Running in the Cold

I just finished running a 1/2 Mary this past saturday.  The air temp was around 5 degrees and the windchill was about -15 to -20 below.  I do not run with something covering my face, but there were plenty of people who did...I think it is all a matter of personal choice...try it out, if you like it, keep doing it

There is absolutely no documentation that breathing in really cold air is damaging to your body.  So covering your face/mouth is really a personal comfort thing.

I know lately in the past few weeks it has been really damn cold here in Maryland, so I've been using this fleecey neck muffler thing I got from the last marathon I did (it was one of the primes along with a pair of gloves and a fleecey blanket) and it just covers my chin unless I pull it up, then it covers my mouth.  It has worked well.

The only thing different I've done this year than last otherwise was to get a pair of mittens instead of the usual fingered gloves.  The fingerred ones were just getting too cold and I'd end up pulling my fingers out of the finger part and curling them up into my palm to keep warm.  This morning I ran with the mittens and my hands were actually toasty.

This is a quirky article but nevertheless gets to the root of the question by the OP...

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-269-7442-0,00.html

Bottom line...running in the cold is fine.  Your body will warm the air nicely before hitting your lungs.  Extreme temperatures can apparently cause a burning sensation in the airways leading to the lungs.  Apparently this is due to the dryness of the air, and a balaclava or scarf over the mouth in these conditions helps trap moisture.

Disclaimer:  All according to the above linked article. 

Anecdotally, I've run for years in all kinds of <10-degree temperatures and never had a problem.  Around zero degrees my balaclava typically goes up over my mouth, but that's for my own personal comfort, not due to anything lung or breathing related.

Only one run did I wish I had something over my face for the first mile or so, but after that point I'd warmed up enough to be comfy.

Not sure if this is a hijack or not, but the reason I have not used anything over my mouth is that I thought it would get wet and freeze.  Those of you who use it, is this a problem?

Good question, and yes, that is a small problem.   Last week I had a long run and it was about 7 degrees out.  I had a hoodie sorta thing on that was loose enough where I could move it over my mouth, or push it below my chin.  Early in the run I kept flip/flopping as I was into/out of the wind.  I could feel it frosting up around the edges, but nowhere near my breathing area.  The problem came in when I bunched it under my chin for an extended period of time.  When I went to pull it up and over, it was frozen into it's "bunched up" state.  Took a few minutes for my breath to thaw it back out and make it adjustable.  So, as I stated, small problem.  Bigger problem is keeping water in the fuel belt from freezing.

For cold weather (  <10-degrees ) I usually wear...

2 long sleeve dri-fit type shirts, then a big fleece hoody, then a jacket that is an outer shell.  Not a lined jacket.  The same material that wind pants are made of.  On the bottom I wear tights and or sweats, and lined wind pants over them. 

I'm guessing, but what I think you need to make sure of is that your exterior is completely covered with the nylon, or "wind-pant" matierial.  I've found with layers and then that on the outside, I literally can't even feel the outside air anywhere on my body.  Not the most "breathable" alternatives and there may be expensive options that I'm not using, but I ran 2.5 hours the other morning in 8-degree weather, and I felt none of the outside air, and was plenty warm the entire time.  Good Luck.