more cold weather running. what to wear?

It's like every time the weather changes I'm back to square one-- what the hell did I wear two weeks ago when it was freaking cold out? This morning NPR said 2 degrees with -10 windchill and I was perplexed and what I needed to don to do battle with the eyelash-icicle weather.

So, I made a chart. It's flexible, of course, but it's about what I wear. Hopefully I won't forget now. It's amazing, I see runners in all weather in all sorts of different clothes- this weekend on the LFP runners ranged from shorts n' sweatshirt to full sweatsuits and down jackets. But this is what works for me. I think the key is wool - stays warm and wicks. I'm avoiding product placements here but I have some serious favorites in each category...

Please ignore the cinnamon-y Old Man Scent today. The tiger balm is serving an important dual role of untying the knots in my calves and helping me battle a cold. It's official -- I overdid it on the stairs. Huh.

yaktrax and ruff wear Bark n' Boots vs. ice and snow

First things first: congrats to the Strout family on their new addition!

Back to running stuff... After slipping and sliding my way through Tuesday's run, Ben stopped at the local REI and picked up Yaktrax for me and some Ruff Wear Bark n' Boots for Molly. When I complained about unshoveled sidewalks last winter, Holly recommended the Yaktrax but I'm put it off, muddling through somehow. I should have listened.

The Yaktrax seem a little flimsy but they totally work. I've heard people complain that they don't last through a season and I can believe it, but for $30 a pair, I'd be ok with having to replace them. They don't weigh much, they grip super well on even slick ice, and they do OK on sidewalks, barely slippery. I ran at pace on clean sidewalks and less than :30 above on ice, though probably because I'm still not 100% trusting them, though I should. The only annoying part is the noise they make on concrete, which just means I have to turn up the volume on the Rush.

The boots, on the other hand... Molly walks all funny in them when we first put them on. Then she gets used to them. But today, about 2 mi in, she started going slower. By the 3 mi mark I could barely keep her at even 11:00 miles - ugh. I aborted the mission at that point, trashing two miles of my morning run, to walk her home and see what the deal is. Turns out the front boots were rubbing her dew claws raw, and one was bloody when I took the boot off. Back to the drawing board on that one.

All I want is a normal run, is that so wrong?