Let me be honest. This season, Mother Nature has not unleashed the winter ferocity I know that she can in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. We’ve had mild temperatures and abysmally thin snow depths. Heck, I’ve done lots of packed-snow trail running this winter on trails that should be neck deep in pow. This is a runner’s winter.
But, if you run enough, you’ll encounter nasty weather at some point. I found two degrees Fahrenheit on a morning or two. I experienced sideways sleet. I ran through 25-mile-per-hour winds. Indeed, it’s been a mild winter, but it hasn’t been perfect.
Ladies, let me introduce you to my go-to outfit for winter’s doldrums: the Brooks Women’s Playground Jacket, the Brooks Women’s Silver Bullet Wind Tight, and a Sauce Headwear lid. These three pieces of clothing, when worn simultaneously through snow, cold, or even a sunny day, are akin to wearing heaven.
Brooks Women’s Playground Jacket
The Brooks Playground Jacket and Silver Bullet Wind Tight helped the author take in the Teton Mountains at twilight on a cold winter’s night. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
The Brooks Women’s Playground Jacket has a front and back panel composed of water-resistant and wind-resistant polyester containing a lightweight poly fill for insulation. Each sleeve is composed of 
wind-resistant, stretchy polyester. Together, the panels and arms create a versatile jacket that’ll perform in a variety of winter conditions. The jacket has some fab details, including sleeve thumbholes, an internal pocket for electronics, and flower embroidery. These details add style and functionality to a piece already ready for whatever winter throws at it.
I wore the Playground Jacket in pretty much every condition winter has dished. On a sunny, breezy winter day, this jacket, along with a thin wool shirt underneath kept me warm but not hot. On those super-cold mornings, I layered a thick wool shirt and a fleece vest beneath the jacket. The combination made me feel like a comfy oven. I even wore the jacket in sleet heavy enough to soak its outer layer. When I peeled it off at home, however, I found that my under-clothing was dry.
If I could ask Brooks to change anything about the Playground Jacket, I’d beg for armpit vents. The jacket is so warm that, when the weather is nice, venting was necessary. Without pit zips, I found myself unzipping the jacket halfway.
Brooks Silver Bullet Wind Tight
Brooks Silver Bullet Wind Tight for women
The front of the Women’s Silver Bullet Wind Tight is composed of Brooks’ Silver Bullet fabric, which achieves wind resistance with polyester through an aluminum membrane. The waist and back of the tight are an un-membraned, stretchy polyester designed to provide for movement and breathability. The pants are lined, too, with a poly/spandex material. Finally, articulated knees make movement even easier and ankle zippers help you get the pant on and off.
I believe there are two kinds of runners in the world, those who don’t need much on the bottom half of their body to stay warm and those who do. Without a bulletproof pant of some sort, my thighs and tushie get way cold on a winter run. I find it difficult to explain how much love I, thus, possess for this inanimate object. I love, love, love the Silver Bullet Wind Tight.
This isn’t a traditional tight in the sense that it doesn’t cling to your body. The piece, when sized well, is pretty fitted. It’s got a little space to give around the waist, hips, and calves.
Howling wind, be dam#ed, these tights plow through anything. I enjoy them so much that I wear them for just about every other winter sport. Cross-country skiing? Check. Snowshoeing? Yep. Walking the dog? You betcha’. I can’t find an activity too fast or too slow or a temperature too warm or too cold to be uncomfortable in these tights.
Sauce Headwear Chill Toque and Ventilator Headband
A bit newer on my list of happy winter attire discoveries is the lids made by the ladies at Sauce Headwear. I met and fell in love with Shayla Johnson, Sauce’s founder, and her toques in January. What we Americans call hats, Canadians call toques and, since Shayla’s a former Canadian National Team Nordic (Cross Country) skier, we’re gonna’ call her invention by its proper name. Shayla’s now Bozeman, Montana-based and she sells four products, two toques and two headbands. I’ve so far tested the Chill Toque and the Ventilator Headband.
The author headed out for a run in the Sauce Ventilator Headband (and Brooks Playground Jacket). Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Why am I obsessed with Sauce Headwear? It’s simple: the products cover my ears. Have you ever had a hat that you adore for the way it covers your noggin, keeps your head warm no matter the condition or sport, and looks nice only to find that the hat doesn’t cover your ears and they nearly fall off in winter’s chill? Athletes rejoice, you can yank these suckers down over your ears!
Sauce’s Toque in plum houndstooth
The Chill Toque and the Ventilator Headband are Sauce Headwear’s warmest models. The Chill Toque is composed on the outside of two layers of Meryl, a stretchy nylon. Inside you’ll find a wide fleece headband. Unique to Sauce Headwear is that the hat twists to a small opening less than one inch in diameter, right on the top of the hat. Sauce says this lets heat out, but I can’t really tell. I do know that the fabric twist is a style curve ball to the traditional winter hat.
Nordic skiers love headbands. I think skiers love the fact that, when they are going hard, a headband holds less heat than a hat. I don’t know why we runners haven’t picked up on what skiers have known all along. Headbands, when worn in moderate-to-benign winter conditions, are the perfect head cover for us runners, too. The Ventilator Headband is composed on the outside of one layer of Meryl and a fleece-like inside layer.
Winter runners, watch out. Sauce Headwear is crossing over from its skiing history and into a future with us.
Conclusion
There, I did it. I composed a 1,000-word soliloquy on what I’ve been wearing this winter. If you know me in person, you know me as a pretty utilitarian kind of girl. I’m not into passing fads. I steer clear from gear that serves singular purposes. I’ll sacrifice fashion in one heartbeat for performance. I must be serious when I’ve got this much to say about a couple pieces of clothing. Winter, what? I hardly noticed with this serious apparel.
Call for Comments
Ladies, what have been your favorite pieces of running apparel this winter? Tried any of the above items? If so, what’d you think?
