Running Roundup: Gear Up for Cold Weather

It's taken a while, but long nights and cold mornings are finally hitting Northern California.

With autumn comes a time of adjustment for runners; gone are the 5 a.m. sunrises and 75-degree runs after work, all replaced by pre-dawn runs at 6:30 a.m. and 50-degree weather after sunset.

The good news is no more heatstroke. The bad news is, low temperatures and less sunlight can chase runners indoors during the fall and winter.

With the right gear and some caution, though, there's no reason for runners to be stuck indoors until spring. Here are a few gear recommendations to help runners stay off the treadmill this winter.

Jacket: Sugoi Versa Jacket/Vest $120, sugoi.com

The Versa jacket is windproof and water-resistant enough to keep you dry in a light rain. and if you start to warm up, the sleeves (attached magnetically) can be removed with a quick pull and stored in the jacket's back pocket.

Gloves and hat: Pearl iZumi Shine Wind Mitt $30 and Barrier Headband $25, pearlizumi.com

The Shine Wind Mitt combines the warmth of mittens with the dexterity of a pair of gloves. The mitt blocks wind when you need it, and it folds back and packs away so you can open a Gu without taking the gloves off. The Barrier Headband keeps your forehead and ears warm, but its open design allows excess heat to escape.

Headlamp: Black Diamond Sprinter $79.95, blackdiamond.com

The Sprinter's 68-lumen LED bulbs are bright enough to light up the path ahead while its rear taillight strobe will keep runners visible from behind. A six-hour battery life keeps it alive on long early-morning runs.

Reflective Apparel: Brooks Infiniti Running Tights $70, brooksrunning.com

Brooks' Infinity tights provide a light layer of insulation to give you just enough warmth, while its bright yellow side panels and reflective detailing keeps you visible from every angle.

I'll be doing a head-to-head matchup of running pants vs. running tights, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.

FITS Socks Fit Your Feet. Fantastically.

There's not much you can really say about socks, so I'll just come right out with it - FITS ultra-fine merino socks are the most comfortable ones I've ever worn. I've spent the last few months wearing the Light Runner Low ($15.99), the Performance Trail ($17.99), and the Medium Hiker Crew ($20.99) and yeah - they all fit perfectly. 


Essentially, you want socks to do three things: fit well, keep blisters away, and feel good. Piece of cake, but for two other things: socks have seams, which can irritate the toes, and they tend to lose their shape/fit over time, which pretty much renders them useless. 


FITS socks overcome those two barriers to sock excellence with their super-deep heel cup, snug arch support and wide toe box. The heel cup locks on to your heel, and the wide open toe box keeps your toes from squeezing together (this minimizes toe blisters). 

It’s tough to find a sock that balances the line between too tight and too loose, but these guys nailed it. Their cushion reminds me of Balegas, but while my Balega socks have stretched out over time, the FITS have stayed perfectly snug. This is key, because when a sock gets baggy, wrinkles and the foot’s movement within the sock can lead to wicked blisters. What really got my attention is that the socks don’t stretch out over time. After hundreds of miles, the Light Runner Lows and Performance Trail socks fit the same as when I first put them on, and the Medium Hiker Crews are my go-to socks for hiking and everyday use. 

It feels a little weird to say that I savor putting these guys on, but it's not just me. Both of the people that I live with have each boldly and unrepentantly stolen a pair, and they both concur with my assessment.

Huh. I guess you can say a lot about socks. Take a closer look at Fitssock.com.

Keep the Gear Shakes Away with ActiveJunky.com

 If you need your gear fix, ActiveJunky.com wants to be your dealer. 

Partnered with online retailers like Backcountry.com, Altrec.com, DogFunk.com, EasternMountainSports.com, theClymb.com, and a small army of others, ActiveJunky.com helps you find the best deal available for whatever gear you're looking for. Once you find it, Active Junky gives you a list of online retailers selling it, lowest price listed first. Not too shabby, but here's the best part: they give you a part of their commission. Nice, right?

The amount varies from 2.5% to 10% depending on which retailer you make your purchase through, and payment comes every 90 days. You can choose to have ActiveJunky.com send you a check, deposit the money into your Paypal account, or you can go the altruistic route and donate a percentage of your rebate to one of Active Junky's non-profit partners like The Nature Conservancy. 

The interface is so simple that a clever golden retriever could find you the right gloves. Choose your activity on the drop-down tabs, then narrow your search by brand or subcategory. Click what you want, then choose the retailer (and price) that you want. Done. 

Once you've played with your gear a bit, you can review your gear to laud its benefits or warn others of its crappiness on the site as well. 

The only real qualm I have is that there's no "Running" tab. Running shoes and apparel are integrated into the Clothing tab, and hydration packs are in the "Backpacks" section on the Camping & Hiking tab. As a runner, I wouldn't mind a section for my preferred sport. 

That said, there's not much else to complain about - it's clean, easy-to-navigate, and it does all of the comparison shopping for you. If you want to find a gear deal online, ActiveJunky.com is the way to go.

Columbia Makes it Cool to Sweat: Omni-Freeze ICE Solar Polar Review

One of Columbia Sportwear's slogans is "Trying Stuff since 1932." Great things come from trying stuff.

Among the stuff that Columbia is trying is their Omni-Freeze ICE line, which is designed to cool off when it gets wet. Unlike most clothing, which cools off initially, then warms right up, this stuff has a treatment that chills the fabric and keeps it cool until the moisture evaporates. At Columbia's Spring 12 preview, I received the Solar Polar ($70), a long-sleeve half-zip shirt made up of the Omni-Freeze ICE fabric.

The material is given a food-based chemical treatment that cools it off when it gets wet, which helps keep you cool while providing coverage from the sun, poison oak, and any other stinging/burning/rash-inducing things that you may come across on a hike or trail run. Therein lies the genius of Omni-Freeze ICE - you get the coverage of a longsleeve shirt without the accompanying heatstroke.

Since I live in a spot where triple digit temperatures are the norm, this fabric is right up my alley. I took it out for some hot-weather trail runs this summer to see how well it worked. One of the most grueling tests was during one of my runs up Whiskeytown's Kanaka Peak.  I wasn't excited about getting a longsleeve shirt to test, but as I waded through fields of poison oak in Whiskeytown Park, I quickly learned to appreciate the extra coverage.

The shirt was lightweight and breathable, so even without the Omni-Freeze ICE tech, it was pretty cool (literally). The areas of the shirt under my hydration pack and right below my neck were the first to get wet, and they cooled off noticeably. As the moisture spread, the shirt cooled even more. It wasn't the arctic chill that I was anticipating, but more of a subtle cooling that I found really refreshing. I wasn't overheating, so all I had to worry about was the 50-degree incline in front of me.

The Omni-Freeze ICE line will be available for order January/February 2012.