Written By TRT Ambassador: Casey Fisher

Despite growing up in sunny South Florida, I thoroughly enjoy running in the cold. When I moved to Maryland in 2006, I went overboard and purchased a bunch of winter running clothing, however much of this gear remains in my closet unless the temps drop below freezing. Most of the time (30s and 40s) there are only a few pieces of gear I need which include a buff, mid-weight long sleeve or quarter zip, vest shell and good pair of glove liners.  

If and when the temps drop lower (teens and 20s) I will add some mittens over the glove liners or a mitten-glove hybrid, ¾ length tights or stick with shorts, and add a full shell to my long sleeve base layer. 

When it starts to get close or below zero I will add an additional layer underneath my long sleeve, such as a tank top or thinner long sleeve base layer, switch out my regular mittens for snowboarding mittens, add a buff as neck gaiter to cover my face and ears from the elements. I may also add a puffy vest under my shelI. For my lower half I will opt for ¾ or full length tights with a pair of slightly loose winter running pants over top.  I will also add an additional wool sock layer to my base Injinji or Xotoes. For shoes, I enjoy the Altra Lone Peak RSM version for the snow. 

An important consideration to make when choosing cold weather running attire is effort and duration. For instance, for your short (<60mins) winter low intensity morning run before work you may want to layer up as you will generate less body heat. Keep in mind the more of your body that is exposed the more heat you will lose to the environment. For your higher intensity training runs like intervals or tempo runs you may want to opt for less. When you are planning your weekend long run or race, don't dress for the initial temps but look at how high the temps while rise while you are out there. Below is a list of gear I like. 

Base layers

• XOSKIN
• Craft
• Smartwool

Gloves

• Outdoor Research
• Smartwool
• Manzilla

Headwear

• Buff
• Boco

Tights/Pants

• CWX ¾ insulator 
• Salomon Agile warm pant
• Patagonia Houdini pants 

Jackets/Shells/ Quarter Zips

• Houdini jacket/vest
• Arc'teryx incendo 
• Patagonia Capilene Midweight Zip-Neck

Socks second layer

• Drymax winter weight 
• Smartwool