Today’s run: 4.46 miles, 46:20 minutes. YT: 148.46. I hit Tompkins Square Park today, just about a half a mile from my apartment. Pictured here is a statue of a Sam Cox, “mail carrier’s friend.” I could Google this guy, but I’m going to give him his mystery. I saw at least four bulldogs getting walked around the park. Also: I finally have east and west straight in my head. Orientation is good.
I’m not sure how I did on my first attempt at dressing for the cold. At first I thought I overdressed, but after I sweat little, I started feeling a chill. I think my ideal costume for this weather would be a nice puffy vest. My arms felt overdressed after a point.
My only real irritation with running in the cold so far is that my nose runs! It’s much harder to feel hale and hardy when your nose is a drippy faucet. Need to remember to carry tissues.
In other news, I thought my run descriptions would be easier in NY – so much to see! But in fact they’re harder. A good salesman knows only to put four ties on the counter, because otherwise the customer gets confused. So it goes here.
A few tips:
It’s normal to feel cold when you start, even goose bumps and shivering in the first mile is okay. If you don’t feel chilly at the start, you’ve probably got too many layers.
You’re dealing with a moving target for the first couple of weeks. Your body will get used to the cold by sweating less and waiting longer before beginning to sweat. Until you acclimate, you’ll get a little chill after you begin to sweat.
Lastly, it’s very hard to stay warm if you try to run long, like 90+ min. Cold air just doesn’t evaporate sweat very well, and everybody ends up getting cold once their clothes get damp. If you want to run long, you should try to finish up at a gym until you’re used to the cold.
I can concur with Elodie from my own observation. What I’ve heard a number of times is to dress for 10-15 degrees warmer than it is. That seems to work pretty well for me. Usually I’m chilly for the first half mile or so, then warm up. Then by mile 4-5, if it’s not too cold, I’m unzipping, removing hat and gloves, etc. But yeah, once it goes beyond an hour, the chill sets in again and I’m re-zipping up.