202. How to Dress for Winter Running with Coach Whitney

what do you say to like you know the old school rocky gear like wearing a cotton sweatshirt that I'm wearing right now if I were to go like run out you know throw my hood on throw my rocky anthem and go for a run who would you say to that? I say I'm sweating already like just thinking about it like I can't it's hurting me no don't do that because it doesn't breathe and it's going to you might feel warm but then you're going to sweat and that's what's not going to go anywhere then the sweatshirt's going to be wet and sweaty you're going to be wet and sweaty but then you're going to be cold. 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winter welcome back on the show coach Whitney thank you thank you for having me I am all about running gear so this is right up my alley yeah I know you're like our gear expert or gear head as we call it and this is such a common topic questions that we get asked by lots of runners is you know how do you actually run outside in the cold and a lot of people have the misconception maybe that they they can't run outside because it's too cold to run and think that they need to run on a treadmill there's nothing wrong with treadmill running but if you do want to get outside and join nature while the weather is cold there's a way to do it and you just need to be able to dress for success as we like to call it before we get started with today's topic coach Whitney if you don't mind just giving a little introduction of who you are and why you love doing what you do as one of the coaches on our healthy runner coaching team so like Duane said my name is coach Whitney I live in southern Arizona so not quite as cold is where a lot of you guys are but I'm a big baby so cold is you know depends on the person right I am a mom of three I have a 12-year-old a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old all-spit fires I got into running to lose weight after my son was born did a 5k which actually was a 7k that's a story for a different day but got bit by that running bug and just I haven't stopped since so I love talking about running I love talking about gear um anybody that will listen so becoming a running coach was perfect because I could help people achieve their running goals while still being able to talk about running and be in that atmosphere so that's how I got started oh I love it um and yeah like so many right you get into it usually for the physical benefits and then you you start to realize that there's a whole lot more to running than just a physical benefit side and you get those mental benefits and it just helps keep us kind of energized and and kind of doing what we love to do and yeah we're like now fully approaching winter and I really wanted to tackle this topic before it's too late essentially right so we've now turned the calendar to November and colder weather is upon us for me on the east coast of the U.S. in Connecticut it's coming a lot quicker than you out in Arizona but like you said it is all about perception right so for you you call yourself like a baby right because you're not used to the cold right so those um in the southern part of the U.S. you know if you do get some temperatures that dip at down into the 30s you're probably like this is way too cold meanwhile those in the northern part of the U.S. you're like that's nothing like that's not even cold for me right because it's all like perception and what we're used to and even me here in Connecticut it does take a little while a couple weeks to like get used to those colder temperatures um but in general what would you say you know what are the considerations that runners need to really take into account for cold weather running I would say the biggest thing is making sure that your hands your fingers and your ears are warm because that's really what's going to make you the most miserable or not depending on how well prepared you are so throwing out a pair of gloves even those cheap ones you can buy at Walmart the knit ones something like that even like a head warmer a hat something you can stick in your pocket something like that but your fingers and your ears are going to be what gets cold the fastest unless you're like my husband who has no hair then you might want to consider a hat earlier than you know the rest of us with hair but you really want to consider keeping your extremities warm yeah I know for me it's definitely the hands and as I'm getting older I just had a birthday last month so you know another year turn around the sun as I like how the phrase goes trip around the sun trip around the sun you know turn trip you know whatever right it is yeah I find that my hands are like you know like you said babyish right that like those get cold like a lot sooner than they did like five or ten years ago I was like I was never wearing gloves on a run like this and now I'm wearing gloves so for me it is definitely the hands and yes absolutely if you don't have any hair in your head you're going to lose a lot of your core body temperature is going to be like released and you're going to get a lot colder just like almost in the hot weather running right we need like protect our head and kind of be able to help cool it and so it's not getting too hot from the sun in the winter it's all about like you know keeping that temperature in and not letting everything be exposed to the cold frigid winter elements so when we're kind of preparing or how best can we like prepare for whatever weather that we have in our area so what I like to do is I don't know like Sunday afternoon I check the weather for the week kind of see what type of weather we're going to be having daytime weather highs but also the overnight lows because once those lows get low enough those morning runs if you're a morning runner are going to be even colder but then each morning I get up and I also check the weather to see okay is it actually 50 degrees like they said it was going to be so warmers are colder what do I need to do I always lay my clothes out the night before it's just easier less decisions in the morning you know because I like to coordinate so less things to think about but I'll look even after I get up in the morning put my contacts in and I look and say okay I've got my long sleeves I got my pants do I need gloves today do I need an ear warmer is it raining we don't get snow very often here but we do get freezing rain 35 degrees in rain is just as cold as you know 25 degrees in my opinion without rain so you have to kind of look at your weather app that is going to be key now I have an iPhone so I use the Apple weather app whatever that is but last winter maybe or last spring I downloaded weather bug because that I found was a little more accurate in terms of temperature for me personally where we live so use whatever weather app you like but look at it but you also need to consider if your weather app says right now it is 68 degrees going outside and running in 68 degrees is really going to feel like it's about 85 to 88 degrees you need to add about 15 to 20 degrees to the current temperature when you go outside as a runner because your body warms up so you need to dress for about 15 to 20 degrees warmer than it actually is I hope that makes sense but think about that when you are preparing your outfit for running yeah I know that's such a great point because a lot of times we'll just like step outside or if you go out to your mailbox or go out to walk the dog and you're like it is cold out there yeah your body is going to get a lot warmer running and it often if you go cold we'll share some strategies on how to really prevent that where you're not stepping out the door cold but if you do go out cold let's say and you're not warmed up at all then you almost should feel chilly or cold for the first mile because yeah if you don't then you're gonna feel like you've overdressed at mile 2345 where it's a longer on mile 10 right so that's a great point that it you are not dressing as you would