Saturday, January 22, 2011

It's Cold Here

It's a fact of living in Minnesota: it will get cold in the winter.  And this week, it did:


That 5°F temp and -14°F wind chill was before it got really cold.  (That night, it would get to -16°F air temperature.)  And of course, I ran.  It's not hard to run in extreme cold, it just requires lot's of layers.  Like a parfait.  Or an onion.  Here's what I wore:
  • Hat
  • Neck warmer
  • Ski goggles (silly, yes, but if you've ever had contact lenses freeze to your eyeballs, you know what I'm talking about)
  • Under Armour long-sleeve base top
  • Brooks long-sleeve shirt
  • Nike windbreaker
  • NB windblocker tights
  • High School warm-up pants
  • thick socks
  • shoes
  • Yaktrax
Yes, a little crazy.


I even did the "duct tape on the shoes" trick:


It was a good (but short) run.  My Yaktrax malfunctioned halfway in, so I carried them.  And I lost the duct tape when I did that.  Oops.

Moral of the story: Cold weather is not an excuse to run on a treadmill.  That is all.

6 comments:

crossn81 said...

A few years ago I had trouble keeping the duct tape attached to my shoes. It seemed that it was so cold the duct tape didn't flex with my shoe!

Hannah said...

I'm a total cold wimp because I haven't been outside in quite a while! Hats off to you, though!

Matt said...

@crossn81: I was worried about that too, but the Yaktrax actually hold the duct tape in place. Well, at least until your Yaktrax malfunctions...

@Hannah: It's warm this week! Perfect time to go outside! (Or to the Dome...)

SteveQ said...

I never tried the duct tape, but I've put my feet into plastic bags before slipping on the shoes; it not only stops the wind, it makes it easier to put the shoes on when wearing three pairs of socks.

I didn't run in the worst weather. I had the flu. I was sort of relieved I had an excuse.

Matt said...

I suppose that when we consider the flu a welcome excuse to avoid running in the cold, it's time for summer. Or a one-way ticket to Miami.

Thanks for the tip on plastic bags. I hope, though, that the next time I need them will be next winter.

Katie said...

what about when you put your wetsuit on this summer?

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