Podcast - Top 3 Tips for Running in Cold Weather
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[00:00:00] It's winter time and you have signed up for your races that you are going to spend months
It's cold outside and you want to make sure that you were prepared for your races. This is the question I ask myself every year when selecting what ultra races I am going to do? Well, today, I'm going to share with you my top three tips for running in cold weather so that ~you can get a jumpstart on your training. And so you don't have to wait until spring and when you're ready. Okay, so ~you can get a jumpstart on your training even if you have four seasons and live in a cold climate like I do during the winter in Colorado. It can be hard to say yes to a spring 5k 10k half marathon, marathon and beyond. When you know that if you're going to get your training [00:01:00] in, you are going to spend a lot of your time either indoors on the treadmill, which let's be honest, who wants to do that?
Or you're going to have to brave. the cold? Well, this is the exact question I ask myself every single year. And even this year, I am still wavering on signing up for a spring marathon or 50k. I've already signed up for my main race of the year. I am doing a 12 hour endurance race in July,
which gives me plenty of time to train for it. Well, my goals with this race, isn't just to see how many miles I can run in 12 hours. I already know that I can run 62 miles in 12 hours. My goal is to aim for a course record, meaning that I am going to need to run 66 plus [00:02:00] miles.
And even though I have six to seven months before my race, I don't want to wait to start training. And I am most likely going to sneak in a marathon or 50 K between now and then.
Welcome to the athlete with asthma show. I'm your host, Johnny Havy, an ultra runner, endurance athlete. And yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer, nor run a marathon, let alone 100k ultra. I proved them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get [00:03:00] started.
So far this year I have already revved my miles all the way up to 40 miles a week. And it's 14 degrees Fahrenheit outside as of today. I'm actually going to go take a run in this weather right after recording this episode of the show. Usually this time of year, I'm running maybe 20, 25 miles per week, and I'm doing a lot of that indoors as well. But this year I'm getting 40 miles a week ~ran ~in the winter.
And the first reason I'm able to do this comes to my first top tip for running in cold weather, and that is I have a go to cold weather outfit, okay? Now, depending on how cold it really is outside, I have some variations to my outfit. But when you commit ~to something and you are committed ~to running outdoors through the winter, you need to have a [00:04:00] go to cold weather outfit. Now for me, it's pretty standard when it's 30 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. But when we dropped down to 20 degrees. And then 10 degrees and under, I have some tweaks that I make now this time of year, no matter how warm or cold it is, because it will get up to the 50s and 60s.
Even this time of year, I always run with a beanie and a hood. Okay. Now, to be fair, I run with a hood all year, even in 95 degree weather in the summer, because I like to not only protect my skin and yeah, you know, I have a little bit of receding hair on top, but I also like to add heat training to my running.
So you will always see me running in a hoodie. When it comes to winter running, though, I add a beanie underneath, and I will add multiple layers. I usually have at least two layers on. So I'll do that in one [00:05:00] of two ways. I'll either put a underarm or compression shirt underneath my hoodie and then put my hoodie on top, or if it's getting really cold outside.
So now we're talking 20 degree, the 10 degree Fahrenheit or cooler temperatures. I'll actually put on a down jacket as well. ~And I'll have links to all of these things in the show notes below this And ~I'll have links to all of these things in the show notes. And if you're watching this on YouTube in the YouTube video description, the third thing that I always make sure to have, no matter what the temperature is out during the winter months, ~the cold weather months, In the cold weather months, when the cold weather months in the cold weather months in the part of the world that I live in, ~I always have gloves on me.
~And I'll tell you this, ~yesterday ~I went outside and I knew it was a little warmer, but And I'll tell you this earlier today, ~I went outside and I knew it felt a little warmer out because the past few days, it has even been sub 10 degrees Fahrenheit all the way down to five or six. I was like, you know what?
I can probably take our dog out this morning and it'll be fine. I'm not going to need gloves, but I was like, you know what? You always need gloves. Gloves in this [00:06:00] time of year, we lose so much heat through our hands and they get cold so fast because, ~you know, we have the, ~they're really small extremities.
~So I, ~so I opted to put gloves on and thank God I did. 'cause even though it was about 10 to 20 degrees warmer than it was the past couple of days, the wind was brutal and ~the wind. ~brought the temperature back down. So you always want to make sure that you have a pair of gloves at least with you and most likely wearing them in cold weather running.
