This Sunday is the Philadelphia Marathon and since we have a handful of our runners that will be out there qualifying for The Boston Marathon, I thought I’d add a few quick tips and reminders that are applicable to anyone contemplating running for time during a cold weather race.

First and foremost, keep in mind that if you are targeting a time goal, you’ll want to not overdress. Ounces of extra weight can cost minutes over 3-4 hours of running. Take some time to loosen up outside the morning before the race and even the morning of the race to get a better understanding of just what you’ll need. Bring clothes that you can ultimately throw away and if you have a sherpa on the course, provide them with what you might need and where (e.g., gloves, and extra hat, perhaps a thin jacket or vest in case the conditions change). Treat wind and cold differently. Cold can be addressed with a thin long-sleeved top but wind will cut through that and may require a very lightweight vest that you’ll need to zip up to reduce wind resistance.

For me, the most important three items you can wear are running gloves, a buff and a beenie-type hat. Even if I wear running shorts and a singlet, I’ll at least start out with these three items because if your fingers, ears and nose get cold, they can just plain hurt. And keeping heat from escaping from your head is always a good idea. These three items should be the last things you peel off or throw away. This also brings up another point, wear throw away clothes and make sure they really are clothes that you feel comfortable discarding. Wearing a jacket or windpants to start and then tying them around your waist is fine if you have an “I just want to finish” goal, but the extra weight and wind resistance created by these is unacceptable when seconds can separate you from a trip to Boston in April.

Stay as warm as possible in the corrals before the start, and make sure you can get your clothes off easily over your Garmin, any other gadgets, and your shoes as soon as your temperature rises. Don’t even think about “What if I bonk and get cold because I’ll slow down, what will I do?”. If you have a BQ time goal, if you bonk, you bonk. Head to the nearest aid station to get warm or use your mental fortitude to push past the bad patch in the race and warm yourself by running faster.  This is also where you’ll be happy you had the three items listed above.

For more tips and a chart to help you know what to wear under different running conditions, check out our Picking Your Running Wardrobe: Choosing the right clothes for the conditions article in the Team Training Room at www.racewithpurpose.org.  Good luck out there and we’ll see you in Boston!