dress if you were just you know going for a walk outside or you you were getting ready for the day because you do have to consider that we are using our cardiovascular system our core body temperature is going to increase as we run especially after the first you know 10 minutes of running so yeah excellent point to check the weather app I went in doubt I would add I want to add no matter what piece of clothing you are choosing to wear in the winter if you can find something with pockets whether it's a top with pockets pants with pockets shorts you're running about something that is going to make it so much easier for you to plan because you can take things off and put them in the pockets you don't have to then carry all of the things because it's nobody wants to be running carrying gloves and a head warmer and you know all these other things that you've taken off so find pockets pockets are going to be your best friend oh yeah absolutely stash stash those things and as you guys are probably pretty familiar that we're big fans of like frameworks and steps blueprints things like that and in our kind of spark you know healthy runner six steps to growing as a runner this is really relating to that running bucket right like how are we going to be able to get in our runs during cold weather and it is to kind of follow these tips that coach Whitney is going to share with you on how to dress properly and because we're a big fan of frameworks we've also come up with like spark healthy runners three cold weather clothing categories so we have three different categories the first category is like cold weather you consider it cold and we're going to give some generalizations here in terms of temperature but as coach Whitney already alluded to it is very personal right some of you are going to be like hot hot weather runners or hot sweaty runners and you're going to heat up a lot when you run others are going to be you know you're you're going to be like babies of the cold right you're always going to be freezing um and those of you also who have like poor circulation or if you have rain odds syndrome or disease right like your hands your extremities are going to um not warm up and they're going to get very cold so you really need to take particular attention to your feet and your hands so there is a range here and then not even to mention hormonal uh changes that occur in midlife especially female runners you guys know what i'm talking about right and you know that's going to fluctuate so keep in mind this is like generalizations that will probably pertain and be helpful for the majority of people in these categories but like obviously you know use your individual circumstances um and and use this as a guide and to really help you in how to layer for the different levels that we're going to talk about and level ones like the first sense of cold so we'll call this cold and this is going to really be from like 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or like four to 10 degrees Celsius for our Canadian running friends and our international running friends level two is kind of colder we'll call it is going to be you know below freezing so it's like 20 or just slightly above 20 to 40 degree range let's say or minus six degrees to four degrees Celsius and then the coldest is you know we consider kind of sub 20 degree Fahrenheit or anything that is colder than like minus six degrees Celsius um that's in our like coldest category all right so like three different levels and as we go through today's um your guide uh that coach when he's going to really take you through kind of from like head to toe like how do we dress for cold weather running and how do we you know be able to get out there for these mental clearing miles during the winter months um we'll kind of talk okay here's an option for you know level one or like the cold here's the next level where it's colder then you can do this and the coldest scenario here's where you know you want to think about uh or what you want to think about using in terms of gear for that area of the body and then at the end we're going to share our um kind of put it all together for you and kind of go kind of layer by layer if you will based upon those different um clothing categories so yeah coach Whitney let's start uh let's go ahead to toe here so let's start with the head um what are the the gear that we need to consider in order to get some cold weather running so my favorite is an earband goes over your head around your ears actually this one I think Duane gave me for Christmas one year it is my absolute favorite and it's a super cute color for those of you on the podcast it's a really pretty pink color and pink is my favorite so this is a winner the nice thing is it's got like this fleecy inside which is really nice but the outside is like that traditional running spandexy material so it's kind of wind resistant on the outside which keeps my ears like perfectly warm from my winters now that would probably be your warmest cold weather category would be just in your band then I would say if you don't have hair which I have no problem with my husband as bald I would suggest a beanie it's going to keep you from radiating all that heat out of the top of your head it's going to keep your ears warm it kind of is going to do all the things then our coldest coldest people do both put on your earband first then put your beanie over because that's going to allow you when you start to get warm to take your beanie off and it's going to allow some of that heat to come out of your head when you get really warm but your ears are going to stay nice and warm so you've got a couple of options for ears head keeping all of that warm yeah and I've never actually done the ears to tell you the truth and I don't know for me and it totally might be because I feel like a lot of female runners are big fans of like the headband and I don't know if it's because like helps your hair as well I have no clue it does it does like when you have a ponytail or a braid or whatever it pushes down and it almost hurts your head because it puts the pressure wherever your ponytail is so unless you have one of those hats that has like the hole in the back but then you have to get your ponytail in the right spot it's just it's hard so I'm a big fan of the ear warmer yeah so for me it is you know I basically have like three different levels of hats if you will and actually the kind of level one cold category I'll go with like a thinner hat like this it's kind of thin so you know it's breathable right and it's like made for running and you know sweat's going to be able to escape and then kind of the next level for me is actually like a tighter beanie like this one is like a fitted cap it's almost like a swim cap and it does cover the ears so it kind of comes down and covers the ears my other one honestly when I when I feel like it's cold enough to actually put a hat on then I usually like don't even cover my ears because for some reason I feel like they get hot so that's kind of my personal thing and then if it's like super cold then I might go to like the hat that's kind of behind me so for those listening to audio version you might want to see the video version more of like a knitted hat or got like double up like if it's really extremely cold and for me that is literally single digits you know Fahrenheit kind of around the zero-ish you know zero to 10 degrees then I might double up on a hat or do a hat with a hood over that with like my outer shell that we will eventually get to so yeah I have doubled up on the hat and actually you know what I now I'm going to save it for I'm going to save it for the next category I don't want to like do spoiler alert on you and everything so I'm just going to stop talking right now I think we've covered the head so now what's the next body region that we need to take into account for winter running your neck because just like your neck it's hot and sweaty and you can help cool off in the summer your neck needs to