How long can you run in extreme cold safely?

The last 2 nights in the northern midwest it was -8 and -10 actual temperature out where I ran. The first night there was a 12 mph wind which isn't bad regularly but with the temp it sucked and then last night it was almost calm, making it reasonably nice out. Last night as opposed to the first night I wore a face mask in addition to my stocking hat and that helped my ears. The first night my right ear got very cold and painful and still hurt the next day but the color is fine and it's improved.

So frostbite on your extremities can certainly be an issue but if you layer up, it's very feasible to run in negative temps to a certain point. I wore a pair of half tights with long tights over, regular socks and my Asics, then a long sleeve t-shirt, cutoff hoodie and winter windbreaker jacket plus hat and gloves (facemask on 2nd nice). Apart from being a bit slowed by ice packed roads and many layers, I felt warm and good enough.

I'm in a smallish town of approx. 10K people and did some random loops around town, running into the wind for several blocks and then turning to have a break from the cold air. Normally I'd prescribe running into the wind for the first half of a winter run, then going with it but when it's this cold I'd rather not run straight into it for 3 miles, but instead break it up.

I've run in actual temp of -18 before - props to the guy running in -33 degrees in MN!

Went running on New Year's Day on snow covered trails in 12 degree weather with a mild wind. If you're worried about your lungs, you could always wear your COVID mask. The coldest I ever ran in was -29. I don't know that the cold is as much an issue as the dry air drying out your mucosa.

I ran maybe 8-10 miles on at least one occasion in -20 F weather in college. It was not difficult. We had thick, cloth, old-school sweat pants and jacket, a winter hat, gloves or socks on the hands, and either a couple pairs of socks or a pair of wool socks. I was actually quite comfortable.

trying wrote:

So frostbite on your extremities can certainly be an issue

real oozing-blister frostbite is something to avoid getting even once

I got it once

I’ve run in -15 and never believed that running cold weather could be bad for your health. After I watched wind river I got a little scared. The way the girl goes out made me mildly concerned that prolonged extreme cold <-30 could cause damage.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen and his wife Darya Domracheva reportedly did an hour long run in -35C and powerful wind at a Chinese training facility. Efficient -60C, and he said if went "fine"

Take care of your ears. I don't know if it's my personal trait or common for all humans, but my head gets wet with sweat when I wear a hat despite any frost. You stop for 40 seconds for whatever reason, your hat freezes solid right away and you get frostbite on your ears. Jacket hood helps a lot. You can have it loose or even on your back, and when it gets rough you tighten it up. It feels uncomfortable and restrictive but it's better than having ugly skin bubbles on your ears.

Speaking from experience of training for Boston through Northern New England winters (without touching a treadmill) and training for/competing in nordic ski and biathlon races:

There are plenty of other threads on LetsRun about layers, so I won't go there.

Remember, windchill is not a great measurement and is more subjective than meteorologist fearmongers would like you to believe. Yes windchill is important when worrying about frostbite/hypothermia but not your lungs, for your lungs pay attention to your body's response to ambient temperature.

If you are inhaling though your nose you will be less likely to hurt your lungs. If you work hard (think race or hard workout) and its cold out (think single digits or lower) you will get a little cough for maybe up to a day after, I've found hot water lemon and honey right when I get back inside helps a lot. So will you irritate your lungs? Maybe. Will you damage your lungs? Probably not.

If you have the right layers the limiting factor in cold environments is truly based on fluids and calories.

Bad Wigins wrote:

aerosmith wrote:

forget the windchill, what is the actual temp?

windchill is mostly important for frostbite risk to exposed skin.

Warm core temperature is the overall important thing, or the peripheral blood vessels contract to slow heat loss, then extremities can get frostbit anyway.

I don't think I could stop my hands and feet from getting cold in subzero F temperature. Why run in those conditions, you'll get no valuable workout

If your goal for the day is a steady mid-distance run, you workout value will be no less than if the temperature was 30 degrees warmer. A run is a run. I typically have not done speed workouts at sub-zero temps but that is because the footing usually has been compromised by snow/ice.

I am not going to read through pages of garbage replies to see if this was answered the same way as below.

Ask Joe Vigil - former coach of Adams State in Alamosa. "Hey coach, did you ever cancel practice because it was too cold?"

In Alamosa, there are 225.4 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below freezing, which is colder than most places in Colorado.

In Alamosa, there are 44.4 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below zero°, which is one of the coldest places in Colorado.

Alamosa: Average January Low -2.2F

From a Colorado news story:

At least twice this week, the San Luis Valley city was the coldest place in the continental United States. The temperature dropped to minus 30 on Wednesday and hit minus 33 on Thursday, the lowest recorded temperatures.

The mercury dropped to negative 34 on Friday morning but it’s not clear yet whether that was the absolute coldest.

One danger of extreme cold my seem unlikely. That is getting too hot. Sometimes an inexperienced runner will not trust that they will build up body heat so they run too fast. Build up sweat, your cloths get damp & then you cannot maintain that too fast pace. You go from running :30 a mile faster than normal to :30+ too slow or worst yet walking. The extreme cold, damp cloths & producing too little body heat can be very dangerous.

Seriously how quickly can you die of hypothermia if you fall and are unconscious? Let's say it's -20 C ° (-4 F °) / -30 C ° (-22 F °) wind chill and your clothes are wet.