when is it too cold?

Although your legs are pumping alot of blood. Skin is still skin. I don't run in shorts when the windchill is below freezing. You can damage the skin on your legs and freeze your nuts off.

If you ran in 14 degree weather wearing shorts, you are an idiot.

When even other runners think you look like a dork.

Somewhere in the 30 - 40 range, depending on wind and sunshine.

I would be careful wearing running shorts in cold weather. I wore a pair of Bill Rogers last Feb. when the temp was about 35. I did a hill workout, and about 7 miles in I feel a little damp in my crotch. Because of the cold wind my shorts had rubbed me so raw I was actually bleeding. Pretty scary stuff. I took my sock off and covered up ala RHCP and finished the workout. I learned my lesson, especially pissing the next few days. OUCH.

You'll know it's too cold outside as, when you go out the door, your nipples jump off your chest and dart back into the house yelping.

I've got a digital thermometer I look at before I dress for every run. I've got it down where I know exactly what to wear for any temp. I wear shorts on down to 28 degrees. 27.5 then its pants.

27 degrees wrote:

I've got a digital thermometer I look at before I dress for every run. I've got it down where I know exactly what to wear for any temp. I wear shorts on down to 28 degrees. 27.5 then its pants.

how do you do that without a windguage?

i pulled a hamstring one year because I ran in the cold without pants on. now I am extra careful and make sure to run with pants on if it is under 40-45 degrees

how do you do that without a windguage?[/quote]

I look out the window at the trees to see if & how much the branches are moving. If it's windy & 30 I'll wear pants.

Around 28-30 degrees seems to be the line for me as well. If it is not windy, and is sunny and I'm planning a hard workout of some kind, I might be willing to wear shorts even if below 30. Otherwise, it's some light pants. At what point do you switch to double-lined sweats, or two layers on your legs is another question...?

You know, there are people out there that make cold weather running gear. Put some freakin' clothes on! What are you trying to prove by wearing shorts? Other than proving how stupid you are by running in shorts when it's 14 bleeding degrees out! And don't feed us any bullshit that you're not cold. Horse crap.....Any normal person on this planet would be cold running in shorts, when it's 14 degrees!!! I've been running for 30 years now and my limit for shorts is 40-45 degrees, unless it's a race. What reason could there possibly be for being under dressed? I bet you don't wear gloves and hat either....How about a shirt? What a knucklehead!!

40-45 & you wear pants. Dude your a pansy. I'd be sweating my balls off wearing pants then.

I wouldn't recommend running in shorts under 28 degrees provided there is little or no wind. You don't lose anything by running in pants, but too cold of a temperature could adversely affect your performance/productivity. If you don't benefit from running then what is the point, 14 degrees is not beneficial though and could be bad for you.

~BigBear

I have run in 25 blow windchill. That is more of an indicator of what to wear than just temperature. Keep your skin covered to protect it.

i would have to say 25-30 is the coldest i'd wear just shorts. then i go for a layer of spandex, and when it gets down below zero to -20, i wear a few layers on the bottom.

I wear very thin spandex tights below 50. They feel great, and are almost never too hot. We get a lot of 40-50 degree weather, I frequently wear a short sleeve shirt and these super-lightweight tights. One hamstring pull can haunt you for the rest of your life, everyone should at least warm up with pants when it is cool or cold.

In Minneapolis you see very few people with shorts on below 35/40.

There's little benefit, and many risks in running when your muscles are cold. As others have pointed out, your chances of pulling a muscle are higher when your muscles are cold.

The harder you're going to run, the more you'll want to make sure your legs are warm and supple.

Then there's the racing situation. If you warm up properly you can probably get through a 5k in temperatures above 20, in shorts. But for greater distances or lower temperatures you are simply going to be increasing your risk of pulling or straining a muscle.

Bottom line: You can probably wear shorts down to the upper 20s (calm, no wind etc.). Below that it's foolish.

i run repeats in shorts down to about 20, pants make running anything less than repeat 800's a pain.

4x2mile wrote:

i run repeats in shorts down to about 20, pants make running anything less than repeat 800's a pain.

I used to wear thick sweatpants to run intervals when it was 80. You are doing it backwards.