Break the Cold Chain

For running, winter is actually preferable to summer. Skip the cold-and-dry downside, and take advantage of the benefits.

- By Prof. Ross Tucker

There’s something energising about running in cold weather.

While many of you may prefer to stay indoors under the duvet and give that early-morning start a miss, there are some (myself included) who find winter a really effective time to train; because you aren’t as limited by the heat as you are for most of our year.

It means you can start your runs later (assuming you have the luxury of finishing later too), and even midday runs are an option. So you can embrace a greater degree of flexibility than you might in summer, when sun avoidance is key. The difference between cold and hot weather is that for the former, you can easily dress up; but for the latter, no dressing down will sidestep the physiological challenge that arises from being unable to lose heat as fast as you produce it!

In fact, optimal performance comes at temperatures a lot colder than you might think. Scientists have analysed race times from marathons around the world, and developed models that predict that a chilly six degrees would produce the fastest marathon times overall.

And the faster the runner, the lower this optimal temperature falls, because we generate heat in proportion to our running speed – for the top 1% (so, the elites), the optimal temperature was three degrees, warming to about eight degrees for the mid-pack marathoner.

DON’T GET COMFORTABLE