Running Jackets

My run this morning didn’t go all that well. I think it was a combination of going for a medium-long run yesterday (8 miles) and waiting 3 hours after eating breakfast before I made it out the door!

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 45 minutes

Weather: 20 degrees, sunny

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My breakfast:

iced decaf coffee + oatmeal with almond butter

I love oatmeal! Especially with bananas! 🙂

After I got back from my run, I had breakfast #2.

Yeah for natural light!! 😀

Yogurt bowl with: plain yogurt, frozen berries, chia seeds, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, coconut, and honey.

I also half of an apple and a piece of toast with pumpkin butter.

In order to try and warm up, I had some hot chocolate.

I heated 8 oz. of low-fat milk and melted a chunk of this chocolate in it.

This is not your traditional chocolate. It is unrefined dark chocolate that only contains 3 ingredients: cocoa, sugar, and vanilla.

It doesn’t have the smooth texture most chocolates do. Instead, it has a gritty texture, but the taste is still delicious!

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This afternoon I was a busy around the apartment: ironing, washing dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, making pecan butter, and washing clothes.

I washed this puffy, down-filled vest that obviously gets dirty very easily seeing that it is white! So I gave it a wash on the gentle cycle in the washing machine, and it came out looking like a vest filled with hairballs. All of the down had clumped together, and it didn’t look pretty. (I should have taken a picture.) Despite how it came out of the washing machine, down-filled jackets can be re-puffed!!

I started by letting my vest air dry over night. Then in the morning, I put two tennis balls in the dryer along with my vest. After about 30 minutes on the low heat cycle, my vest was no longer a lumpy, useless vest but a puffy vest! 🙂

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With winter now officially upon us, I wanted to review the 3 jackets I use during the winter months for running.

Nike jacket — team embroidered

This was our team warm-up jackets in college. Unfortunately you won’t find this at your local running store, but I’m sure there are similar items out there.

There really aren’t many fancy features on this jacket. It does do a nice job of blocking the wind though, and the bottom has a drawstring that I can pull tighter to stop any updrafts. I still find myself wearing it a lot.

Asics Running Jacket

Overall, this is a great running jacket. I initially got this jacket because I wanted something a little thicker for winter runs.

Notes:

It is the thickest of all three featured here.

A “swishing” noise is not evident when I swing my arms and run in this jacket. ( 🙂 always a good thing!)

It has some reflective piping, but I wish it had more.

Both the length of the jacket and sleeve length are of an average length–not too short, but not super long either.

The sleeves do have an extra piece of stretchy material that keeps the wind from going up my arm.

There is also an inside pocket and an opening for your headphone cord to run through.

Nike Running Jacket

Things I like about this jacket:

– multiple reflective areas

– long length

– sleeves are nice and long as well

– no “swishy” noise when running

– drawstring cord around the hem

– The hood can be removed.

The biggest drawback for winter running is that it isn’t very warm, but then again, I’m sure that isn’t necessarily what it was designed for.

There is a nice zippered pocket on the sleeve.

You can see that there is only one layer to the jacket.

This picture also shows the drawstring at the bottom.

Question

Do you have a favorite jacket for running in the winter?