Blog Post

Dressing For Cold Weather Training

jasonrulo • Jan 16, 2017

The real key to continuing your training during the winter is knowing how to dress for your cold weather training. Dressing properly will mean that you are just as comfortable in 30 degrees as you are in 60 degrees. Everyone has heard the basics: dress in layers, cover your head and ears, wear gloves, etc. Performance apparel has improved so much over the past 20 years that staying comfortable is now easy. In fact, items such as the Neptune Thermoregulation System will allow you to easily run warm down to zero degrees and below. For this application, I will address your cold weather clothing from the base layer out and then from your head to your toes.

Inside/Out

Have a good Base layer- Under Armour Cold Gear or a similar garment is designed to hold a layer of air against the skin to help keep you warm. This type of fabric is also designed to pull the sweat off of your skin which helps to prevent you from getting chilled due to the science of evaporation.
An insulated mid layer is also a great idea but the extent of this mid-layer will vary greatly depending on the temperature, wind speed and your own personal preferences. Depending on the temperature items such as fleece, and a light wool, or down make for great lightweight insulators the will provide plenty of warmth. The problem here is you need to make sure that you actually dress for 15-20 degrees warmer than it actually will be. You don’t want to get out there and be overly warm because you will sweat too much and could get cold due to being wet.
Having a water resistant packable jacket is also a good idea in case there is a light rain on training day. The absolute worst thing that can happen to you in the cold is for you to get wet because wet clothing will suck the warmth right out of you.

Head-to-toe

Make sure to keep your pulse points covered. These are areas where your arteries are close to your skin and where your blood will cool down quickly. This is where the hat, scarf, gloves and warm sock information you have always heard come into play. Other important areas that are usually always covered but I will mention are the arm pits, elbows, wrists, groin, knee pits, and of course your entire core.
Carry a buff or balaclava with you just in case. You can use these to cover your face in windy weather as well as cover your neck when necessary. However, the versatility of these also allows you to fold them into a hat/ headband when you get warm
Gloves or Bleggmitts are also easy to carry and remove if you start to get warm. If nothing else, keep your wrists covered as this will help with your wrist pulse points (think sweatbands or the thumbsleeve tops)
If it’s really cold outside keeping the cold air off of your legs will help to so wearing pants rather than tights will help a lot. The extra space in the pants will provide a barrier to the cold air.
Smart wool socks are awesome in the cold. Unfortunately, a lot of the running shoes are meant to vent air in order to limit sweating. However, this means our feet freeze in the winter. Shoes like some of the Icebug models are made to help provide a little warmth but if you don’t have those then make sure you have a pair of Smart Wool socks for those really cold days.

All of the above mentioned items are readily available and can easily be implemented when you have to train in the cold. However, this is just a small sample size of what is out there. I prefer to have gear that is multifaceted in its use so that, in combination, can give me just what I need for any situation. In fact, I designed the Neptune Thermoregulation System to be useful in just about any situation from racing when no external heat is necessary, to being water sports base layer, to help keeping you warm while out on the ski slopes in 15 degrees with a 20 mph wind. A down vest can have a similar versatility and be packed and brought along just in case to almost any outdoor workout. The key is to have what you need and implement it as necessary. Rather than simply avoiding Mother Nature, get out there and have fun in it. I, for one, love nothing more than a run while it’s snowing. It’s peaceful and quiet and my cleated obstacle racing shoes keep me from slipping, so I am right at home in this environment. The key is just being prepared!

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By Jason Rulo • 25 Sep, 2019

On the BROCR Supercast we discuss the current world of OCR (Obstacle Course Racing), the people in it, and hot topics of the week. The BROCR Supercast is a no frills dive into the mud for the die hard athletes that are the OCR community. 9/23/19- This week's episode= It’s getting Cold in here- so put on all your clothes WRONG! Join Jacob and Leah as they speak with Jason Rulo- the inventor of the Neptune Thermoregulation System, and expert in cold weather prep! Headed to Tahoe this weekend? Or perhaps the upcoming Sweden Ultra or World’s Toughest Mudder? You won’t want to miss this episode to learn all about what you can do to prepare for the cold and ensure you finish your race as intended! Find the podcast on Google Podcast here: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MzIzZjgwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz&episode=NjM0N2E3MDUtOTM0Yy02NzVkLTM1ZGUtOTJhZTFlZmY2YTBh

New Age of Thermoregulation

By Jason Rulo • 04 Aug, 2019

When the Neptune Thermoregulation System made it's debut at the 2016 World's Toughest Mudder it marked a new age of temperature regulating clothing. Until that time nearly all of the clothing that provided external assistance in thermoregulation was outerwear in the form of a jacket, sweater type long sleeved shirt, or a down jacket/vest. The Neptune base-layer brought in a new type of product and still the only waterproof option. Wearing temperature assisting clothing close to the skin allows for a lot more flexible clothing options by selecting more traditional apparel to wear over it if necessary. Companies love to use technology to address this issue...even if "high tech" may not be the best approach. Sony has recently developed a new product called the Reon Pocket through their crowdfunding site. This product claims it can lower your body temperature 23 degrees F or raise it by 14 degrees F. This of course isn't actually true. Dropping your actual body temp by more than a few degrees puts you on the road to hypothermia and is really no fun at all. On the opposite end, you would not be able raise your body temperature much over 100 degree F before triggering a heat related illness response. They aren't painting the entire picture. Probably a better way to describe the effect of the Reon Pocket is that it lowers/ raises the SKIN temperature AT THE SITE OF THE DEVICE. The Neptune will actually produce AT LEAST similar results but it utilizes a much more low tech and more reliable method... Why? because I can never seem to find a charging port out in the woods or on a race course when I get that dreaded low battery warning! The method of application is another topic. However, given the fact that the Neptune shirt can actually hold up to six body warmers or even six Reon Pocket devices and the fact they are around the core only serves to increase the benefit. I will caution users that the more insulation you put over a warming device the more localized heat will be retained. At localized temperatures over about 115 degrees F you can burn the skin. I am guessing Sony limited the heat output of the device to help prevent this. However, I hypothesize the unit could get hotter than the 115 degrees F unless it has it's own "governor" if you will to prevent it from continueing to produce heat above a certain measure temperature. This is actually why we recommend our customers place the body warmers in the pouches during EVERY use even when when they will not be getting wet. I actually also question the cooling claims as well given the fact that in order to use the Reon Pocket you must wear the undershirt. Wearing a shirt under a shirt automatically makes you warmer because it both limits airflow around the skin as well as providing another layer in which to trap air thereby making the environment inside your shirt warmer. The Reon Pocket now has to overcome this in order to make you cooler. One might argue that simply wearing a lighter shirt and no undershirt might be a better choice. Bottom line, I believe thermoregulatory clothing is here to stay. Heck you can even go further than base layer clothing if you are looking for a heating or cooling effect. There are even cooling bras for women as well as underwear for men . Consumers really need to look into some of these options when they are shopping for solutions. That being said, potential customers do need to beware of ridiculous claims (see the Eddie Bauer claim in the pic below where it's impossible for there to be less heat loss in arms than that of the core in the non Evertherm jacket). Just know there are options out there. If you have questions about these products feel free to contact me. I am happy to help in any way I can. Godspeed and happy trails!