This will empower you to run longer and farther because you will be warmer. Now, depending on how cold it is, I will opt for a neck warmer as well , if it is 20 degrees or colder, I almost always opt for a neck warmer. If it's 10 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, I always opt for a neck warmer. And when it is 10 degrees Fahrenheit and lower, [00:07:00] I always opt for breathing through my neck warmer best that I can, along with breathing through my nose while running.
And this is because as an athlete, Athlete with asthma. As an ultra runner with asthma, I have to be very careful in protecting my lungs, and so do you. If you are an athlete with asthma or if you're just an athlete, we need to make sure we are protecting our lungs and the cold air can really harm our lungs, which is why you need to, even if you're like, you know what?
neck warmers aren't cool. I don't need it. I'm warm enough. I'm strong. Well, you need to have a neck warmer to protect your lungs to warm up the air before it enters your lungs. ~Okay, ~so I highly recommend that you bring a neck warmer with you, especially in 20 degree weather or colder. Okay, Now when we're talking about 30 degrees or sometimes it'll be 40, 50, 60 degrees. I talked to a friend of mine who lives down in Florida, and she shared with me that it is [00:08:00] 55 degrees in Florida today. And it was 40 degrees earlier this morning, which is very cold for Florida.
So if you're listening to this and you live in one of these more tropical areas, and you are also looking for running tips, maybe you don't need a neck warmer if it's 55 degrees out, but if you are unsure and you want to make sure you're protecting your lungs, maybe opt for it anyway. The fifth piece of gear that I recommend you highly considering for cold weather running are trail shoes. Okay, now, yet again, this is going to depend on where you are. ~Okay, ~where I live in Colorado, we get a lot of snow. Now, I don't live in the mountains, I live in the foothills. ~So snow will, so snow will, so snow will, ~so snow and ice will melt pretty quickly.
So it really depends on if it has just snowed or not. But if it has snowed, and I know there's ice on the ground, I always opt for running with trail shoes, even if I'm not planning on running on the [00:09:00] trail. And the reason is because if you go out and you run with your basic running shoes, two things are going to happen.
Number one, if they get wet, ~they're going to tear their, the life of your, ~the life of your shoes is going to be impacted. ~Your shoes are going to last. Your shoes are, ~your shoes are not going to last as long. And number two, safety. ~Okay. ~If there's a bunch of snow on the ground, if there's ice, or even if there's a little bit of snow and ice on the ground, you don't know when you're going to hit that.
~Well, ~when you wear trail shoes, you're going to have added grip. Now I do most of my running on trails and I actually like it when it snows during the winter because that means I can actually run on the trails. I actually like when it's cold during the winter for running because when it's cold, the ground is cold.
It's not muddy and I can actually run on the trails. It's the days where it's like 30 to 40 degrees out and we don't have any snow on the ground where the trails are kind of off limits because they're very muddy ~and you don't. And first of all, you don't want, and you don't want to ruin the trails. Okay.~
And a lot of parks will actually close their trails. during the winter months because of this. [00:10:00] But if it's cold and the ground is cold, then you can actually run on those trails without creating any damage. So I highly recommend that you wear trail shoes. If you don't have trail shoes, then I highly recommend the Topo athletic mountain racer threes.
I have a link in the show notes and in the YouTube video description. I swear by these shoes. These shoes are made in a way where if they get wet, they are going to be a lot more durable than your basic running shoes. I also have the fly lights from Topo and those are my basic running shoes. Well, when those get wet, they tear real fast.
They do not last very long. So you want to make sure you're wearing a more durable shoe when running in the winter and for safety. So those are my five gear recommendations for your cold weather outfit. So what you need to do now is collect all these things and put them in a place. That is easily [00:11:00] accessible ~for me. ~I run six days a week on a bad week. I run five days that week. And the big reason why I'm able to do that, even in the winter is because I have all my gear together.
So I don't have to make all these decisions. I don't have to think about what am I wearing today? It's like, no, all of it's in one place. I just put it on. I go out there and I go, you need to eliminate the friction in your life. in your workouts, in your running in order to get out there in the winter. And it starts with having your cold weather gear together. My second top tip for running in cold weather is plan less And do more. What does this mean? This means that when you're planning out your runs, planning out your training in the winter, you need to dial it back, plan less. And you need to do this for two reasons.
