With only one month of autumn running behind me - basically October, winter came early this year. With climate change, winter has come later and later, even in Norway. And I'm not convinced it will last very long. But for now the temperature is below freezing, and was -4 during my run this morning, with a welcome glimpse of the sun.
So I'm back into my winter gear. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I'm only part Norwegian, and moved here as an adult. So I don't consider myself one - which explains my reluctance to fully embrace winters until about 10 years ago. Anyway, I've started understanding why Norwegians swear by wool for everything - especially wool garments today, which are really thin, don't itch, and do a fantastic job of retaining heat.
So these days I'm wearing a thin woollen top, with one of the slightly thicker Nike running jackets. My legs also have two layers. Thin wool bottoms, and regular running pants on top - I have a pair of thick Karrimoor ones, but they were just clammy. When the temperature drops below -10, I'll wear my cross country skiing pants. I wear thin wool socks, a thin buff, a thin beanie, and a reflective vest if I'm running in poor lighting conditions. I wore thick mittens today, but had to take them off pretty quickly, and it was fine running without anything on my hands. I wore thin running gloves last week, so I'll probably use them next week. And one new innovation this year - wool panties. Last season I found that my bottom suffered the most from the chill, so I'm trying wool panties this year. I've been wearing a regular sports bra, but suspect that I might need to get some wool in there too once things get really cold.
What makes all of this possible is my Icebug studded running shoes. They're fantastic! Not having lived here as a child, and having managed to get a concussion after slipping on the ice shortly after I moved here, I don't do very well on ice. But the Icebugs let me move safely. They're so good, I've even bought Icebug boots for everyday use. They've simply transformed my relationship with the Norwegian winter - what a pity it took 30 years.
Unfortunately your pace definitely goes down under such conditions. But at least my two runs on the ice this season have been longer than any I managed last year, so that's good news. And I seem to be warm enough!