Dressing for running, from cold to warm

Many moons ago, back in grad school, I went out for a run on a quiet weekend morning, heading west from my rooming house on Ithaca's East Hill. It was in the depths of winter in Central New York, and I was fully layered up. Wind chill temperature was -20°F. I clearly remembered that, because, when I got to the bottom of the hill and into downtown Ithaca and looked up at the digital thermometer above the entrance to Tompkins Trust Company, just north of Ithaca Commons, that was what the thermometer showed. It was a gorgeous run. I saw very few people and pretty much had the run of the city. The -20°F is still my record for the coldest run.

Over the decades since, running gear has tremendously advanced, in material, design, and feature. Even for someone like me, with a minimalist inclination, I've two bins full of running gear stacked in the "running corner" of the house. Back in Ithaca, for really cold weather running, I'd put on a few layers of cotton shirts, a hooded cotton sweatshirt, a non-breathable windbreaker, a pair of cotton sweat pants, and gloves. Nice and simple. Well, at least simple. All that cotton without ventilation became not so nice, after a few miles. Over the subsequent decades, after lots of experimentation, my dressing for temperature has become much more finely calibrated. Nowadays, I would go out almost always dressed just about right for the temperature forecast for the latter part of a run. The following table summarizes what works for me. Not included in the table are three items that don't change with temperature: headbands, toes socks, and shoes.

Notes: For shirt, S = short-sleeved and L = long-sleeved. For the rest, L = light, M = medium, and H = heavy. For Gloves, W = wool and S = shell. MCM = Long-sleeved shirt from Marine Corps Marathon 2013, heavier than the usual tech shirt.

Here are what I typically would wear for temperatures colder than 10°F.

Here's a closeup of light hat and light balaclava ("Buff") for 10-20°F, as modeled by Platypus, my running partner.

For this past Christmas, my kids gave me one of those hi-tech running jackets (yellow one above), and I'm really enjoying and appreciating the new-found comfort running in it. About a year ago, I did a mid-week medium long run of 12 miles that began at around 8°F. I had on my usual < 10°F gear, except for the non-breathable windbreaker--the very same one from grad school! It felt a bit on the warm side. I knew I was gradually getting wet underneath, but overall I felt comfortable. After I got home and took off the wool gloves and shell, I noticed white stuff falling but wasn't quite sure what it was. Then, I took the windbreaker off (soaked!), looked at the inside, and realized what the white stuff was--ice crystals! With my new jacket, that's no longer a problem. :)

Once the temperature gets above 50°F, it's just one short-sleeved shirt and one pair of shorts, plus a wide-brim sun hat, as needed. And, it pretty much stays that way, as the temperature climbs towards summer. My record for the warmest run is in the upper 90°F. But, once it gets above 100°F, my running gear changes to the following:

jk!