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Happy Sunday everyone!
Looks like the cooler weather has finally hit Ottawa and we are officially into fall. I wanted to write a post today on dressing for the cooler weather.
I went on a long run today and found myself needing to pick out an outfit for cooler weather. It was about 10 degrees Celsius with almost 20km/h wind. I feel like I am coming down with a cold so I overdressed a little bit with this is mind. I settled on a long sleeve tech shirt and Capri length pants. In the end, I was a little warm. Since I wore long sleeves, however, I was able to control my temperature by rolling up my sleeves in the sun and rolling them down when the sun went behind the clouds.
I was happy with my decision. But every year I always see people out, especially when it just gets cooler, who are overdressed. They’re easy to spot, either beet red or running with a jacket tied around their waist. I saw some people today with gloves, ear warmers, sweat shirts, winter running jackets… I felt bad for them. So I thought I would give some tips to avoid this problem!
The first tip is a general rule to dress like you normally would if it were 10 degrees warmer out (but not running). So today when it was 10 degrees out, I would dress like I would in 20 degree weather. A long sleeve shirt and capris are reasonable by this rule of thumb.
Here’s what I would wear at fall temperatures
10-15 degrees
In this weather, I would either wear a t shirt and pants, or a t shirt and shorts.
Something to this extent would be sufficient. My decision on pants versus shorts would be based on how windy it is outside and whether or not the sun was out.
5-10 degrees
This is where it becomes a little more difficult to pick an outfit. I will say that unless it’s hurricane winds out, you probably still don’t need gloves or a hat. And for the love of pumpkin pie (it is fall after all) don’t wear a regular winter hat like a toque. Your head will be a furnace and they just aren’t designed to dissipate heat like a tech hat.
For this weather, I would wear a long sleeve tech shirt and pants or capris. However, if I were racing I would opt for shorts because you work harder in a race. Here I am at 9runrun in this weather!
0-5 degrees
I find this is where my ears and hands get cold enough to wear a head band and gloves. However, this is also very dependent on the other weather conditions. If it is sunny, I know that personally my hands heat up enough that I will be too hot with gloves. But that may not necessarily be true for you; you just need to try it once and get to know how to dress. If it is windy, this is the temperature where wind chill will become a big factor.
I would wear a long sleeve heavier shirt, pants and maybe gloves or a headband. Here I am at around the bay, it was a high of about 5 but with extreme wind coming off the damn bay. I ended up taking off my gloves during the race but luckily they are small and easy to stash.
I should also mention that when I say gloves, I mean thin tech gloves. No thicker than a pair of shorts or a shirt. Not heavy duty winter gloves.
Those are all the tips I have for running in the fall. Oh and also don’t forget sunscreen too. The sun is weaker but still strong enough to burn. The most important thing to remember is that when you first go outside before you start running, you should feel a little on the cold side. If this is a reason that would keep you inside and not running, do some warming up inside first. Jumping jacks, sit ups, just something to get your heart rate up. You’ll feel better going for a run. This is the best running weather!
I’ll leave you a picture of the dinner I made tonight. My boyfriend is not going to be in ottawa for thanksgiving so we had it together tonight. I made apple pie, Cornish game hens, stuffing and potatoes.