Technokay

     I was thinking during a cold weather run the other day about running clothes and how they have changed so much.  It was under 40 degrees and nasty rainy and here I was in just a light windbreaker, short sleeve tech shirt and tights, feeling comfortable like a rose in a Winter green house.

     Back in the day, as they say, it was all cotton. Up in Wisconsin in Winter I would wear a cotton long sleeve shirt or two under a heavy cotton hooded sweatshirt with matching sweat pants and maybe long johns to boot. Bulky at best, and heavy, wet and cold after some miles. But it's what we did, or at least what I knew at the time. (To date this, I remember someone yelling "Yo, Rocky!" on a run.) Summer would be cotton shorts, sometimes with contrasting cotton trim that would rub like crazy, and a plain old cotton T shirt. There was probably techy stuff available but if so I hadn't noticed it yet. I was the Cotton Kid, and kept vaseline handy to help with the chaffing. Ouch.

     Shoes were basic then also, but I'll keep this to clothes because if I start in on shoes I won't stop. I will say I wore (Onitsuka) Tiger Corsairs, leather and tight. Can I get an amen?

These were great.

      Fast forward nearly 40 years and 5 more inexplicable Rocky movies and look where we are now- the Enchanted Land of Technical Shangri La. Light weight, comfortable stuff that wicks like a mofo and adds as much colorful style as you care to sport. Windproof, rainproof, thermo, heat trapping, heat releasing, micro-fiber, breathable, odor preventing, laser cut, mesh panels, hidden pockets, UV protection, muscle-targeting, super soft, welded seams, reflectivity, compression, adjustable drawcord, soft shell, hard shell, and so much more in several variations of fit preference and color combinations to fill any one's wildest needs. Unless you're a girl, then it seems you have to like pink or blue.

     I'm not the guy to give running apparel its full due, Taylor Penrod already does that very well over at What I Wore (On My Run)  and I can't stop laughing at the idea of me ever coordinating an outfit. In fact, when packing my running bag of a morning, if I happen to notice things matching I tend to switch to some other item that does not. I don't want to be that guy.

     But I sure do appreciate the options out there these days. I sort of reviewed an Asics rain jacket before, and while I still use and enjoy that jacket I have also realized that the least I can wear the better. On the coldest long runs this Winter I wore a long sleeve tech shirt under a mid-weight jacket (plus tights, hat and gloves) and was fine for probably the first half of the run. Then, as someone who sweats like a stuck pig perspires slightly I realized I got colder as the run progressed because of the clothes becoming damp. So I experimented a little and now am happy, and warmer, wearing a super light weight windproof jacket with a short sleeve tech shirt underneath. It's colder standing around before the run, and the first few miles are chilly, but once warmed up with "that one extra degree of body temperature" as George Sheehan said, I'm just fine through the rest of the run. The Brooks LSD Lite jacket is great for this- truly windproof, super light and plenty roomy for layering, I've worn it comfortably well below its rated temp range of 40-55 degrees. There are probably better options, by Gore for instance, but for the money the Brooks does great. It reminds me of the classic pullover windbreaker I wore years ago, but a whole lot better.

     I've also started treating jackets with Nikwax TX Direct spray on, which makes a rain resistant jacket nearly rain proof even in steady rains. It's easy to use too, just spray it where you want it while the jacket is wet, let it dry and bada bing.   

     Really not much you can do in the real heat of Summer, but light weight singlets do help, and I favor them as soon as I can in the Spring to as late into Fall as I can get away with them. I'm really not a techy kind of guy in general and nearly always prefer simplicity when it works. For instance I do have a Garmin, but I only wear it if I'm going to a new place or to measure a specific course or part of a course, and leave it at home otherwise. Really, I just want to run.

     But we sure have come a long way from cotton options and we all benefit from that. Comfort, variable weather protection, well made, light weight and reflective at night. I guess the technical clothes are simplicity after all in that they let us enjoy the run more, and isn't that the whole idea?