This is what I wore - the wife had a similar setup:Freed Roger wrote:I run in the cold, but damn, not that cold. 5 degrees yesterday on run, but sun was out. only intermittent wind, so lucked out there - face wasn't covered.Swirls wrote:The wife and I did a Resolution Run 5K yesterday morning. Nothing like celebrating the new year by doing a 5K when it was -13 outside (wind chill of -31). Friends on FB got a kick out of the pictures of my frozen beard and frozen eyelashes (which we both had). We both wore masks to cover most of our face, except I had to keep taking mine off as it wasn't fitting right and didn't help much overall.
I've read mixed things about a body's physical adaptations to cold. Cold water swimmers can get highly efficient at generating heat ( brown fat- ugh no thanks I'm not so sure how it works in just cold air. Seems for the most part- you can't physically adapt to cold like you do in the heat (increased sweat rate, more blood plasma after doing it for a while).
Really, the main adaption - figuring out what to wear based on conditions. STL typically doesn't have the sustained cold for me to tell if I'm getting physically/mentally used to it or not. though yesterday I noticed, I was able to relax in the 5 degree cold (body not screaming at me to quit as much) than the day before - that has to help efficiency. So much of it depends on how worn down I am/or not when trying to stay or get warm. Also, I've learned my lesson to have the game plan (a change of clothes, something to eat, drink etc etc) for after the winter outdoor exercise. I may be able to stay comfortable in light gear on a run, but once I stop, I only have minutes before I get the shakes.
Sitting outside at cold sporting events can be the worst. Went to a WI Badger game without enough warmth for my feet. I had layers of socks but just wore shoes rather than boots. My friend had a few extra hand warmer things that I threw in my shoes that save my dumb arse.
Feet:
1x compression socks
1x ski socks
running shoes
Legs:
1x medium thermals
1x heavy thermals
1x fleece lined tech sweat pants
Upper body:
1x medium thermal
1x light zip up tech hoodie
1x Patagonia Better Sweater
1x wind resistant zip up fleece lined polyester jacket
Head:
1x neoprene balaclava
1x stocking cap
I had a pair of sunglasses I started out wearing, except they would instantly fog up so I just left them in a coat pocket with my eyes exposed the whole time. My clothing worked, but I don't think it was ideal. Half of the course was in the sun and during those spots I got hot and sweaty. The other half was in the shade through some snow-covered trails... And I froze my ass off in those spots.
I also walked pretty much the entire thing since I am not a runner, so that made it 45 minutes outside rather than the 27ish minutes my wife finished it in.
Also, re: sitting outside for extended periods, we loaded up last year when we sat at Lambeau for a Packers playoff game in January. We actually both wore ski pants and our ski jackets. Feet were snow boots with a couple layers of socks. Feet and hand warmers were in both gloves and boots. We were sitting on the aluminum bleachers, so we bought "warming" hunting seat cushions from the Gander Mountain in Green Bay to sit on that would heat up once you had been on them for a while. I think they were these exact ones: https://www.amazon.com/NEP-Outdoors-Ins ... B014XWG7QQ