The first reason is for safety, okay? [00:12:00] Especially if you have a sub zero degree Fahrenheit day, ~which in Colorado in, you know, ~Which in Colorado in the foothills where I live, we have a handful of days like this every year. Well, when you're running in sub zero, so negative degree weather in Fahrenheit. This can be extremely hard on your body, especially as an athlete with asthma, you need to be extra careful. You may even want to skip your workout for that day. If you do opt to do your workout that day, you need to dial it back a lot. Okay, so instead of running five ~miles ~or 10 miles, aim for maybe one or two miles, and that would be a better big win when you're running in sub zero degree weather, even myself, a very seasoned and professional ultra runner.
I make sure that when it is sub zero. ~that I, that ~I am protecting my body. I'm wearing even more layers ~so that, ~so that cold weather [00:13:00] outfit becomes even more bulky, maybe instead of two or three layers, I have three or four layers. Maybe I have some hand warmers with me as well. ~Well, ~I also really cut back on the mileage and if I get one or two miles in, that is great.
And even if you think your body is going to stay warm, you need to make sure that your lungs are staying warm. And that's the biggest thing when you're running in ~that cold of weather, ~subzero weather, you definitely need to be breathing through something, ~okay, ~that cold air can really harm your lungs and may even scar your lungs.
Okay, so you need to be very careful. Now remember, I am not a healthcare professional. So for any of these things that I'm talking about in this podcast episode and YouTube video, I highly recommend that you check with your health care provider ~and ~I have a disclaimer in the show notes and in the YouTube video description. Safety is of the utmost importance. So plan less and then do more if you feel safe [00:14:00] doing it.
For me, I feel very confident running as long as it's above zero degrees Fahrenheit. So even when it's less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit, I ~myself ~will go out there and run. ~Now, sometimes now, most of the time during the rain, ~Now, most of the time during the winter, I like to have my amazing dog snick towel with me ~though.~
~And we have actually set some personal ~and together we have set some personal records. She has ran 40 miles multiple times. This winter 40 miles in a week prior her top mileage in a week was around 30 miles, but she absolutely loves running this time of year because the colder temperatures are very advantageous ~for dogs and how their systems for dogs and how their systems release hot ~for dogs and how their systems release heat.
Okay, ~now you're going to want to check with your your vet because I'm not a veterinary. I'm Now you're going to want to check with your vet. ~Now you're going to want to check with your veterinarian before doing any of this stuff ~as well ~with your dog. I have checked with mine ~and my dog is in a, ~and my dog is in pretty amazing shape, but even so I would never take her out in sub zero degree weather.
And even in sub 10 degree weather, I am very hesitant of taking her out. And I ~tell you, ~typically do not. Now, if [00:15:00] it's between 10 degrees ~out ~and 20 degrees, I put a hoodie on her. ~Okay. ~So you also need to make sure that if you're running with someone else ~that ~they have what they need to be safe. ~Okay. So, so ~even though dogs can run more miles this time of year, because they release their heat through their mouths, they don't sweat like we do so they can go much farther this time of year.
~That's just why. ~This is why you hear about the Iditarod dogs running 100 miles in a day. It's because when it's cold outside, their systems are able to ~actually ~expel ~the air. Okay? The hot air, ~the heat in their systems. But you need to make sure that no matter if you're running alone, running with a dog, running with a friend, plan less and then do more if you feel comfortable.
Because another thing is depending on when you run throughout the day, maybe you like to run in the mornings, maybe you like to run midday, maybe you like to run in the evenings, whatever it is, the temperature can fluctuate. Okay, when we go out and take our dog out first thing in the morning, it can be 510, even 20 degrees [00:16:00] colder than it is.
a half an hour or an hour later. So that's why I'm saying plan less. So go into the run. Okay, go into the run planning ~less, maybe you plan to do ~a one or two mile run instead of a five to 10 mile run. And then if you feel good, you're warmed up, your lungs don't hurt, you're protecting yourself, then you can add more mileage.