stay warm while you're running so for those of you watching on YouTube you can see I'm wearing a vest but I have a my base layer underneath this is actually one of my running face layers it does it just has a normal collar so if I get hot I can zip my vest and it kind of cools me down it's great you can get lots you can get a quarter zip you can get all sorts of things with zippers and lay a neck gator as I guess but you can also use a handy dandy those buffs that are leftover from covid that nobody really knows what to do with anymore you know you can wear a buff and that's going to super keep your neck nice and warm you can actually wear this over your ears too or you can do it double I'm not going to do it now because it'll look ridiculous but you can put it around your neck and pull it up over the back of your head like a hood and it will help to keep your head warm as well if you get into one of those situations where you're like oh my gosh I'm freezing I didn't bring a hat like whatever a buff is going to be your best friend and if you get too warm you can take it off and wrap it around your wrist you don't even have to carry it so buff is going to be your best friend in the winter yeah and I find that the the neck area needs a little more versatility like you mentioned right where you might start out cold but then you might start getting hot and it's like really helpful to have that quarter zip where you can unzip and I have a bunch of running tops like that where and then I'll have to like tuck in the collar because to me it's like a no one like yes it's like I'm totally like yes under my bra straps which you don't have but makes it easier yeah and especially if you're doing like speed work I feel like if you're doing any type of like temple run right in the winter months base building time period I do feel like you know I that's the gear I tend to pull out as that quarter zip and then I knowing that if I get you know a little too warm I can kind of like tuck it in tuck in the collar unzip you know where it comes down to like chest level yeah but I would say the neck is probably the area that most people forget to protect when we get to our coldest categories right and now we're talking about you know you got a long run and we need to protect your skin from you actually getting like frostbite right so that's an area that you can forget and if you're collar on your jacket doesn't go high enough you know that's going to be exposed as well as your face is going to be exposed so that's when I pull out the big guns here and I have just like what do they call these like the baccala baccala va I want to say which is totally not a desert I feel like those are like for skiing you wear them because they come up right yeah so this is like a hat right it goes over the head literally the only thing that's shown is like my eyes and then so this is like your rubber mask basically right you're gonna like hold a convenience store up I'm not really gonna do that guys but the key to these because I did have one initially in my early days of running that was not breathable and it was literally suffocating under because I couldn't breathe this one that I have here that I'm showing has like these neat holes around the mouth and the nose area so you can actually breathe through it and then you know you might get to my skulls that form and then you take like your cool selfies and be like oh look at this I got some icicles around my mouth but this will really protect your skin because you really when you get down to those coldest levels it's all about like the time that you're out there in in this cold temperature and you have to prevent like frostbite so the face is you know usually the area that people either forget about this is a nice easy way to cover the face and if you get one that is breathable it's very helpful as opposed to you know wrapping a scarf let's say that might move around a whole lot or might not stay snug this is like form fitting to your neck to your face kind of protects the whole neck and then you know the only thing that's kind of showing is your eyes and if it is cold enough and where we're in single digits and or below and my hearty like Minnesota runners all you guys like run all year round you guys are like amazing you know this fast but you also have to protect your eyes so you know whether it is class as goggles you know make sure that you're not forgetting about that that those are protected as well if we are getting like super duper cold all right but most of you like probably turning into this aren't getting that in depth but if you are in those areas and regions where it is getting really really cold and you're not exactly sure it's your first winter running you know what I highly recommend you also do is go to your local running store and talk to the folks in there and you know because they're going to you know most of them probably run themselves in your temperature and your climate but you know see what they utilize you know get some tips from them as well anything to add to that coach I would say you know covering your mouth especially in our Minnesota super cold almost negative degree all the time winter runners it's gonna help your lungs too because breathing cold air is not bad for you but breathing like freezing cold air for like hours on end long runs it's not going to be the greatest so it is going to kind of help warm that air as it goes down which is going to be beneficial and I will say I've never had to deal with icicles but I've always wanted to be one of those people who gets icicles on their eyelashes I've never had that happen so like life goal maybe next time I'm in Connecticut over the winter I'll get icicles but yeah yes I know it's been a couple seasons for me because we've had to mild winters here and you do need to sweat a lot almost to get the icicles right because you're almost sweating so I think I actually layer a little better where I don't sweat as much underneath so then you don't get like that melting that is occurring on your eyes but I'm sure it probably relates to like you know if there's some moisture in the air as well as or if it's like dry the air during those colder colder runs all right so now shifting gears to kind of our third region of the body the top like what do we wear up top in the winter and how do we kind of layer for kind of shirts or under jackets layers lots and lots and lots of layers so you need to find a base layer which is going to be obviously your base what's going to be right against your skin now I right now I'm wearing one of my base layer shirts it is fantastic it is thin it is breathable I will actually wear this when it's about 50ish maybe right below that because it's not super thick but it's just thick enough that I'm not freezing it is fantastic it's got you want to find something that has the thumb hole because when you go to put gloves on or your jacket or whatever you have your your thumb hooked into the end of your sleeve it also doubles as gloves if you forget them and you need to like curl your fingers into your palms and cover everything to keep it from the wind this base layer is from afleta we are not sponsored by afleta I'm just sharing what I personally like it has these little they're almost like hot glue droplets on the bottom around my waist so my shirt doesn't ride up ever now I wear this shirt tank top t-shirt long sleeve because it has those little grippies and I'm not constantly adjusting so it is by far my favorite especially in the long sleeve base layer but there are plenty of other places you can get a base layer tracksmith has a really great wool long sleeve you can actually get them from Costco I bought last year from Costco I want to say it's heat 365 or it has some number after the word heat and it's designed to be a base layer long underwear for skiing or cold weather and I actually wore those a lot last winter I would double them up because they were thin enough that I could do that or single was enough but you need to find something