Between 20-40F weather and 70-85F running weather, there’s really no question, right?

60 and sunny is already too hot in my opinion. Anything over 65 necessitates wind, substantial cloudcover, or nighttime. Past 70, youre gonna have to schedule your run before dawn or after dusk.

50 really is the sweetspot for most running. Thats where youre going to be the most comfortable, without having to carry anything with you, at most paces.

And ofc for racing 40 is the sweetspot, but youre not racing every day.

20 degrees with no wind or moisture (or ice on the roads) is pretty enjoyable to me.

I know what I have to wear, pants, two or three layers up top, hat and gloves. hat and gloves stay on the entire time so I don't have to worry about that.

hands down 20-40 any day. I don't mind 60s and enjoy 45-60 the most but also enjoy 30s and 40s. I HATE 70+ and it stays above 70 even over night, most of the summer where I live. There's nothing worse then 90+ degree high days and we have multiple weeks in Northern VA in the summer that are just miserable. You might have 2-3 days all winter that are wet/windy and miserable vs. calm.

pavement88 wrote:

20 degrees with no wind or moisture (or ice on the roads) is pretty enjoyable to me.

I know what I have to wear, pants, two or three layers up top, hat and gloves. hat and gloves stay on the entire time so I don't have to worry about that.

I think some people have bad experience with the cold bc they dont know what to wear. You have to learn when to wear 1, 2, or 3 layers, when to wear gloves, when to cover your head, etc.

I'd take 20-40 in a flash. That's still shorts weather for me.

I am in Michigan and I refuse to run outside if it’s less than 20°. The coldest temperature ever I’ve ever ran in was 2° and the wind made it an exceptionally terrible experience

65°is the ideal temperature for me. Call me sadistic but I like running in 90° then jumping in the pool afterwards.

Race day needs to be about 45°.

I love running in 40 degree weather. Warm weather is torture.

I do really well with the heat, have darker skin and enjoy the sunlight, so 80 degrees plus all year would be awesome. The winter is brutal around here and ice is everywhere on certain trails, not as many beautiful women walking around. Gotta say it's a no brianer for my preference

runne. wrote:

Am excited to be escaping east coast 20-40F weather and going to be spending 2+ weeks starting in a couple days in 70-85F shorts running weather. I know people have their preferences of cooler or warmer ideal running temperatures, but between those two choices (and escaping 4:15pm sunsets), there’s really no question, right?

I'm in the southeast so I run in 70-85F a lot. In the winter, I also running in 20-40F at times, when I run in the morning, which is most days.

The sweet spot for long distance running is obviously in between your two ranges (50s and 60s) but if I had to choose one of the extremes, I'm going with 70-85F. That's because it's rarely 85 at sunrise, anywhere in the USA, so you can escape that with early am running, to some extent, which is what I do where I am. But you can't escape 20's and snow on the roads, without a treadmill.

70 degrees or above is way too hot for me, particularly if it's sunny. 30-40 degrees is delightful if not precipitating.

I have about the best of both worlds running first thing in the morning in inland central California. The lows rarely get below 30 and it doesn't rain much, and while the summer afternoons are scorchingly hot, summer mornings are rarely much above 70.

45 to 60, perfection.

Weatherman wrote:

55 degrees, low humidity, sun, no wind, a bit of altitude. Nothing better.

^ This +100

Can't stand the cold, and wear multiple tops and tights until it gets to about 60f.

I lived in northern Mississippi for around six years, and it would be well above 85f virtually all summer. Did tend to have to get started around 7:00-7:30 for the long run in the middle of summer, but did track sessions lunchtime or early evening whatever the temp.

Even though I'm English, I found it much easier to adapt to the heat than to handle cold. Personally, I'd love to live somewhere where it was 70-85f all year round.

Harder to get out the door and moving when it is cold, but once I am going I will take 40 over 75-80 any day. 40 degrees is a lightweight long sleeved top with running shorts. Get that first 1-2k in and im good to go.

If I was training super hard, I'd rather have the cold weather than anything over 80 as long as I'm not running in the rain or on ice.

Of course weather in the 70s is about perfect for training. For racing I would prefer 50 degrees, no wind, no precipitation, and a colorless gray sky to keep the glare of the sun off me.

I'll share a trick that worked for me for cold weather running. Come home, soak in a warm bathtub for 20 minutes, just to the point of breaking a sweat. Exit the tub and immediately dress in your gear, then blast off out the door. In 20 degree weather, you will never really get cold by the time your muscles warm up and you start sweating.

Best temperature is the point where I only need to wear a sleeveless top. the next best one is where I don't need to wear any top.

Cold weather any day of the week! Its easier to get warm that it is to stay cool.

Rain changes the game however, cold AND wet is about as miserable as it gets.

chickenug wrote:

40 degrees and sunny beats 70-85 for me

Yeah 20-40 is quite the range. I would take 40 & sunny, without a ton of wind, over 70-85. Also, near me, it's usually humid with those temps. If it's 70-80 without humidity, I'm cool with that but I still have to make workout adjustments in that weather. In 40 I can rip. Under 30 & it's harder to workout so I agree but, in general, 30-40 is fine for me.

If I wake up in the morning and see the high for the days is below 40, I’m most likely not running.