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RUNNING
Six ways to winterize your run and avoid workout
chill
Jennifer Roberts for The
Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009
7:48PM EST
Tips provided by John Stanton - founder
of the Running Room, Stuart Phillips - kinesiology professor
at McMaster University, Bryan Smith - Toronto area Running
Room manager and Vince Perdue - founder of Sudbury Rocks!!
Running Club.
Just because it's snowing out doesn't mean you have to stop
pounding the pavement .Wind-chill factors, black ice and
snowbanks shouldn't signal the start of couch potato season.
If you're an avid runner the rest of the year, you can keep
pounding the pavement when the temperature drops. Those
who have braved frosty conditions in their New Balances
– and lived to tell – share their tips on winter
running.
1. PILE ON THE LAYERS
That down-filled parka may be your best defence against
the elements when you're out for a skate, but it's not ideal
for a 30-minute jog.
John Stanton, the Edmonton-based founder of The Running
Room, swears by layers. The base should be a synthetic,
moisture-wicking fabric; the middle layer should be a fleece;
and the outer layer should be a windbreaker to protect against
blustery weather and precipitation.
But you don't want to feel toasty.
“You should dress to run so that when you run out
of the door, you should feel cold,” explains Stuart
Phillips, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University
in Hamilton. “At the end of the run, even if it's
only 20 or 30 minutes, you're going to be sweaty.”
Thick cotton is a go-to winter fabric for everyday use,
but Bryan Smith, the Toronto-area manager for The Running
Room, learned to edit it out of his running uniform early
on.“I like to describe cotton as a greedy fabric,”
he says. “It absorbs moisture and holds onto it.”
When cotton fibres get wet, they become coarser, he says.
“You get a great breeding ground there for blisters.”
Synthetics with “dry fit” or “dry weave”
labels are best, or wool-synthetic blends.
2. WINTERIZE YOUR FOOTWEAR
The most common injuries winter runners suffer are falls,
Mr. Phillips says. It's a combination of overconfidence
on ice-covered roads and using summer running shoes.
Mr. Smith used the same runners year-round through six
winters before he bought a pair of shoes designed for the
season that are more wind and water-resistant with a multi-directional
tread pattern on the soles.
If you don't want to make that kind of investment, you
can strap traction devices – such as the ones manufactured
by Yaktrax – onto the soles of your running shoes
to get a good grip, says Mr. Stanton. A DIY option he suggests
is putting sheet metal screws on the bottom of your shoes.
“It's like the studded tires on our cars,” he
says.
Runners should adjust the type of training they do in the
winter even if they have weather-appropriate footwear, Prof.
Phillips says: The cold-weather months are a good time for
working on endurance, rather than speed training.
“Even if the sidewalk is cleared and even if it's
salted, sometimes the salt people throw down [has] chunks
in it. It's a different kind of adjustment for your foot
to make.”
It might also be worth upgrading the size of your shoes
for the winter to accommodate double-layered socks, says
Vincent Perdue, founder of the Sudbury Rocks Running Club,
in Sudbury, Ont. “If you have a shoe that just barely
fits you, it takes the insulation value away because you're
not leaving any air space,” he explains.
3. CHOOSE CLEARED RUNNING SURFACES
One of the most challenging winter runs Mr. Perdue can
remember was a February jog around Lake Ramsey in Sudbury.
For three to four kilometres, he and his group trudged through
knee-deep snow at a mere two kilometres an hour (as opposed
to the 10 kilometres an hour he usually pulls off in the
winter). “You could walk much faster on the ground,”
he recalls. “One person takes the lead for a while,
and then they would get tired and fall back.” You
may burn more calories trying to race through piles of snow,
but a cleared sidewalk, road or trail will help you maintain
a steady pace.
4. PROTECT YOUR FACE
It was 10 years ago, but Mr. Perdue still remembers the
coldest temperature he's ever run in because it earned him
some serious bragging rights. He survived a 45-minute run
in Kapuskasing, a small town in Northern Ontario, when the
mercury dropped to -47 C. The only reason he made it through
the unforgiving cold was because everything but his eyes
were covered.
“Absolutely nothing is exposed on those days,”
he says. “It was about 15- to 20-kilometre [per hour]
winds, which is deadly when you get to 20 below zero.”
On milder days, Mr. Perdue doesn't cover his face completely,
but he usually slathers a protective layer of wind-blocker
on exposed skin. His budget-friendly pick? Vaseline, though
many sports stores carry non-greasy formulas that can be
applied with a stick.
5. USE THE ELEMENTS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Before you strap on your gear for a January jog, check
the weather conditions, advises Mr. Stanton. Even more important
than the temperature is the wind direction – make
sure you're running against it first, and with it on the
way home.
“The time to stress yourself and put yourself under
the worst conditions is at the start,” he says.
You might also want to adjust your running schedule in
the winter when daylight hours are limited, Mr. Perdue says.
“It's amazing the difference between running at 20
below zero in sun and 20 below zero in the evening,”
he says. If you can't run in the afternoon, opt for the
evening rather than the morning – it's usually warmer
then.
6. KNOW YOUR LIMITS
On particularly frigid days, Mr. Stanton executes the “10-minute
test.”
“Give yourself 10 minutes,” he says. “Get
dressed and go out for a run and if you're still feeling
it's too cold or too wet, go back. The beauty of that is
that you've still got 20 minutes [of running] no matter
what.”
Prof. Phillips says countless runners pull muscles or suffer
overuse injuries because they don't adjust their intensity
when they run.
“If you have a sore knee or sore shin … you
just have to listen to your body and back off,” he
says.
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