that's gonna work for you that's tight enough that you can put another layer over it so you're not all bunched up underneath because there's nothing worse than putting on that second long sleeve and having like all the wrinkles and you're trying to adjust find something that is maybe a size down from what you normally would wear just so that it is snug enough then you can add a second shirt you can add a vest you can add a jacket you can add a like a windbreaker if it's not super hot but it's cool enough that you want to kind of have that layer between you and the elements I'm a big fan of vests because as you can see I'm wearing one now you have the mobility in your arms to do whatever you need to do it keeps you cool your armpits get a little aired out but it also has pockets this vest is fantastic oh you're not gonna be able to see it but it has regular pockets but on the side it has a giant pocket on both sides so that I can put water I can put gels I can put whatever I want it is amazing um for me living in Arizona I don't I maybe think there's been like two instances where I've actually worn a full jacket running it just doesn't get that cold when I run I run after the kids go to school about eight o'clock so it's not super super cold for me um but a running jacket is a great option because it's gonna keep your arms warm you can probably get away with wearing maybe one base layer under it it's gonna be a good option you can do something thick like a vest with the down with the feathers with whatever you need the fluff or you can do something like a windbreaker that's gonna be thinner less bulky but it's going to protect you from the wind now I would say that's probably for those warmer cold weather days but you gotta you have to find what works for you in terms of jacket versus vest yeah all great and and what do you say to like you know the old school rocky gear like wearing a cotton sweatshirt that I'm wearing right now if I were to go like run out you know throw my hood on throw my rocky anthem and go for a run who would you say to that I say I'm sweating already like just thinking about it like I can't it's hurting me no don't do that because it doesn't breathe and it's going to you might feel warm but then you're gonna sweat and that sweat's not gonna go anywhere then the sweatshirt's gonna be wet and sweaty you're gonna be wet and sweaty but then you're gonna be cold it's not a good combination if you want to go for a run maybe you park your car somewhere go for a run and then you drive home or you drive to work or whatever throw a sweatshirt on take your layers off throw a sweatshirt on after your run don't run in a sweatshirt it's not gonna breathe you are not rocky don't do it I'm not rocky what coach cat it's gonna be so upset you just knocked rock you know I'm just yeah that's that's probably you know the biggest thing that we see with novice runners and you know I definitely am all about runners getting out there and starting to run so I really could care less what you wear as long as you're out there starting to run like kudos for you but once you're doing it for a little bit you're doing it for a while and you're looking to kind of improve right and do things in a better way maybe a more efficient way or more of a way that's gonna keep you staying cool without overheating and then not getting super cold because now you've sweated through that sweatshirt and now wind kicks in or you stop running and now you're freezing because you have a soaking wet shirt avoiding cotton is key and yeah like coach Whitney said that bass layer you know thinking about something that's breathable for me as it gets to you know the first level of cold will call it that I will go from tank top to long sleeves is I like to do a little baggier like long sleeve shirt that moves breeze isn't super tight to my skin because then I'll like overheat if it's super tight but then as it gets colder and we're talking about layering and there's gonna be something over it then I have shirts that are super tight so they stay close to my skin right because I'm looking to actually retain heat and they don't need to be like the super thick like compressive like under armor cold weather gear I used to wear that in the beginning of my running journey and honestly I find that it's almost it's too much for running and you really really sweat in that so I found more success like with something like coach Whitney is wearing now is something that's thinner really breathable and just tight to the skin and then we layer on top of that more of not a super thick fleece but you know the next level of keeping you warm whether it's like usually most of the things I have now are like thinner fleece like material that is still breathable and then if we're getting to the coldest coldest then that's when I pull out the outer shell and I only use a windbreaker honestly and this really keeps me warm for all of my runs really unless it's minus degrees so single digits in the teens it's no more than those three really in the trunk area so up top it's like that thinner base level layer a fleece layer but it doesn't have to be like a super thick fleece either guys it's more like a thinner fleece and then it's just the outer shell that's really a windbreaker it's not a winter coat like I would never do that because you're just gonna like over heat big time it's it's a windbreaker essentially and it's just a block because if there's any wind at all and when the temperatures are below freezing that feels very cold so it is really just to protect the wind so it's not actually going through your fleece level and or that thinner level so it could be super helpful and it's super thin so you don't think it's gonna do anything but it really does because you have those layers that coach Whitney mentioned and yeah I know a lot of people love the VAS I love VAS just for like everyday usage but I must admit I've never run with a VAS yet and I don't know why I know it is I know I do you know what I'm gonna have to try that this winter I really am because I haven't tried it for running for some reason I've just done like the two levels the layers and I go third layer and yeah I might need to give the best give the old best to try this winter yeah it's a nice in between like I guess for you guys where you need to wear multiple lots and lots of layers you know if there might be that day where it's not quite cold enough for that jacket but or the fleece but you still need a little something more you can put on two layers in a vest and you got I just like the mobility aspect that's what really makes a difference for me yeah that makes sense that really does and especially again if you are running faster I can see that being extremely helpful right well you know me I'm super fast all the time but I could see that being helpful for those that need to get in some speedwork during the winter months those that are training for Boston I'm gonna cold weather city for you know April marathon or early spring marathon and you are you know doing a lot of your training in the cold weather months I could see that being extremely helpful yeah let's go on to have we okay yeah let's go to the we talked vest yeah let's what what what comes next in our I guess other considerations that you need to think about in kind of the trunk area if you will the core so I want to talk about two different I'm gonna use quotes vests so a hydration vest and a light vest now a hydration vest is just that it's a hydration vest but it gives you the layer as though you're wearing a vest so it will keep the wind off of your trunk it will kind of insulate your trunk area while you're running so maybe you don't need to wear the vest maybe you can get away with one or two long sleeve base layers and wear a hydration vest which is gonna allow you to carry hydration your phone your gels all of the things but it gives you pockets you can put your gloves in you can you know whatever you need to carry you would then have with you the other one