There are some challenges to living in Western New York and running in the winter. As our long runs become longer, there are some things I needs to be mindful of.

A couple years ago, a friend and I were running one evening… it was 5 degrees. When we finished, everything was frozen.

We decided that 15 degrees was the bar. Below that, it was definitely a treadmill day.

It’s still a rule I try to stick to.

Running in the cold, I’ve learned you have to focus on the extremities… toes and fingers.

Toes

After that 4 miler Saturday, it took a couple hours for my toes to thaw out. Yes, even after the wonderfully warm shower. Maybe a touch of frost bite? Maybe. There are probably some tricks I’m not privy to. Maybe different sneakers. Maybe a different approach to socks. I ran in my old New Balance with a pair of heavy socks. That light mesh which is usually such a dream was just COLD.

Fingers

Usually, I love starting out on a cold day with my favorite pink glove/mittens. You know the ones. When they’re all closed up they look like mittens. But they have a super secret flap that when opened exposes fingerless gloves. They even have magnets that keep them from flapping when they’re open. My absolute favorites.

After about the first 1/2 mile, you can expose your fingers to cool off a bit until you eventually remove the gloves around mile 1.

Here’s what I’m learning about longer runs… You have to put the gloves back on.

Your fingers ( & hands) get cold.  But your body is still hot and wanting to cool. I reach this point of discomfort where it’s tough to balance the cold and the hot. So I look kind of silly… gloves off, gloves on, fingers covered, fingers uncovered. 

I’ll figure it out, just haven’t yet.

How do you manage longer runs in the winter cold & snow?