That’s my first Christmas carol reference of the season. It must be the snow on the mountains that’s bringing it out of me.
Last week I shared my joy that my running endurance has returned to it’s pre-sickness level, I’m still ecstatic, don’t get me wrong, but I haven’t been getting out to run nearly as much as I’d like to. And I’ve got two hypotheses as to why that is.
1. It’s cold outside
2. There’s other stuff I’d rather be doing.
I said Brrr, it’s cold in here.
Most of my work out clothes are t-shirts and shorts, I’m blaming my earlier reliance on indoor gyms. While the climate controlled gym is pretty appealing now that I can see my breath, I think need that external stimulation to keep me going. When I worked out at my gym in Ontario, I required my iPod, and a tv or book or magazine to keep me on that treadmill or elliptical for my cardio bout. To be honest, I think I developed Exercise Induced Attention Deficit Disorder.
Ok so that doesn’t really exist, but it probably should. And don’t even think about trying to get it in the DSM IV, I’m on the phone with the APA right now.
Tangent, sorry. OK so maybe the A.D.D. isn’t always exercise-induced…
If I’m not that thrilled with returning to the indoor sweat box, I need to figure out how to stay warm exercising outdoors.
Most of you BC natives are probably already familiar with winter exercise gear, but here’s some helpful info for everyone else.
1. Layer. Wear a synthetic layer close to the skin to wick the sweat away. The outer layer should be breathable but protect against wind or rain.
2. Don’t over dress. The general rule is to dress like its 20 degrees warmer than it is. That sounds like a bit extreme to me, if I were to dress like it was 25 degrees outside today, I’d freeze! I’m going to start with a 10 degree differential and let you know how it goes.
3. Put a lid on it. You lose 40% of heat through your heat, so wearing a hat will help keep you warmer.
4. Hand’s up. Another 30% of heat is lost through the hands, gloves that wick away moisture will keep them warm on cold days. On extremely cold days, mittens will keep your hands warmer.
5. Bottom half. Running pants should be synthetic material that wick moisture away. Since our legs generate lots of heat, we don’t need as many layers on our bottom half.
Here’s the article where I found most of this information:
http://running.about.com/od/coldweatherrunning/a/wintergear.htm
I’ll tackle hypothesis # 2 next week.
