Running Suits

Sometimes you want a layer on top of your base layer. This is where running suits often come into play. These suits act as an outer shell to keep out wind, snow, and rain while allowing sweat vapor to move from your base layer to the surface. The most famous example of an outer layer fabric is Gore-Tex. Gore-Tex is pretty bulky for running, however. You can still find running suits made from Gore-Tex, but they’re not the most comfortable suits on the market anymore. Newer materials, such as ThinTech and Activent, do as good a job of keeping wind and water out, but they’re lighter and more breathable.
I’m a running suit guy much more than a tights wearer, but that’s a matter of personal preference and, like wearing those cotton T-shirts, probably just a habit. If you live where running in the winter is going to mean pretty frequent run-ins with cold precipitation, then I’d go with a suit over the tighter stuff. Under your suit you can wear a pair of shorts and whatever thickness of shirt you need to feel comfortable. In the nastiest winter weather (I’m thinking of my running friends in Minnesota here), you probably want a third layer between the base and shell layers. This layer is called an insulating layer. You want a top for this layer that’s going to be pretty much a duplicate of your base layer so that it will help to keep moisture off of your skin.