As autumn is settling in and the longs days of summer are departing, many runners find themselves questioning what to wear while running. Wear too much, and we’ll be unnecessarily hot, or lugging around extra layers. Wear to little and we’ll be miserably cold.
Image from Dukes of Flatbush
A simple rule of thumb is to dress as it is 10 degrees warmer that the what the thermometer says. However, I find myself often second guessing my clothing choice. To help make the decision easier, I’ve created this handy cheat sheet that I’ve printed out and posted near my running gear based on Runner’s World’s “What to Wear” web app. Perhaps you’ll find it useful as well. As I’m a Canadian, all temperatures are in Celsius.
Running Clothes Cheat Sheet
| TEMP (°C) | CLOTHING |
|---|---|
| Above 30° | Shirtless/sports-bra and shorts (or hit the treadmill! 🙂 ) |
| 20° to 30° | Lightweight/light-colored singlet and shorts |
| 15° to 20° | Tank top/singlet and shorts |
| 10° to 15° | T-shirt and shorts |
| 5° to 10° | Long-sleeve shirt and shorts |
| 0° to 5° | Long-sleeve shirt and light running tights, cap, gloves |
| -5° to 0° | Light jacket, long sleeve shirt and running tights, winter cap, gloves |
| -10° to -5° | Medium jacket, long sleeve shirt and running tights, winter cap, gloves |
| -20° to -10° | Heavy jacket, long sleeve shirt and heavy running tights (or two lower-body layers), winter cap, gloves |
| Below -20° | Heavy jacket, long sleeve shirt, undershirt and heavy running tights (or two lower-body layers), winter cap, gloves (or hit the treadmill! 🙂 ) |
NOTE:You may need to adapt these recommendations for humid, windy, or wet weather, and the type of run (i.e. recovery run vs race)
