LINCOLN PARK — Even an elite marathon runner sometimes has to call it quits on outdoor running in a deep freeze.
"If it's below minus-15 with the wind chill, I stay exclusively indoors, just in terms of safety and for me to be able to get up to a good speed to get a good workout in," said Tera Moody, a top 10 Chicago Marathon finisher and two-time Shamrock Shuffle winner who lives in the Gold Coast. "That’s about as cold as I'll go."
Though Moody is a big proponent of treadmill workouts — she runs a marathon on a treadmill every year on her birthday — she tries to train outdoors several days a week, even during the worst winter.
The runner, who said her biggest accomplishment was placing fifth in the Olympic trials in 2008 and whose best marathon time is 2:30 in Chicago in 2010, urges runners looking to brave the cold to wear a lot of layers.
She sometimes even wears two pairs of mittens, or items that aren't the most flattering.
"If it's really, really, cold when it gets to be below zero, I wear a face mask," Moody said. "It's not the best fashion statement, but it helps me stay warm."
But don't get too bundled up, she said.
"The one thing you don’t want to do is wear too much bulky stuff or cotton," she said. "If you could wear some dry, moisture-wicking materials so that you don’t get cold and sweaty and frozen, that’s helpful, too."
For more tips on how to get motivated to get out the door and the best types of running gear for the cold, check out the video.
