The tendency is to overdress for cold weather runs which adds extra weight and bulk. Try dressing as though it's 20 degrees warmer. You should be cold for the first mile or so. For a run at 20F I would wear a short sleeve running shirt and a long sleeve running shirt and a pair of light weight tights with a pair of Cool Max briefs underneath. No hat, no gloves and most importantly, no jacket.

Tom

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Wind or waterproof jackets are nothing to snuff at so long as you adjust whatever you wear underneath and don't overheat. I'd be soaked without mine, and when it's warmer out I simply wear less underneath.

(I have made the mistake of running in pouring rain without the jacket and paid for it dearly. Being drenched, utterly drenched, in a tech shirt is miserable. Worst. run. ever.)

My jacket was about $100 (Asics, last year's holiday gift) and while it may be middle of the road in terms of bells and whistles, it does have plenty of 'venting' areas where the wearer can unzip a pocket and let some cool air in. Between blocking out the rain and snow and still letting me regulate, it's been one of the best running items I've acquired.

Next to shoes, of course.

(FWIW, I'm a warm runner with a strong preference for being toasty no matter the season, including our 90 degree 70% humidity summers)

Sarah - I am slower in the cold temps too. But, I am also running in snow - which to me is like running in sand at times. ugh! I don't worry about speed this time of year - just staying in condition until Spring arrives!

There may be a psychological component to slowing down in cold weather. We're all human beings, and we can all be subject to unconscious influences.

I say, don't let it worry you that you slow down a little. You can't be fast all the time. Just keep up your mileage base and the weather will warm up soon enough.

When it does, you'll conquer.



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Good night Chesty, wherever you are.

Ah ha!

very interesting one this,

So i asked a friend who is a bit of a geek and he explained the following to me........ its a little odd but kind of makes sense (he is also a little odd)

ok, respiration is based upon the conversion of oxygen into energy and breathing faster allows us to get more of it.

All living things need energy and need both oxygen and water to do it. if you take a seed or a pea or any other stagnent 'life' and put it in water it wont germinate unless it is above a certain temperature.

As with all living things we have an optimum temperature for creating energy and although we can regulate our body temperature we cannot regulate the temp of the oxygen we breath.

this means our body does not have optimum conditions for respiration and less oxygen is converted and therefore we cant run as fast. even with no wind/rain/snow you will be slower in the cold.

On the plus side to this whole rant it should mean that winter training has a similar (although less extreme) effect to altitude training!

so in spring your body will be more efficient and you will be faster than you were before fall.........

i dont know how accurate this is but its food for thought none the less!!

xx

Sarah - Don't feel bad, a lot of us have a tougher time keeping up our speed in the cold too. It's a lot of stress on your lungs, especially if you've dealt with asthma (exercise-induced or cold reactive - I have a double whammy!). I think this time of year is tough since you're still getting used to it. But just think of how strong you'll be when the spring rolls around!

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hopeful4ever:
I found this same article on 2 different websites.

Do I burn off more calories exercising in the cold?
Cold weather itself does not increase calorie needs. (And remember: the weather can actually be tropical inside your ski outfit or running suit!) Your body does use a considerable amount of energy to warm and humidify the air you breathe when you exercise in the cold. (For example, if you were to burn 600 calories while cross-country skiing for an hour in 0 degree weather, you may use an estimated 23 percent of those calories to warm the inspired air.) But you use the heat you generate with exercise to warm the air you breathe and prevent your lungs from getting chilled. Hence, you might not sweat as much. But, you don't burn extra calories--unless your body temperature drops and you start to shiver. In the summer, you would have dissipated this heat via sweat.
You may, however, burn off a few more calories to carry extra clothing. Athletes who lug around heavy clothing and sports equipment--skis and ski boots, heavy parkas, snow shoes--do burn more calories. For example, the Army allows 10% more calories for the heavily clad troops who exercise in the cold. But winter runners or race walkers generally wear minimal heavy clothing...
&nbps; If you are too scantily clad (or have little body fat) and your body becomes chilled, you will need more calories to stay warm. For example, scantily clad research subjects who exercised in the cold (14 degrees F) burned 13% more calories than when they performed the same exercise at room temperature--about 450 vs 400 calsories per hour.

I've always kind of wondered the same thing though. I definitely run faster in the cold though. Probably because my body wants back in the house.