It is vitally important that you protect yourself against the elements and when you run at night make sure you wear some reflective apparel to be visible to vehicles.
Here are some key points to remember:
- Be seen be safe – wear light coloured reflective clothing
- If it’s wet, wear a lightweight shower-proof top over your training kit, several thin layers are better insulation than one thick one.
- Cover your extremities when its cold, wear gloves and a hat you lose more heat from hands and head than anywhere else.
- Make sure that your shoes are suitable, take specialist advice from a running store such as Run and Become or Sweat Shop to make sure that your footwear doesn’t hinder your progress, Dunlop tennis shoes will not get you round a marathon in any comfort, try to keep 2 pairs of shoes going at any time, then if one pair gets wet you have a dry option!
- Keep your kit clean and dry. Wearing damp kit is unpleasant for you and your running partners and can chaff your skin; runner’s nipple is not pleasant!
- If training or racing away from home carry a spare set of clean dry kit (including shoes) and shower kit. There is nothing worse than driving home in damp grubby kit and it can cause a chill.
- For race wear, never wear brand new gear, always wash it and wear it at least once before a serious outing.
- Always walk in a new pair of shoes for a week before running in them it helps avoid blisters and sore feet as brand new shoes are usually a lot stiffer than the ones they are replacing.
- Don’t be tempted to buy high fashion gear from non-running sports shops, it is not designed for marathon running and will certainly be a lot more expensive.
- If companies sponsor you, put their names on your training top – they love to see their names in print.
- Slightly loose fitting gear is more practical for running, keep skin tight gear for the post race party !