As we get deeper into December and January, the weather will get colder throughout the United States, and the whole world. For some runners, this part of the year can be the hardest time to get out the door and go for a run. Today, I will be making that easier. I will provide you with some tips that have worked for me and could do the same for you. All of these are based on my personal opinion and some personal examples will be given.

Use the proper gear

This means whether it's a good pair of gloves or a hat can turn your run from mediocre to great on its own. But why would this affect so much? Well, out of all the parts of the human body, the extremities get cold the easiest. Included in those are the ears and fingers, which gloves and hats do a great job of keeping those warm. In my personal experience, I always have said "As long as I have a pair of gloves, I'll be fine." On a lot of my runs in winter I like to wear both a hat and gloves, but depending on how the run goes I will sometimes take my hat off, which ties into my next tip. 

Layer up but not that much

This may come as a surprise to some, but sometimes wearing too many layers can be counterproductive. But how can that be possible, I want to be warm, you may ask. Well, before going on a run in the winter you should always consider the weather when deciding what to wear, that's pretty self-explanatory. But, there's more to it. As humans, during activity, we radiate a lot of heat to keep us warm, which adds to what you should wear. If you wear too much clothing, your body's heat combined with the clothes your remaining heat, you could get really. The same is true for the opposite. In my personal experience, I will only wear two layers on top and will decide whether or not to wear shorts or long pants, depending on just how cold it is. For example, every ten degrees I'll add another layer, change to pants, add a jacket, etc. Also, Holabird Sports says "A general rule of thumb is to dress as if it’s 10 degrees warmer outside."

Keep your clothes dry

We've all been in a situation where you're going for a run and your socks and shoes are soaked, and this is one of the worst experiences you can have when running. How can you prevent this though? An easy way to is to keep your shoes dry before you head out for a run. Whether you just got back from a wet run or a run in the summer, a good way to do this is to stuff some newspaper in your shoes and that will soak the water right up. You can also just stick to the less wet surfaces, not grass, puddles, and other stuff like that. Another part of this is to keep your other clothes warm, it's the same thing as shoes. But one thing that's different than with shoes, is that you can just throw your clothes in the dryer to keep them warm. In my personal experience, along with having a good pair of gloves or a hat, having dry clothes and shoes beats the cold. 

Thanks for reading today's newsletter and I hope these tips can help you have great runs this winter. I want to wish everyone a happy holidays. Finally, I also want to announce that this will be my last newsletter until the new year.