A Lesson on Wicking
I know the importance of wearing clothes that wick when exercising outside, especially on cold, windy, winter days. Or at least I thought I did.
Yesterday I went outside for my run. The temperature here in Maine was in the single digits and winds averaged 6 mph, but reached into the 20-mph range. It was brisk, but I was covered head to toe in synthetic clothes (from my hat, gloves, baselayer top, wind shirt, and tights, down to my underwear). Once I warmed up and my route took me out of the wind I had no worries about the cold. After all, I thought, I was dressed for the weather, in full wicking mode. There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, right?
Yes, I was dressed properly, but I forgot about that heart rate monitor strap I wore. Baselayers can’t wick sweat from skin they can’t touch, and the front of the strap trapped my sweat against my skin for five cold miles. Since that spot of skin isn’t overly sensitive to begin with, I didn’t notice the numbness as I ran. I did notice the pain when I stepped into a hot shower later though.
I now have a small, red, blistered patch of skin on the middle of my torso—mild frostbite. Next time it’s so cold I’ll leave the heart rate monitor at home.
The one positive is that I can literally see how well wicking layers do work, when worn properly.
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