Run Run Away

Question:

Super performance and goretex or micro fleece or whatever never appealed to me.  Call me 20th century, but I’ve always liked a good pair of cotton sweat pants and a sweat shirt.  One of the reasons I don’t like the so-called performance stuff is because of all the dang noise the pants seem to make, especially the ones meant for bone-chilling weather.  The places that sell the old-fashioned stuff seems to be more and more limited.  What do y’all wear and where do you buy it?  I went to my old standbys in nyc this weekend, Paragon and Eastern Mountain Sports, and they had an extremely limited selection of cotton stuff.  And of course, road runner sports only carries the highest of the high tech.  

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OK, Hello "20th" Century….if it was good enough for Steve Prefontaine, it’s good enough for you after all.   Personally…I wear the state of the art materials/gear for the season.  As for the sound of goretex and the like tops and bottoms….you missing it.  That "sound" is "music" to me….it’s rhythmn…..there’s "data" in that sound.  I listen to my shoes hitting the ground…I listen to the "swoosh" of materials born from the friction of rubbing against each other….you can tell/learn a lot about your stride as you’re running by the sound.   You’re missing it pal….there’s knowledge/joy/data/rhythm in all the "Sounds of gear, clothing and shoes"… Andrew….

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Super performance and goretex or micro fleece or whatever never appealed to me.  Call me 20th century, but I’ve always liked a good pair of cotton sweat pants and a sweat shirt.  One of the reasons I don’t like the so-called performance stuff is because of all the dang noise the pants seem to make, especially the ones meant for bone-chilling weather.  The places that sell the old-fashioned stuff seems to be more and more limited.  What do y’all wear and where do you buy it?  I went to my old standbys in nyc this weekend, Paragon and Eastern Mountain Sports, and they had an extremely limited selection of cotton stuff.  And of course, road runner sports only carries the highest of the high tech.  

Cotton is terrible for an inner layer, IMO. It gets damp really quickly. I have one of those underarmour long sleeve tops and some running tights. For the rain, I also have a waterproof jacket (not goretex) I also like to protect my ears when it’s cold. A headband is a must-have. Don’t have any problems with clothing making too much noise. Cheers, — Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

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Super performance and goretex or micro fleece or whatever never appealed to me.  Call me 20th century, but I’ve always liked a good pair of cotton sweat pants and a sweat shirt.

If you can get by with cotton either you don’t sweat or you don’t do much distance. For my short runs, less than an hour I can get by in cotton sweat pants but not a cotton top.  When I’m doing my longer runs I use state of the art clothes. I’m not going frostbite the boys to avoid a swish of the pants rubbing. One of the reasons I don’t like the so-called performance stuff is because of all the dang noise the pants seem to make, especially the ones meant for bone-chilling weather.

Noise aside, the first time there is rhime on your tallywhacker you will wish you spent the money.  The places that sell the old-fashioned stuff seems to be more and more limited.  What do y’all wear and where do you buy it?  I went to my old standbys in nyc this weekend, Paragon and Eastern Mountain Sports, and they had an extremely limited selection of cotton stuff.

The light bulb should go off, cotton sucks and does not sell. And of course, road runner sports only carries the highest of the high tech.

I will agree that the techy stuff has a high price and is probably inflated. You have some control over price if you buy off season. If you looking now with cool/cold weather coming, you will pay top dollar.  About Feb/Mar the fire sales start.  Now is the time to buy shorts ans singlets. -DougF

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Noise in your pants?  I can’t imagine that any problem in your pants could be anything but a tiny one.

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Super performance and goretex or micro fleece or whatever never appealed to me.  Call me 20th century, but I’ve always liked a good pair of cotton sweat pants and a sweat shirt.  One of the reasons I don’t like the so-called performance stuff is because of all the dang noise the pants seem to make, especially the ones meant for bone-chilling weather.

Not sure what you’re wearing that made noise, but I use Sporthill xc pants – somewhat pricey (but one of those proverbial "priceless" things) but for those that run year round in Alaska, they are a great starting outer layer, work well for xc skiing and mt biking, and I can’t hear them. They are a stretch material, but you don’t buy them tight like tights. In cold weather, I layer either power-dri tights (down to 0F or so) or light fleece pants (down to -20F) under them. That’s as cold as I’ve used them so far and the powerdry tights might be able to go down farther – didn’t have weather last "winter" for testing. FWIW, I get cold easily. http://www.sporthill.com/ I got mine at my local running store, but REI had them a little cheaper. I’ve looked at SportHill tops, but don’t care for their design. While they advertise to 35mph winds, they don’t come anywhere near that for me. That’s one reason why I layer. If the weather is really windy (30-50mph, below freezing) or wet, I will wear a shell over them. I have some old wind pants (versatech, I think) that are quiet, but not waterproof. Last winter I got Marmot precip jacket and full-zip pants (to be able to ventilate) that I generally take with me on all cold runs over about 50 min in winter. They *are* noisy, but if I get caught on a trail in a driving rain or the wind comes up, I probably won’t hear them over the wind or rain, and they are good emergency gear. BUT they don’t breathe. They’re also pretty durable. I wiped out on some rocks last winter – drew blood on my knee, but not a scratch that I ever found to my Sporthills Supplex nylon is pretty quiet, and I think there’s some other nylons out there now that are fairly quiet. I use something like that as my outer layer most of the time – unless really windy or raining. My Gore-tex tops aren’t too noisy, but I’ve hesitated buying bottoms like that because of the additional noise on legs. Also, I don’t think they stretch – stretchable material is really nice for biking and running.   The places that sell the old-fashioned stuff seems to be more and more limited.  

Your local Wal-Mart probably has enough cotton sweats to float a boat (ours does). I think CampMor usually has cotton, but also has a good selection of synthetics. Most of my synthetic tops (base and insulating layers) have come from CampMor and are quiet. What do y’all wear and where do you buy it?  I went to my old standbys in nyc this weekend, Paragon and Eastern Mountain Sports, and they had an extremely limited selection of cotton stuff.

Have you heard the phrase "cotton kills" for winter? The exception is if you’re caught in a fire in all your synthetics, you’ve got a severe problem. There’s a reason why cotton doesn’t sell for winter wear, although I’m still amazed at how hard it is to find a good non-down winter parka. Most down is also pretty useless when wet, which can happen if caught in overflow. And of course, road runner sports only carries the highest of the high tech.  

My $.02 and personal rant. Most (not all, but I haven’t found the exception yet) running gear (at least that found in places like RRS or local running store) seems to be made for people that only run for short periods of time in conditions that aren’t too extreme. The hoods, if present, even on Gore-tex, look like something on a cheap Wal-Mart shell. You can’t draw the hood up around your face very tightly without pulling the whole jacket up. (40% of your body heat is lost through head and neck.) I don’t usually run that way (prefer wool watch hat or ear band so I can hear noises – traffic, people, animals), but it’s good backup if the weather takes a turn for the worse or if I have a problem and have to hobble home. If I use a running-store type jacket in the winter, I take a Windstopper face mask with me to make up for lack of decent hood. Even decent hoods can be rolled up in a collar so it’s not in the way until you need it. Other manufacturers have managed to do it. In other running e-groups where many people usually run longer and more on trails (read: are in deep sh*t if not properly prepared), it seems like most people use lightweight hiking gear. Outdoor stores seem to be the better place to find running gear for subzero F temperatures, IMHO. And stores like CampMore have reasonably priced stuff. end rant. Dot — "Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

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