Autumn arrived five seconds ago and already buddled-up runners are making an appearance on my local running trails. These runners emerged from summer hibernation early this year. They think it is winter, but it is not. The leaves are still on the trees. Most of them haven’t even changed colour. We have not yet witnessed summer’s last stand. At least one more heat wave is laying in wait, sure to pounce at the worst possible moment. My luck of late predicts that The Worst Possible Moment will be race day. Marine Corps runners, prepare for hot one. Like seven inches from the midday sun.
These overdressed runners are wearing tuques. Billowing coats tied around their waist. Full length tights and long sleeve shirts. Clothes made of fabrics called sweat. Mittens. Leg warmers. Gore-Tex. They have the glossy-eyed look of someone experiencing heat stroke in 13C weather. Their heavy coats are too warm for the brisk air of fall. As befuddlement sets in they start abandoning layers without discretion. Strewn about the trail are the remnants of misguided clothing decisions.
This may be the Great White North, but this particular city never, and I mean never, gets cold enough to warrant wearing a running tuque. Their unnecessary tuque-wearing makes me think about snow. And winter. And Santa Claus. I do not want to think any thoughts about snow and winter and Santa Claus until I run across the NYC marathon finish line. We haven’t even made it to Thanksgiving. Fall harvest. Pumpkin carving. My Farmer’s Almanac predicts a painfully long and cold winter, so you’ll need to tear the last grasp of autumn out of my frozen hands. I’m wearing short-shorts and a tank top until frostbite dictates otherwise.
Title Reference: Earth, Wind, & Fire – September. From the album The Best of Earth, Wind, & Fire, Vol 1. 1978.
Which city are you in? Surely not the T-Dot. It gets cold enough there to warrant TWO running tuques and a balaclava for good measure.
Today at the track, grey sweatsuit and a tuque. Me, sweating it out in a t-shirt and mirco-shorts. My headband gets me though all but the worst storms of the t. winter. If I saw someone running these streets in a balaclava I’d look for the money bag with the $ on the side, ’cause for sure they just stole something.
Wow, I did more than a few 25k plus long runs in a balaclava in -30 wind chills during the winter while training for my spring marathon. And some shorter ones, too. I’m not sure how you did it without a frostbitten face and frozen hair! I still had icicles on my eyelashes.
I remember a few icy eyelashes and frozen cheeks. I think I wore a hat twice last winter (maybe those couple of -30 days), but it was a rather mild season last year. I’m with Run-Eat-Read below, I would suffocate in a balaclava. I can’t even wear a turtle neck sweater without feeling strangled.
Agreed – if I wore a balaclava I would suffocate myself for sure. I get WAY too hot wearing anything that keeps the heat in my head, an insulated ear wrap is good enough for me.
Maybe our blood just runs too warm?
We’re hot runners. After our Yasso 800s – during which I was a bit too warm in a tshirt and shorts – I sat directly in front of a portable heating with a blanket around me to trap the hot air. 99% of my life I’m shivering, the other 1% I’m running.
Yasso 800′s last night @ 7pm, shorts, t shirt, and I was hot, face burning with the salt and cool wind mixture. Almost a good burn.
Last few years, I wore long pants a few days in January or February, otherwise it is shorts for the winter. Yes, long sleeves and even a couple of layers up top are put to use and occasionally a very thing Mizuno hat or ear warmers.
Prepare to be cold for the first couple of minutes and then settle in to a comfortable run I say!.
Exactly – ten minutes of cold followed by hours of perfect temps. I’m a three season runner and a summer shuffler.
I have these, they are wicked. Of course for solo runs only being the social butterfly I am!
Ear wamer headphones…
I’m totally buying those! I knew Nike sold a hat with built in headphones, but the hat part turned me off. As did the $50 price tag.
I don’t know how you just wear the headband though- last winter was a balaclava must for those nights with high windchill! Guess everyone is wired differently
I do have weirdly wired temp regulation. But you aren’t wearing it YET, right? I stand by my “it is way to early for winter gear” statement. I’ll concede in January/February when the wind chill is bone-chilling.