is a light vest which a lot of you guys are morning runners or after work runners and in the winter that means it is dark like dark dark dark so you need to one be visible so that cars and other pedestrians can see you but you also need to be able to see where you're going so I personally am obsessed with my nox gear tracer light vest and the lamp that attaches in the buckle because my hands are free as you guys can tell I don't like carrying things in my hands what I run I'm all about wearing the things so the light vest is like a disco party that you wear super fun colors bright people can see you it can flash but it also can you can get the buckle lamp which is a head lamp essentially that goes on your chest so you don't have anything bouncing on your head you're not wearing anything on your head you're not carrying like knuckle lamps that kind of move all over and make it dizzy it's perfect so those are my other vests that I'm going to add to our trunk apparel list trunk gear that I think are very important in the winter yeah and it is like a little you know bogo action right who doesn't like a nice bogo sale right like buy one get one you use your hydration vest not only are you using it to actually maintain hydration during your run but it's going to keep you warm too right it's like the opposite of in the summertime you need that hydration like you cannot do your run without it but you like hate it because it's like wow this actually makes me even hotter because it's something on me in the winter it's great because it's like hey it's like free free layer there you go boom you got your free layer you don't even need your vest you know maybe that's why I don't wear for my I just thought about that for my faster run I do take my vest with me so I get some hydration and I know most of you are probably thinking that coach Whitney and I are crazy right now and you're like what are you talking about in the winter I'm never thirsty during my run like who needs water like what do you guys whims like right but trust us even though you don't feel like you're thirsty your body actually still does need water because you are exercising even if it's cold outside and it will impact your performance and you should definitely be hydrating during your long runs and especially during harder efforts so if you're doing speedwork in the winter months you need to hydrate and it is tough because your body's natural instinct is not to say like oh I'm sweating to death and I'm so thirsty but you need to be more mindful and know that you actually need that hydration for performance and recovery from your efforts in order to kind of maximize your running so yeah make sure you're hydrating that is a very common misconception and it is very common that runners don't do that in the winter months I was there like for the first probably six to eight years of my running journey I didn't take water with me ever I didn't feel thirsty I didn't think I needed it and then once I started it was amazing how quickly I recovered and how much better I felt after my runs that I actually wasn't tired fatigued and all of those things so make sure you're hydrating you are exercising definitely you know I would say definitely anything after 45 minutes but certainly after an hour if you're out there for a run even though it's cold and you did not sweat per se you do need to hydrate so that's your bogo you get you get it with your hydration vest then you also well I guess you're light but I can't say that I actually keep you warm so it's gonna keep you safe though so like Coach Winnie mentioned it's safety and even if you know obviously when it's dark that's going to be like super super valuable the other benefits since we're kind of in winter and those that are road conditions that might be snowy or icy you can help light that path in front of you to make sure that you don't slip so you stay safe and it is just super important and even you know I think about even in the daytime like just kind of a little bit of a side I guess it relates because we're talking like woody wear for gear but those that are in snowy conditions remember like drivers during the day the sun really reflects off of the snow so sometimes drivers could be blinded and they might not see you if any of your colors like blend into the surroundings so make sure you're wearing bright clothing like more importantly in the winter months yeah don't wear what I'm wearing as your outer layer don't wear a white long sleeve you know because they're not going to see that but even if you are driving where it is snowy like Duane said the snow or the light does reflect off your nox gear if you wear that during the daytime people are going to be like oh there's like a disco party going on over there what is that and that's going to catch their attention and they're going to see you which is going to make it safer for you it might seem silly to wear it during the daytime but it could also save your life so it goes both ways now let's take a quick pause from this episode in which I hope you were finding value from to talk about safety because it should be a top concern for every runner have you got the right running safety gear whether you're heading out the door for a quick easy run or logging a long run that you need to start super early before the sun rises or you finish super late after the sun goes down nox gear keeps you lit up from all angles so you are visible by cars their signature product the tracer 2 keeps you visible while you run by pairing powerful multicolor LED fiber optics with ultra reflective 3M patterns and fluorescence nox gear's new tracer lamp lights your path and boost your visibility that attaches directly to the buckle of your tracer eliminating the need to use a headlamp anymore because let's be honest who loves that bouncing feeling on your head when you're running just use the code healthy runner during checkout when placing your order at nox gear dot com to receive 35% off your order go ahead and give nox gear try trust me we recommended to all of our healthy runners in our coaching program and you will never feel more confident that you are safe while running now let's get back into this episode all right so as we make our way down below the waist what recommendations do you have for winter running gear for the lower half how do we keep those legs nice and toasty so legs get cold just like arms so what I recommend is tights leggings whatever you want to call them something that's going to be tight to your leg I know a lot of guys are going to be like I don't want to wear tights I don't want to wear leggings like that's what girls wear whatever just do it where where pair of shorts over it it doesn't matter nobody's going to be looking honestly for that matter nobody cares what you're wearing but where's something that is tight to you I have a pair of pants actually if several that have like what do I was talking about that fleece it's like a micro fleece lining in my leggings that are like heaven oh they're like butter it's so great but they keep my legs so nice and warm and honestly I haven't broken them out yet this year because we're having some weird heat stuff going on here I don't know but normally about November is when I start wearing them here and I'll wear them all the way through beginning a march usually here because my legs get colder than my upper body I feel like so I always try to keep those super super warm you can wear two pairs if you need to if you're where it's really really cold I know people that will wear a pair of tight leggings I think there's mostly guys will wear a pair of tight leggings but then the wear a pair of like those 80s windbreaker pants something like that over that still allows for enough movement and mobility in your lower body but will protect your legs from the wind I actually bought a pair of they look ridiculous but I'm excited to wear them they are almost like a puffer vest but in pants so for all of you that follow us on social media I will be sure to post