💬 Friday Thread: The coldest weather you'll run in
What's the threshold for you?
In case you’ve been trapped under something heavy for the past week, here in the Southeast where I live, we’ve seen record cold temperatures and snow in places that haven’t seen it in decades — like New Orleans, which saw over 8 inches and people skiing down Bourbon Street ⛷️ ?!!
All of this has made me wonder, how many of you are out running in this cold, and what is the threshold for you to say, “uh-uh, I’m staying inside” vs. “let’s do this!”?
How cold is too cold for you to run outside, and what is the coldest you’ve ever found yourself actually going outside to run?
You know I love hearing your stories — I know some of you live in seriously cold places, so I love hearing how extreme it gets where you are. Let’s hear it! — Terrell
Thought I'd share this, as a THM reader just sent me this by email (thanks for sharing, by the way!):
"Hi Terrell,
I live in western Canada. We can get to 40 below zero occasionally during the winter here. About 10 years ago I wanted to see how cold I would be able to run in. I eagerly cheered on upcoming cold days and ran outside preparing for the coldest temperatures. One Saturday morning it was about 35 below with a wind. Including the wind-chill, it was 55 below zero!! I cheered. I enthusiastically put on every piece of winter running gear I owned and off I went about 7:30 AM. My plan was to run 10 Kms.
It was black outside. No cars, no trucks, no walkers, no bicycles. Just me all alone in a city of 300,000 people. Weird. My apple cell phone was frozen and did not work. As I ran along all alone in the dark, I thought what happens if I slip and wipe out and break a bone or hit my head and get knocked senseless. I would be a popsicle before anyone found me. After 3 kms I turned around and cautiously ran back home. 6 kms was enough.
I have overcome that challenge and so now I will run outside up until a cold of about 30 below including wind-chill. Last weekend we had temperature of 40 or more below zero including wind-chill, and I ran inside on my treadmill a couple of times."
I'm just in awe -- this is dedication!! 🙌
I usually draw the line at "zero", but here in Michigan an "actual" temp in the single digits can have a "feels like" temp of negative 10-15. Coldest I've ever gone out is probably 20-25 below, but I try to be smart about clothing and limit those runs to less than 4 or 5 miles. It is amazing how fast the body warms up, and the coffee or hot chocolate (with my grandkids) tastes SO GOOD after those outings! And, like others have said, I'd rather run in the cold than hot, humid weather. Only downside: each run in the extreme cold, with all the appropriate layers, generates a week's worth of laundry!