~Transcribed by https: otter. ai ~And that brings me to the second point for planning less than doing more, along with this being a safety issue, which is the number one reason why you want to do this, it can be a mind over matter opportunity for you. ~Okay, ~
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Now, let's get back to the rest of the show.
when it's cold outside, [00:18:00] I don't know what your cold tolerance is.
~For me, it's ~For me, if it's between 10 and 20 degrees out, I'm going out there. I'm feeling good. We're getting added. Okay. If it's sub zero, I don't feel that way for safety reasons. And also just my mind doesn't, I just don't want to be out there for very long, but depending on what your aptitude for the cold is, this could be a really big challenge for you.
~Maybe you're not used to running for, ~Maybe you don't want to run in anything less than 40 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Great. Tell yourself I'm going to go out there. I'm only going to run one or two miles and then you can do more because everything feels good. You're warmed up and it will be easier for you to wrap your head around doing a one or two mile run, and then turning it into a three to five mile run. Okay, you want to make sure that you make it easier on yourself. ~Okay, ~because what can happen is this time of year, it's cold outside, we go out there, we're not feeling good, we get hit in the face with a bunch of wind, we plan 10 miles, we only run three, then we get really down on ourselves.
~But if you plan one mile, And you want, ~but if you plan one or [00:19:00] two miles and now you run three or four, that's a big win. So it's all about setting yourself up mentally. Okay. And it is a mind over matter piece. So for safety plan less and then do more if you feel safe doing it. And for mind over matter plan less.
And then once you feel good, do more. ~I did this. ~I've done this ~so ~many times this winter where I'm like, you know what, I'm just going to go out there and run two or three miles. And then by the time I'm done with the run, I've ran eight miles. ~This is always. ~This has also happened with, Hey, I'm going to go out and do my typical five and a half mile loop.
And then 10 miles later, I'm back home ~because even me, because even me who, because even me who runs 40 miles a week during the winter, I need, ~because even me who runs 40 miles a week during the winter, I need that little carrot to say, Hey, I'm just going to be out there for two miles to get myself out there.
And then once I'm warmed up, It's on ready to go. Let's crank out this seven, eight, 10 mile run. Now my third top tip for running in cold weather is a game changer for you out there and it has to do with breathing [00:20:00] through it using the power of your breath to warm your body and calm your mind.
Inherently, humans don't want to be out in the cold, right? We want to bundle up, we want shelter. This can send our system into a panic. Well, by breathing through it, you're going to calm your mind, okay? And you're going to cultivate heat in your body with different breathing techniques. We talk about this in yoga all the time.
I am a yoga instructor and there's a specific type of breath we use to warm up our bodies. And it's breathing through our nose, then out our mouths, ~breathing through our noses, And out our mouths now ~you want to use this as much as you can when running in cold weather because it not only is going to warm your body and calm your mind, it's [00:21:00] also going to help you protect your lungs because your nose is going to help warm up the air before it hits our lungs.
Our noses warm up the air much more than if we bring it through our mouths.
So remember, depending on how cold it is out there, and especially if you have asthma, you need to bring a neck warmer with you, okay? Because it's not always that easy to breathe through our noses, ~okay? So you want to have So you want to have both of these options with you, breathing through your nose and breathing through the neck warmer.~
When you have both of these with you, you give yourself the most opportunity to keep yourself warm and to protect your lungs, ~okay? ~And it's going to help you calm your mind. Now, just like I talk about in other episodes, that exhale part of this breathing needs to be loud.
Okay. When we have loud exhales, we actually cultivate more energy in our body. Our body becomes more efficient with energy output and it allows our minds to focus on that sound instead of focusing on how cold we are. [00:22:00] And that can put us into flow state. ~I talk about this in many other episodes. I talk about this during,~ You'll learn about this even more in other episodes on the channel and on the podcast.
Okay, so ~what ~we really ~want to do is we either ~want to have that neck warmer. If we have the neck warmer, we're going to breathe through it like this, right? ~So the, ~the neck warmer itself is filtering. the air. And then we can also breathe through our nose. And then when we force out that exhale, we want to force it out through our mouth.
