Best Bets for Winter Running

By John Williams-Searle

It’s important this winter to head outdoors to exercise, and when you’re properly outfitted, it’s safer and more enjoyable! This is a great time to acquire the gear you need to navigate the cold-weather conditions, and with the holidays coming up they’re great holiday gifts that support our locally-owned businesses – especially those that advertise in Adirondack Sports! If you are new to the sport of running, or even if you have been doing it for years, there are several considerations to keep in mind to make yourself more comfortable while running, walking or snowshoeing. 

First, you’ll need a comfortable base layer that fits snugly and wicks moisture to keep you dry. The Fleet Feet stores in Albany and Malta have several technical base layers to keep you comfortable. The Craft Fuseknit Comfort layer is seamless for superior comfort and is body mapped to provide warmth and breathability where you need it. Mizuno makes a base layer that incorporates their Breath Thermo technology for increased comfort. Breath Thermo uses a fiber that captures vapor molecules and converts them to heat. This means that you’ll stay warm, rather than get chilled as you sweat in colder conditions.

The next layer, depending on the conditions, should be a long-sleeve technical running shirt or quarter-zip. These apparel items are some of the most versatile pieces that you can have in your wardrobe. They perform in the outdoors, look great for casual wear, and make fantastic gifts. They fit more loosely to provide a layer of air that will insulate you from colder conditions. Craft’s Core Gain mid layer has brushed fleece inside to keep you comfortable. New Balance’s Impact Run Grid Back Half Zip features NB Heat grid fleece that helps warm captured air between layers and effectively wicks moisture. Saucony uses an ideal blend of 91% recycled polyester and 9% soft merino wool in their versatile Ramble long-sleeve shirt. The Jacquard fabric allows this shirt to function as a base layer, as well as a fashionable wear around town shirt. Craft provides an 80/20 blend of poly to wool in their SUBZ long-sleeve if you require a bit more warmth.

When the weather gets wet, windy and even colder, it’s time for a great running jacket. Saucony has released their Drizzle Jacket which is waterproof, yet breathable. Saucony is all about useful details, such as taped zipper seams and waterproof front pockets. If you need more warmth, check out Craft’s SUBZ Jacket, which dispenses with stitching in favor of heat bonding to preserve warmth. Do you foresee even colder conditions? Sugoi makes a premium jacket, the Firewall 180, which incorporates a lightweight thermal knit laminate for maximum wind and rain protection. It also looks great.

We have your torso covered, but remember bottoms. Nylon wind pants and sweats are pretty much a thing of the past. Now, running in the cold is all about tights on your legs. Every apparel brand makes a great tight. Look for soft fleece interiors for more warmth. 

Remember, when dressing for cold weather, make sure that you dress for 10-20 degrees warmer than what the outside thermometer reads. Why this discrepancy? As you run, you will warm up. If you feel comfortable when you start, you might overheat, get sweaty, and experience some chilling (as this excess moisture gets cold or freezes) that could lead to hypothermia. By starting out slightly cooler, you shouldn’t warm up too much, and will avoid overheating and generating excess moisture. It’s all about staying dry. Luckily, by dressing in layers and using technical materials designed to wick moisture, you will stay dry and comfortable.

Great gifts for runners and walkers are hats and gloves. Saucony makes a wonderful glove-mitten hybrid called the Ulti-Mitt that allows you to convert to a glove when your fingers get warm as you run. Craft has a similar design, but they ramp up the visibility by making the mitt element extremely reflective. As it gets colder it also gets darker. Nathan has you covered with an entire line of visibility products, including gloves.

Safety accessories such as rechargeable clip-on lights (new to Fleet Feet this year), reflective vests, and headlamps make useful gifts for the runners and walkers in your life. 

It’s important to keep flexible and limber to avoid injury when it gets cold. We have all types of massage products to help you address sore muscles. The Roll Recovery R8 deep tissue massager targets IT-bands, quads, hamstrings, calves, shins, gluteus, arms and more, and it self-adjusts for different body sizes. This is a compact and powerful massager that you can take anywhere. We also have traditional foam rollers and Trigger Point balls for rolling out persistent adhesions. If you want to take your massage up to the next level this season and are looking for a fantastic gift, check out the new percussion massagers. These do all the work for you and get deep into muscle tissue for wonderful relief. We carry the Trigger Point Percussion Massager, as well as Hyperice’s Hypervolt.

Technology for runners and walkers always makes a great gift. We have entry level Garmin watches, such as the Forerunner 45, that will provide information on pace, distance and time. If you want more features, try the feature-packed Garmin Forerunner 245. All of these watches have wrist-based heart rate monitors to help keep you in your “zones.” Finally, if you are looking for a safe way to listen to music as you run, look no further than headphones by Aftershoks. These allow you to be aware of your surroundings by using bone-conduction technology – there is nothing actually in your ear – to convey sound. They are also impervious to moisture so you can confidently wear them in all types of conditions.

This is a great time of year to make a trip to Fleet Feet. We have the necessary gear to keep you safe and comfortable as you tackle more adverse outside conditions – and holiday gift ideas for the runners and walkers in your life. Remember, as well, that if you buy a pair of footwear, you receive 15% off of any regularly-priced piece of apparel. If the brand of apparel is the same as the footwear you can take 20% off the apparel price. We want you, your family and friends to be well-equipped this winter!

John Williams-Searle is the marketing director and assistant manager at the Albany location of Fleet Feet Albany & Malta. He misses non-virtual racing, but has reacquainted himself over the past months with the joy of just running.