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The seasons are changing and we have officially moved on to sweater weather. A sweater may not be appropriate for the trails, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to tweak your gear closet go-to’s as the weather changes.
Trail Sisters leader in Dayton, OH, Aneta, was born and raised in Poland so she still “speaks English with an accent.” She trains for and competes in ultrarunning races because, she says, “When I’m on the top of the mountain and things go wrong, that is my raw essence, and I want to see what that person really is capable of.”
It’s an easy mistake to make: not hydrating enough during cold-weather runs (or other winter activities). Cold weather tends to dull our sense of thirst and water is usually less appealing in the colder months.
You’ll often see runners out on the trails and roads with shorts and tall socks. This isn’t a fashion statement [although this is fashion I can get behind]. It’s actually all about function. The tall socks are compression socks, designed to increase blood flow to overused feet and legs.
At one time I believed that my “figure” or weight was contributing to the dilemma of chafing. Not having the elite runner “look,” I imagined that chafing was not an issue that smaller runners dealt with. I have since come to understand that this problem can afflict any size and shape runner, and that it is simply a result of skin rubbing against skin (or fabric on skin) which is an entirely ubiquitous and simply a human experience.
Trust me, I want to be – like a pony wants to be a horse, like a shrub wants to be a tree – but like the pony and the shrub, inevitably I fall short. Don’t get me wrong, there are women that I love, that I will cheer for until I no longer have a voice. There are women I don’t know that I will do the same. But there are moments, many moments when I cannot cheer for the successes of other women, and it makes me feel horrible.
Gear is tough. What works for one person may not work for another and the best way to determine your individual gear set-up will always involve trial and error. However, I can tell you the things I brought that absolutely shouldn’t be on anyone’s gear list.
Want maximal cushioning? Think Hoka One One. This brand staked out the maximal cushioning corner of the running shoe market from day one, which for Hoka was in 2009 in France. A decade of innovation has yielded a massive lineup of shoes and much improved (though still, shall we say, attention-grabbing) aesthetics.
We want women to feel included and encouraged to play on the trails, no matter their pace or mode of foot-to-dirt powered activity.
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