Winter running outdoors

[dawebberz]

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for running outdoors in the snow and ice? Do you wear anything special on your shoes? I've been dressing in layers so I can remove them as needed when I get warm. We just got our first bit of snow here, and I want to avoid injuring myself.

 

Thanks

[Insidia]

I was about to post roughly the same thing. I was going to ask more about breathing and physical awareness tips. We get snow here but not a lot (I think we got a foot last year and there are still caterpillars around this year so we're supposed to have a mild winter apparently?) and I've run through knee-high snow in the past wearing just a light coat or hoodie in a level 3 emergency so I'm not particularly worried about the snow or cold in general in the form of what I should wear (OP it really depends on your personal sensitivity to cold and how much snow you get. Sweatpants and a packable down jacket should be fine, from my personal experience, but I also usually don't wear more than a hoodie during the winter months and I come from Lake Erie so I'm not unused to the cold - of course someone else may be able to answer with specifics)

 

I want to ask - to add to this thread - what I should be doing about my breathing, since after running in the cold my sinuses and throat feel raw and I end up coughing the rest of the day and usually the next day as well. Also, how should I be warming up so that my joints don't lock up or start hurting really bad during or after the run? I'm an equestrian and ever since I started riding western, my right hip will lock up and start aching and the winter months it's really bad and starts aching with so much pain, along with my right knee randomly. I went to the doctor about it and they couldn't find any reason so I think it's just from the position the western saddle put me in. I haven't ridden in three years, so I'm hoping this year won't be too bad, but I'm going to treat it with the assumption it will be like any other, especially since I'm training to go to an equestrian college in march and I have to amp up my workouts to fit their requirements.

 

I hope you don't mind if I add this bit, OP. I plan not to run if it gets below 20°F here (the same rule we give about riding and working horses in the winter) so that could be some advice to you as well. I don't know how cold it normally gets where you are. If not running when it's under 20°F isn't an option, you could at least take it easy when you do run. When I was living on Lake Erie, it was almost always below 20° so when I did run it was short - 10-15 minutes at most.

 

Hope I could help a little, and hopefully someone else comes along who can answer our questions.