I live in New England. It gets cold. It snows. It rains ice. We get Nor’easters. Sometimes we even get warm weather. That’s New England for you. As I learned when I moved here from Ohio over 20 years ago:
If you don’t like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.” – Mark Twain
You may be wondering why I am thinking of this already. It’s not the first day of winter. Well, we have a Winter Weather Advisory starting at 4am on Saturday to 7am on Sunday. Snow accumulation is expected to be 3-6 inches. Which isn’t too bad in comparison to other storms but this is just the beginning.
So to run here you have to be prepared for anything and since I pretty much run outside whenever I can, there are a few things I have in my running bag of goodies.
My go-to’s for winter running (as pictured above and please note that I am linking to current styles and designs so some of what I have is no longer available):
- Starting at the top, my Oiselle hat. I love this hat. Usually once I have it on I don’t take it off. I’ve been known to be wearing it while working at my laptop (like right now).
- The Oiselle Gaiter. I usually need this when temps dip into the 20’s and there is a wind chill. It easily covers my mouth for the beginning of the run and I can easily pull it down once I warm up. Otherwise the inside of my nose hurts for the first 1/2 mile of my run.
- A great pair of gloves/mittens is absolutely necessary. I love these Gordini mittens my older daughter got me for Christmas a couple years ago. I have worn these to run in below zero weather and my hands sweat in them. The website says they are good for 32-50 degrees, however, my hands stay warm in a lot colder weather.
- The Oiselle Mile One Pullover is one of my favorite purchases this year. It is light and easily goes over another layer. I have it on over the Oiselle Lux Raglan Long Sleeve, another favorite purchase. This long sleeve keeps me warm and is a great base layer or on it’s own.
- Next up is the bottoms. I wear the Oiselle Classic Lesley Tights. They also have them in petite and tall. They are super comfortable and easily can become a base layer. When it gets colder I will also wear these tights under the Oiselle Track Pants.
- Of course you can’t forget a good pair of compression socks. I wear both Zensah and PRO Compression. The ones I have on in the pic are Zensah and are one of my favorites.
A couple other items that are my go-to’s but not pictured are:
- Yaktrax. When it gets icy and snowy on the roads I put these on my running shoes. They allow me to run outside more and less on the treadmill.
- After the run when I cool down and get chilled my favorite piece of clothing to put on is my Oiselle Cat Lady Jacket. It is soooooo soft and comfortable. Just like the hat I pretty much wear it all day. Or I wear the Kara Sweatshirt & Pants from Oiselle. So soft and comfortable too!
Winter Running Tip: Before I decide what I need to wear on a particular day (read how many layers), I look at the weather. The common rule of thumb is to take the temperature and add 20. So if it is 10 degrees you dress as though its 30 degrees. Luckily we aren’t quite there yet but you get the idea.
As a side note: On this morning’s run the temperature was 32. I wore everything in the above picture except the Oiselle gaiter.
Share a pic of your favorite winter weather gear on Instagram with the #runningonventi.