a picture of my puffer pants when I wear them so you guys can see them if you do not follow us you should because we have a lot of great content but find something that is going to keep your legs and your glutes warm my glutes get the coldest out of any part of my body and I'll come in from outside and they're like numb so find a pair of pants couple pairs of pants something that you can do that is going to work for you a lot of the mobility that you want in need but also keep you warm enough absolutely at spark healthy runner by the way for those following us on instagram and facebook and youtube and yeah so not having the issue of like hot cross buns having little cold buns is never good while we're running and yeah same over here the glutes and the secret to that has been actually wearing which yeah looks a little strange but again no one knows when I'm when I'm wearing them but I will do the running tight so the we'll call them compression pants because I think that sounds more masculine right we do the compression pants and then I will actually do a wool so this is breathable wool shorts so it's almost like a compression short that you would wear like under your normal compression pants or compression or running shorts in the summertime but here you wear them over the compression pants to have a little bit extra warmth in the the buns in the gluteus maximus right so to kind of keep them nice and warm and then I'll wear my kind of running shorts over that so like you said I do not feel comfortable just wearing my compression pants alone feels definitely a little awkward so I go with the running shorts over the compression pants and it is in no judgment zone by the way and then when it gets cold air really this is like the coldest level for me usually that you know is really good until you know 20 degrees but under the 20 degree mark then when we're at like level three in our classification system that's when I will double up on the pants and I've done a variety of things I've done like a fleece layer over that's like a sweat pant kind of I guess outer shell like you know the athletic type sweat pants so the elements it won't get like soaking wet or anything if it you know is a little wet outside or yeah if it's super windy then I will try to pull out like the old school you know windbreaker type of material like you said I have like two two pants that I pull that out for on windy days and again that's my whole goal is to just block the wind from making my legs freeze out there during the run so yeah layering is important down below I would say traditionally most people probably feel like they need a little less layers in the legs because if you think about it when you are running yes your leg muscles are working a lot more than your upper body muscles are so that is the reason and you also don't want to put too many layers down below because it will restrict your mobility and I don't know if you guys have seen the movie a Christmas story but every time I put on lots of layers I think I'm like that little kid I can't put my arms down I can't put my arms down and I don't want my legs to be doing that where I'm like waddling like a penguin I need to be able to move so too many layers can be bad down on the bottom half yeah and so as we as we keep working our way down what's next in our gear guide here for winter so I don't know if this is down lower but I'm gonna put it in the same category because your hands are at about the same level as your butt-ish area so I'm gonna go hand next so I mentioned earlier you can wear a cheap pair of you know those knit gloves that you can buy at Walmart target anywhere for like a dollar or whatever those are okay in the warmer temperatures when it gets cold you want to have on mittens you want those fingers to be together they are going to help the buddy system they're gonna warm each other they're going to keep your fingers warmer than gloves now these are my favorite my absolute favorite I don't even know who makes these trail heads no idea but they are mittens and gloves so they're gloves with a wind protective water resistant glove mitten flippy part now I don't know if that's a technical term but it keeps my fingers together it keeps them protected from the wind from rain snow when we have it but sometimes this gets annoying when it flaps around that these gloves have like this little part I don't know if you guys can see it on YouTube here but it has like in the part around your wrist there's like a little pocket so I can put the mitten flap into the pocket so it doesn't flap around when I'm running oh it's doing it's got them too yeah so these are my favorite I even wear these when it's not that cold and just tuck in the mitten part but you can't keep your hands warm yeah and what I would just add to that um coaches yeah these are great these are like thinner I got these from Lulu um they're a thinner glove so I would say they protect me to about freezing mark you know in the in the lower 30s and the mitten certainly helps however once we get down to like the cold cold I do find that it does make a difference um to actually have the skin of the fingers touching each other and that warmth is super helpful and not having the fingers separated um so then I'll usually go to like a fleece glove uh not glove mitten layer so where the skin is actually touching each other and it's amazing like how much that warms it and then if it is windy actually go to an outer shell so there are these mittens that have two layers so there's a fleece layer and then there's an outer shell layer so now this protects me from snow rain wind and is like money so that's been helpful and then it's it's so adjustable it's great so you just like you you're they get too hot you just pull one of the levels off and just like sticking in your pocket like you mentioned before um and then I also have like thin like and running uh gloves which again they're thin so we're talking yeah like I mentioned before my fingers are the first thing to go so you know I'm wearing this I sometimes wear this literally with like tank top uh to start some of my runs uh because my hands will get colder right and even my marathon race I had mentioned right I was wearing shorts in a tank top but I started the race in gloves for the first six miles so that's where those thinner uh type material gloves can come in like super handy and but they're not gonna like protect you when it's really cold so you definitely have to go to more like a fleece and a mitten is it just makes all the world of a difference a mitten versus a glove um if you haven't tried mittens yet you definitely need to uh you will definitely see a huge benefit to keeping those hands and fingers um which don't get a lot of circulation uh warm during your run yes absolutely and I would say definitely if you're going to go the route that has the two layers make sure your outer layer is wind resistant water resistant because the snow is gonna hit your hands and it's gonna melt and that's just water right on your hands so find something that is not going to get stopping wet when it snows rains whatever it is I wore my I don't even know what you call flipie mittens um when I was 35 in raining and my hands were bone drive when I got home it was fantastic so find something that is water resistant because it will make a difference absolutely I hope you are enjoying this episode and it is providing value for you I wanted to take a brief moment to share a story of a real runner like you who is struggling with a common problem that you may be facing here is one of our athletes who got the guidance support and accountability from our healthy runner coaching team to get clarity and structure on the six steps to growing as a runner with personalized strength nutrition and run plans I hope their story inspires you that there is hope to either get over your running injury or to continue getting faster or running longer so you can continue to get in those mental clearing miles and enjoy your running journey