Irish winter running gear (5k) country roads

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Men can wear shorts over tights right?

No. Not unless you would wear shorts over regular trousers, jeans, etc.

I picked up a few Under Armour long sleeve tops on Amazon along with a couple of pairs of leggings but haven't been brave enough to venture to the outside world wearing them yet

Slow_Runner wrote: »

You'll be grand, its very cold out

Lol. The last 10 days or so when out on runs and in general i find myself eyeing all the male runners i see and if any wearing leggings and honestly have spotted one yet, loads with leggings and shorts.

Klopp wrote: »

Lol. The last 10 days or so when out on runs and in general i find myself eyeing all the male runners i see and if any wearing leggings and honestly have spotted one yet, loads with leggings and shorts.

IMO, shorts over tights = dress socks with sandals or tracksuit with shoes.

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Sorry for dragging this down to the depths but people can't see your package when you wear socks with sandals so surely not the same thing!?!

I guess some of us are not as "blessed" as others!

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Or else my tights are a little too tight. Lol

The Ron Hill Tracksters are by far the best leggings for winter, they lie somewhere in the middle between tights and tracksuits.

Getting back out of the gutter I picked up one of these last month, find it great for the wind and rain. Nice and light and breatable

https://www.decathlon.ie/ie_en/kiprun-light-men-s-sleeveless-running-jacket-en-s301541.html

Slow_Runner wrote: »

IMO, shorts over tights = dress socks with sandals or tracksuit with shoes.

Honestly not sure how any man can leave the house only wearing a pair of tights and not think it's somewhat inappropriate.

I live in a town with footpaths and streetlights for my winter routes. To compare lets say you lived 1.5km from Pheonix Park so you run to the park on footpaths, do whatever laps you want away from cars and traffic and then run home. Would people here wear lights for that? I don't but wondering if I should. LIGHTS not tights!

28064212 wrote: »

Personally, I give very little thought to how visible I am when running, regardless of location. I think it's entirely the wrong approach to the problem. If you're relying on a motorist to see you to be safe, you're already rolling the dice.

I always, always, ALWAYS assume that any given motorist does not and will not see me, regardless of circumstances. When I'm running, my stopping distance is effectively zero, and taking my attention off the road for more than a metre would likely end up with a head-first collision with a wall, or a twisted ankle stepping off a kerb. Neither of those is true for motorists. It's very easy to travel 100m in a car at 30+km/h while paying little-to-no attention to anything around you

If I'm in a situation where my clothing would make a difference to whether I was hit by a vehicle or not, it would mean I've already made a massive ****-up earlier in the process, so I concentrate my energies on not making massive ****-ups.

So are you saying that you avoid going out at night or keep to just footpaths or you don't bother with reflective clothing/lights?
Agree with you that you need to assume that a car does not see you however not being lit up is just asking for trouble.
For me I do go running on country roads at night or early morning but I do take precautions:
I am lit up like a christmas tree! Head torch, hi-vis clothing, flashing reflective arm band
Only run on roads where I can step in off the road when needed and are wide enough.
Run against traffic (you think that would be obvious but apparently not!)
Eyes and ears always open
When a car approaches I watch their movements, its always evident if they can see me or not.
Car coming from behind, keep an eye to make sure they are on the correct side.

Same rules for daytime running except for the lights bit

A car can just as easily not see you in daylight as at night (if you are lit up you are probably more easy to spot.

As for the original question, wear a headlight even on paths and keep an eye on the ground for trip hazards, street lights leave black spots and suprises for the unwary

28064212 wrote: »

The latter. Most of my running is on footpaths, but plenty of junctions to be crossed, and I do occasionally have runs on roads with no footpaths. There are too many motorists that wouldn't notice a literal Christmas tree running along the road, never a mind a human with a few reflections and lights. If a car is approaching, I know exactly where they are at all times, and am always ready to step into the ditch until they have passed

Wow! To me that is lunacy but each to their own. Being lit up gives as much safety as possible, I always assume the car doesn't see me but equally I'm not guaranteed to see the car (someone driving with no lights on meets a runner with no lights on, who is in the wrong?? - doesn't matter as the runner comes off worse) And before anyone says the chances of a car driving on a dark road with no lights on are low, I say so are the chances of meeting a runner on a dark road with no lights on :P.

Dudda wrote: »

I live in a town with footpaths and streetlights for my winter routes. To compare lets say you lived 1.5km from Pheonix Park so you run to the park on footpaths, do whatever laps you want away from cars and traffic and then run home. Would people here wear lights for that? I don't but wondering if I should. LIGHTS not tights!

I run in the Phoenix park after dark quite a bit. I would always have lights running on the footpaths up & down Chesterfield avenue as there are almost always some walkers there. If you dont have lights you tend to frighten them running up on them!