative split:  make sure you start your running at a slower than normal pace and then gradually build your speed up so as to allow for your muscles to pre-heat before you really take off.

Secondly, be sure that you ARE cold when you first take off.  If you are comfortable before you hit the start button your GPS than you are going to be having a heat stroke before your warm up is done!

Layer:  if you are new to winter running than allow yourself sometime to learn what suits you best in different temps and practice layering.  This gives you the option of "oh crap I dressed to warm" so take a top layer off and keep going instead of just ruining your whole run.

Remember that your largest source of body heat loss is your head.  Beanies go a long way towards keeping your entire body warm.  If nothing else, start there.

Though not a huge source of body temp loss, a huge source of moral loss from cold comes from your hands!  Your hands are out in front taking the brunt of the wind and frozen digits can be a big run killer.  Try some nice thin gloves - nothing to serious, but something to cut the wind off.

There are all kinds of options now for baselayers, compression baselayers, lightweight tops, technical jackets, etc.

For me, I stay in shorts for a long period of time, even if I bundle up the rest of me, and honestly it's just preference.  Lots of cool weather runs I will simply use shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and then put on gloves and a beanie and go.

What about you?