again here is their inspiring story hi my name is Emily I currently live in Copenhagen Denmark I have been working with coach Whitney in the healthy runner coaching community for about 18 months since working with coach Whitney I ran two half marathons two full marathons and I'm currently training for my third full marathon with her I started working with her um not because of injury but because I was feeling aimless in my running I um had just had a marathon canceled in spring of 2021 due to COVID and didn't know where to go with that I heard a podcast by Dwayne um about coaching and run plans and was intrigued however um had a lot of doubts about doing it I always thought run coaching was for individuals who were fast um looking for be cues or different things like that not a middle of a pack runner um like me but um I quickly found out that run coaching is good for anybody and the benefits that it has given me um go beyond the PRs that I've had in races but go are setting me up to keep running um I've been a runner for 11 years and have ran marathons in half marathons previously to working with coach Whitney in in each of the cycles I either get burnt out um injured or I run the race and then I take a long break after and I have to build from zero um with the coaching community I've learned the importance of consistency in my training not only during training cycles but also outside of training cycles um I have learned the importance of strength training as a busy mom of two young boys I frequently find time for my running but not so much of my strength training and since making strength training a priority of my week I've found injuries don't happen as much or when I do have pains I'm able to um get help from Whitney or Dwayne right away and I have a physical therapist here in Denmark that I also work with who follows um many of the same beliefs that the healthy runner coaching community follows so I always reach out to Whitney and Dwayne and then we'll go see my physical therapist here um I think the biggest thing that I've taken away from my coaching experience is confidence in my running confidence in knowing and trusting process of a training cycle um so I just can't recommend enough working with somebody in the healthy running community um and investing in yourself to become the best runner that you can be with where you are currently at which is I think the best thing that these coaches do is they look at where you're at and they build those plans and they build on those plans each training cycle so that you can keep getting better and each training cycle has its own specific purpose um so that is something I have enjoyed with this process and highly recommend if you're thinking about coaching um and doubting it or wondering should I do this should I invest in myself um please make that investment it's probably one of the best investments you can make if you want to continue running as a lifelong runner I hope sharing that story inspired you and provided you some hope if you want the one-on-one structure accountability and support from our healthy runner coaching team of experts check out the behind-the-scenes video tour of our signature coaching program you just heard about including other stories from runners who are just like you and we're struggling with the same sticking points before they signed up for our program just head to learn dot spark healthy runner dot com to learn more and book your strategy call with me today now let's get back into this episode so then if we did hands now let's go down to the the foot and ankle kind of past the pants area um what do we need to consider um in terms of socks so a lot of us go from shorts or capris to full length leggings pants something that's going to hit you right at the ankle right once it gets cold so traditionally I run in you guys can see my belega socks the no show whatever they're called but they're low very like right at where the top of my shoe is leave a lot of my ankle exposed right so these are not going to be that great in the winter what I go for is the ones with I think these are called crew socks they've got maybe an inch of an ankle and these make such a difference because they come up under my pants now I know a lot of people I think Dwayne wears the taller ones I do yeah sure I quarter this might be quarter uh socks they might call them a quarter length I don't know what they go I think crew is technically like a little higher like half okay yeah now these are definitely not half shin they come up about an inch above my ankle bone so it does give a little bit of a double layer the base of my pants top of my sock which protects from the wind really is what I am wanting to protect from where I live um but snow all the elements essentially you want a heavier taller sock because it's going to keep you warmer yeah and with this material matters definitely um this is where I do seek out the smart wool technology um sock so I have specific socks for kind of winter running um that will keep the toes and the feet a lot warmer so I know I've had like smart wool is like brand um as well as like CEP makes some wool like the marino wool socks um which are specifically made for winter running those have been you know really enough um if it goes to literally like zero to two degrees or minus degrees that I've gotten in some short runs then I will pull out a second layer of like a storm sock they call it where it is really that material that prevents anything from getting wet um and will block the wind um that's when I'll pull that out I used to use that a lot more frequently in my early days and my running journey until I found more like the winter marino wool sock and that's been enough for me honestly to kind of get going now it is really rare that I'll pull out that like second layer of sock which you know the downside is it does add some bulk to your shoe and you know feels like you don't have as much mobility um but you're able to get out there um for run um and you know still be able to do it in cold weather so there are specific socks that you can get for winter running definitely not cotton socks just like you know we talk about for normal socks for running but you know get a get a good you know one to three pairs of a decent winter running sock and they'll definitely uh go far and keep you warm and again protect the skin so you gotta do more than the no-show version because you don't want any skinnest exposed especially if there is a wind chill right it's gonna be really important um how about shoes anything we need to consider for shoes not a ton there's not a whole bunch of things we can do in the winter to make your feet warmer essentially other than the right socks um sometime for me if it's snowing here which is very rare but it does happen it we don't know what to do with that like the nobody shovels nobody plow like there's nothing no clearing of snow here so if I want to go out for a run what I do is I just throw on my trail shoes because the the sole or the bottoms of the trail shoes have more nubbies more grip more traction so I feel like I'm not gonna slip as easily on the sidewalk or the road um I will say if you are running and it is slippery it's gonna be less slippery on the road than it is on the sidewalk concrete is going to be slipping more slippery than asphalt which is gonna be more slippery slippery than like the ground like grass or wood chips or the trail so if you can run on the street safely I would recommend that it's also more likely to be plowed and clear than the sidewalk especially if you're running in neighborhoods you know your neighbor Johnny might not have been out early enough to shovel his sidewalk so it might be just snow so you can do trail shoes um I'm gonna let you speak maybe about yacht tracks or some of the other like ice shoe things you can put on there because I don't I've never used any of those but they are available um yeah so you know definitely our trail runners um and you know our Alaskan runners um we've had some runners