What do you need to run when it's REALLY cold?

Posted by steve outing on 1/16/2007

As you may (or may not) know, Brad Feld and YourRunning are sending one lucky (?) runner to the top of the Arctic Ocean to run in the 2007 North Pole Marathon.

Which leads to a question: What advice do you have for the winner in terms of preparation for running in extreme cold temperatures?

Many of you already run in extreme conditions, so perhaps you could help out the winner (who will be chosen in February) by using this forum thread to offer him/her some good advice. ... And maybe the winner will be you. :)

Where that person will need advice:

How to train for such an extreme athletic experience
What to wear to keep warm but also be able to move freely for 26.2 miles
How to tolerate breathing in super-frigid air for several hours
How to keep from getting frostbite on exposed facial skin, fingers and toes
How to prevent goggles from steaming up
Nutrition suggestions for extreme-cold long-distance running
How to run long distances in snow shoes
Equipment suggestions for cameras, heartrate monitors, etc. that will work when it's well below zero
How to win the mental game -- and keep going the full distance when your mind wants to escape the bitter cold!

Not only will your advice help the winner of our North Pole contest, but it should be useful for all cold-weather runners. And feel free to point to other articles you may have written or know about that can help our winner prepare for the coldest race in his/her life.

Thanks, everyone! ... What's your North Pole advice?

Steve
Publisher and founder, YourRunning.com / Enthusiast Group LLC

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1 comment

Mark says:

I am relatively new to running with only a year of it under my 50-year old belt. Tomorrow will be the first really cold day I have tried. Honolulu Marathon was my first real run and the 80 degree breeze was much more to my liking.

Back to reality -- I am in Chicago and it is going to be in the low single digits tomorrow morning. Throw in the 20-30 mph breeze and an 8 mile outing could be hazardous to my health.

Having spent many years in the cold woods of the northeast, i know how to dress for the cold -- layer it on -- but as I have noticed running even at 20 degrees the after-effects can be chilling at best.

Yeah, I am not talking about doing 26.2 in sub-zero temps but, to me, the 8 tomorrow morning could be difficult.

Any advice other than "go to the gym instead"?

by Mark (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-02 16:01