What's Your Cold Tipping Point?
At what point do you bail on your run? For me it's almost never too cold....it's when it's wet and cold I wuss out. I think anything below 20 is out for me. so could be 30 with -10 windchill, etc. but if it's 35 and raining I bail too. that's sick weather for me, and I avoid it like the plague. How about you?
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It's rare that i will bail on a run due to temperature, but think the distance for the workout might sway me in one direction or the other. If i have to get all bundled up for 4-5 miles, it may not be worth it. Poor roads or snow on the ground are a lot worse to me then the cold.
Early season cold weather is tough too, but once it settles into winter, I don't mind the cold so much. Temps in the teens are fine, above 0 is tollerable for shorter runs - like 45' or less. The problem there is freezing sweat more so than the cold itself. Having said that, I have not done more than 3 outside runs since the beginning of the NOS...... It just seems so much easier to not fuss with weather, temp, wind, precip, etc. and go down to the pain cave and bike/run watching a movie.
Seems like I turned into a marshmallow - afraid to get wet, cold or go out in the dark...... Oh well.
Yep, I have decided I AM a WIMP! There, I said it. I am one with my deadmill! I'm never going outside again! Ever!
Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers will be playing tonight... for the bike and run....
If we get a lot of snow overnight I'll cross country ski as my run workout instead. If it's just a little snow, I strap on the yaks. For ice, screw shoes work very well.
For cold rain I either try to run before or after it rains, rearrange my workout days (mostly just flipping saturday and sunday), or if it's a non-significant run work I'll just bail. It's been over a year since I've used a treadmill, and I'd be happy never using one again.
For the run, I like to tell myself I won't get out of bed unless it's 40+. I'm the same as Steve when it comes to raining too; I won't run if it's already raining, but I'll finish a run if it starts while running. I guess I'll test these feelings this Sunday--if it's nasty when the White Rock half marathon is (current forecast 35-47 w/ 40% chance of rain).
Yikes! I never see that kind of cold here so not really a tipping point for me on the run. However, in the summer, the heat index tipping point is a different matter...
Living in Oregon, if never ran in the rain...I'd never run
The only weather I won't run in is when it's icy here. It typically doesn't get super cold, but if it snows or freezes, it will warm up enough during the day for things to start melting, only to freeze again at night. That makes our sidewalks and roads into skating rinks. I live in an area called "the south hills", which means skating rinks on 11% grades. Scary.
Yes, I suppose there is some ridiculous temp/wind-chill that I wouldn't go out in (and yes, wet and cold is another time), but I'm almost always limited by ice on the roads before I get there, except at the very beginning of winter. I'm only very rarely interested in running when I am not sure of footing. Around here, ice lasts so long that it just gets mirror smooth and sometimes even hard to see. I'll do my mile intervals indoor on a track any time before running on that stuff. No need to tear my hamstring (again) or groin or whatever. :-)
I have never bagged a run due to cold temps; I will go inside if the conditions mean I can't run properly ( ie. too slippery, icy,deep snow) or so cold I have to overdress for the type of run planned.
I went to University in Wisconsin...back in the day before most "high-tech" fabrics....have some pretty good stories about frozen eyelids, cajones, and the like...LOL...nothing a few beers didn't fix up post run....LOL
If I have a cold tipping point, I haven't found it yet.
---Ann.
I'm with Scott. I've become such a puss since I moved to Texas eight years ago.
Craig personifies the adage: "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." That's what I would tell myself when I was bike commuting in the dark, rain and 35F each December. I don't do that anymore.
If its icy is my only tipping point.
That only applies to training through. When it's 60F out and I'm not running, time to get out the scarf and jacket!
Only 2 kinds of weather I won't run in: below -15F windchill or lightning. Don't want to turn into a popsicle or get BBQed.
When the sidewalks are icy I wont run, dont really care about the temp. I have clothing for every temperature; above 40, 30-40, 20-30 and sub 20 degrees. Falling and getting hurt isn't worth the fitness bump.
BTW- Scott A. is puss if he doesn't run in temps under 40....just sayin'!
for the bike, the fun factor goes way down for me below 50 degrees. If its raining I start to get nervous about crashing and the personal and financial cost of that. However, after the EN placid training camp this past year my confidence in riding in the rain is much higher than it was a year ago. That second day it was Pooring down rain in the morning and managed to stay upright. Alghough I was pretty frozen by mile 56.
I used to say I had no tipping point and a few winters ago I would run in anything, down to -40c. Just layer up and get the frost beard, frozen eyelashes, etc. Ovr the last couple of years, though, I've become less tolerant of the extreme cold, particularly during tempo or speed work... One too many tweaked muscles from putting out strong effort with muscles that aren't really "warm". My limit probably sits around -20c for long steady runs and -10c for harder efforts. However, footing, daylight hours, and having someone around to watch the kiddos also factors in, alot. We have a tm in the basement, and I will say that it gets a lot of use during the cold Canadian winter.
Running in the heat is a different story. I've been out in dry heat at 105-106 degrees (Iraq), but have cracked in the high 90s with equal humidity (Qatar). In Qatar I was forced to do my long runs on the dreadmill ... just not possible in the humid heat. Tampa is temperate by comparison.
So, I seldom run outside anymore!