in our program from Alaska um and like I mentioned before in the soda area Michigan that are are using some of the yacht tracks I've never used them personally for runs here in Connecticut um I think Coach Lew and Coach Cat have used them before but they can add some more grip especially if the pavement isn't clear so again it's been years really for us here in Connecticut but I remember there was like three winters in a row you know about 10 years ago now where we had snow every three days and it was just like a new storm came through so the roads were never like clear for a good four to six weeks maybe even eight weeks um so if you were getting out there for a run which I was um you know you were running on either snowpack roads or ice um so you know those can certainly help get some gripage um to really and they they attach like right onto your shoe and just allow for more traction essentially so if you are running on snowpack or ice roads again look into that for a safety standpoint could you certainly don't want to fall you don't want to wind up falling on an outstretched hand or what we call a foosh and fracturing your wrist um that would not be good because then you're not going to be running uh for the rest of winter so you got to prevent those types of things um from occurring but yeah I would say the socks are key really because most running shoes are very breathable and they're meant that way so you know there's not going to be a lot of I guess if you are in an area that gets a lot of windy cold weather and the wind chill is high you know consider that second layer storm sock that I was talking about or try to consider you know in your running shoe selection the ones that don't have the most mesh and holes in it you know some are more breathable than others so maybe for winter shoe you pick ones that aren't as breathable which means you know your foot isn't going to get as cold when you are running so really kind of recapping this guys and summarizing um in looking at our kind of three cold weather clothing categories and all of this by the way will be posted with this podcast episode on our Instagram account at Spark Healthy Runner coach Whitney has really devised a layering guide for you and the first layering that we're talking about is like 50 degrees plus meaning you don't need any layering you're wearing what you normally wear for most of us that is you know tank top and shorts um for most of us for the first level of cold now we're starting to add okay what's the first thing that I need to like you know pull out of my you know we're finding my closet pull out you know as you know I started going through my things you like forget right like what you wore last year it's like oh I have this hat oh I have these gloves oh yeah that's right this is what I use first and then I go my next level so then you're talking about your long sleeve options and for some of you you might do what do you call them caprice right you might do caprice versus shorts um or long pants and you might be a baby like me and pull out like your thin you know gloves right so you're starting to use your thin gloves for like 40 to 50 degree and then we go to like level two which and for those watching the video version you'll see the graphics that I'm holding up here um you can get these to act as your guide and you look your weather app and you're saying oh it's 20 to 30 degrees all right let's see what uh do we know what you were talking about um I should have a base layer yes long sleeves good good top layer I might consider a light jacket at that point or a vest as coach what you was talking about accessories now here's where you usually got to pull out your hat so you're really looking at pulling out your hat and do I consider switching from my gloves to now mittens and then we can go to our coldest level um which is the coldest level here and this is where we're really layering up so now we're starting to actually add you know long sleeves and a fleece level and maybe that outer shell so that jacket the pants maybe it's two levels of pants so you got your thinner running tight and then you have an outer layer from there as well and then we really need to consider thinking about the neck area right are we doing kind of the buff are we like covering it up are we doing a scarf are we doing this like cops and robbers that Wayne showed before um and are you know mitten wise are we starting to do two levels and two layers like to ain't talked about before so we have that all outlined for you in a handy graphic so for those you know following us on at spark healthy runner you'll be able to like you know save that post and be able to reference it each season and for those of you not on Instagram you can simply email coach Whitney at Whitney at spark healthy runner dot com and we'll be happy to share those graphics with you because I have found that to be a helpful reference we've had it for a couple years first time we're kind of talking about on the podcast here um so hopefully we're able to really help most of you uh get through winter as we like to say and for those of you who like you really don't like summer running you might love winter running I know coach cat does for sure uh that's her season and I honestly the more I've done it I don't mind running in winter at all and quite frankly I'd rather get outside and enjoy some fresh share because we're usually cooped up in the winter and we don't spend a lot of time outside so if I can get those mental clearing miles in it's just all about proper layering and the only thing coach Whitney and I ask from you today if you found this helpful like literally where you're listening to it copy the link share it with another running friend of yours who needs these tips to be able to go out and run in the winter and do it the right way without overheating and without freezing um because you can do it and it is very very manageable and it doesn't need to be like a total you know disaster and just something that you like cringe so coach Whitney anything else that you would like to add that we haven't talked about about winter running actually one thing just came to mind while you were talking um if you are super cold or a big old baby like me you can use hot hands you know those little packets that you kind of shake up and they get warm you can put those in your gloves but don't put them right against your skin make sure you have a layer those cheap old knit gloves something between you and the hot hands because actually I think I was running with blue last winter when I was visiting um it I don't know what the chemicals had some reaction on my hands and it made my hands black and then they were like burning after that so make sure there's a layer between you and the hot hands but hot hands also come in handy you can stick them in the side of your bra if you're a girl you can stick them in your waistband on your hips to keep your legs and your glutes a little warmer hot hands are in my running closet cabinet right here I keep them I use them all winter but I'm also a huge big winter baby so if if that's something that you might want to try let me know what you think yeah super helpful I've never needed to go there but I know many who have so thank you for sharing that and thank you guys for listening to this again share it with a running friend um that can use this and thank you so much coach for putting together these graphics sharing these tips with us so we can continue getting after this winter of course and guys just stay toasty this winter stay warm stay toasty and be smart absolutely and as always let's maintain a strong mind strong body and just keep running through winter and beyond thank you as always for listening to the healthy runner podcast where we help you get stronger run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running if you found this content valuable here's five ways we can help you grow as a runner for free one grab a free copy of 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