You can also force it out through your nose, but it's much easier to do these loud, audible exhales with our mouth. So we go,
this is called our Ujjayi breath in yoga. And this cultivates inner heat in our bodies. We teach this in hot yoga. In addition to having a heated room with humidity, we teach this breath to cultivate even more heat in our body. And I highly recommend that you integrate this breath into [00:23:00] your cold weather running workouts. Now when talking about breath, I got to talk about asthma and the reality is in the cold weather months when it is cold outside, it can have a negative impact on our asthma. ~Okay, ~for me, I feel my asthma hit me the most this time of year when it's cold outside,
I feel the asthma in my body much more. ~Okay. So what does this mean? ~This means ~that ~you need to go back to top tip number two, which is plan less assess how you feel ~and do ~and only do more if you feel good. ~Okay. ~A lot of times I'll run slower this time of year. ~Okay. ~Because it's harder to catch my breath.
~Okay. ~Because when it's cold outside, it is harder on the lungs. Even if you're breathing through your nose to warm up, The air coming into your lungs, even if you're breathing through a neck warmer, this isn't a neck warmer, by the way, I just, this is the concept, right? Breathing through something. Okay. [00:24:00] You need to protect your lungs.
You need to give yourself grace that this time of year, when it's colder outside, it's going to affect your asthma even more. So you always want to make sure you have your inhaler with you and talk to your medical professional about what they think you need to do during this time of year to help manage your asthma. Well, no matter what time of year it is. Your breath is going to help you manage your asthma. So along with doing the, I highly recommend that you check out. My podcast episode, how to relieve asthma symptoms, the three best breathing techniques, and you can incorporate these into your winter runs as well. ~And this brings me to bonus tip. And this brings me to top tip number four, which is my bonus tip for you.~
And this brings me to top tip number four, which is my bonus tip for you, my friend. And that is to always incorporate the best practices that you have. for running no matter what time of year it is. This means that along with integrating any sort of breathing technique ~that is going to help you be, ~that is going to help you be a stronger runner and [00:25:00] help you with your asthma.
If you ~do ~have asthma, you need to consider fueling. How do you fuel on a normal day? Okay. You need to consider water. Okay, hydration. Now that's a big one too to keep in mind because when it's cold outside, we are most likely sweating less, but we're still sweating. We are still exerting ourselves. So you need to make sure that you're still drinking water this time of year while working out.
A lot of times you may think, well, I'm not a 90 degree, 100 degree heat. I don't need to drink water. Believe me, my friend, you do need to drink water. Okay. So make sure that you're still drinking water. Make sure that you're still feeding yourself because even if it's colder out, ~you're actually ~your body ~in a lot of cases ~might be working harder ~because it's working ~to keep you warmer.
So you might actually burn more calories during the winter, Depending on how your individual body works. So you need to make sure that you have fuel with you and maybe even bring a little bit of extra fuel, especially if you're going to take a longer run, ~bring extra fuel with you.~
[00:26:00] You don't know how you're going to feel as you get deeper into the run. And depending on where you're running, it may be a longer run with time. ~For me, my runs are usually ~For me, even though my mileage is lower this time of year, my runs are longer ~this time of year ~because I take my time running because of my asthma and because of ~the safety reasons that I've talked about and because of different ~safety reasons I've shared with you ~in this.~
~Episode, so make sure you have fueling with you. So top tip number four, my bonus tip is to look into your best practice. ~So top tip number four, which is my bonus tip is to remember the best practices that you have on a normal day running and keep those in mind. When you're running in cold weather ~and just and just ~remember just because it's cold outside doesn't mean you need a fuel less and doesn't mean that you need to hydrate less.
~Okay, so ~keep those best practices going even when it is cold outside. And speaking of best practices, I have my healthy living guide ~for you. And I want to, and speaking of bonus tips and best practices, I have a bonus gift ~for you. It is my three pillars of healthy living guide, which helped me not only lose 40 pounds and keep it off, but live a. much [00:27:00] healthier lifestyle that has helped me become a race winning professional ultra runner with asthma.
You can grab my free guide, the three pillars of healthy living, which are movement tracking and accountability linked in the show notes. If you're listening to this as a podcast or in the YouTube video description. If you are watching this on YouTube, you can also go to www.athletewithasthma.com/healthy-living guide to grab your copy today.
It's going to take you less than three minutes to read and you are going to be able to integrate it into your life, starting today, thanks for tuning in to the athlete with asthma show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. [00:28:00] Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It's about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals. And if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
