How cold is too cold...

…to go running?  That is a question I will surely be answering over the next few months and one I thought I might have shed some light on today, as when I awoke this morning it was a frosty 21°F/-6°C outside. By the time I set off at noon, the temperature had fortunately risen to a more bearable 28°F/-2°C and with the sun shining and the wind minimal, my run to the library and back actually began rather pleasantly.

I arrived at the library feeling good – I would just grab the DVD of The Sting and run briskly home to complete a nice 4.5 mile run. But I had made a mistake. I thought the library opened at noon on Sundays, but at 12.30 I found the door locked and remembered that it actually opens at 1.00. I assessed my options: I didn’t want to just run home, as after such an effort to get there I wasn’t going to return empty handed and moreover I had planned to watch the movie tonight. It was too cold to just wander around for thirty minutes. I couldn’t while away the time in a coffee or sandwich shop as I had no money and the usual place I would call upon when I needed to kill time in the city was the very place I was waiting to open! I had no choice but to keep running and went on to the planetarium. I ended up running almost 8.5 miles.

In response to the titular question, 28°F/-2°C is certainly not too cold to go running. My muscles felt fine, I sweated considerably, and my initially cold face warmed up after a mile or so. Furthermore, I can pile on more layers when the temperature plummets further. Today I was kitted out in a woolly hat, long sleeved under armor, a long sleeved top, gloves, sweatpants, and tennis socks pulled up to the knee.

I witnessed just ten other runners over the course of my long journey, despite travelling a considerable distance along the Lakeshore Trail. I found this quite bemusing, as around lunchtime on a Sunday in the summer months, that section of the Trail is teeming with joggers like seagulls around a dropped ice cream cone. I of course understand that running is more enjoyable under a warm sun than in the cold. However, ever since I touched down in Chicago I have been issued warnings such as “just you wait until the winter” and “oh it is colder here than in Boston” by Windy City residents who seemingly consider themselves to be some kind of Midwestern eskimo with all the resilience of Ernie Shackleton. Where were all these winter folk now? Too cold to go running eh?

I thoroughly enjoyed my chilly run to the planetarium

As this is the last post of 2012, I would like to wish all readers a very happy New Year. I hope you will continue to follow my sporting meanderings in 2013, as I continue to make strides in the world of causeless athletics.