As per an earlier post, I've changed the gear I wear for night time winter running lately. Last night was the first really crappy night I'd run in it. Since there's not much useful information around on using the new generation of lightweight Paramo waterproofs for running, I thought I'd try and fill the gap a bit.
I like Paramo gear - it's not cheap, but their ethical credentials are good, their customer service is excellent, and it lasts just about forever. It's a bit generously sized for my skinny runner build, but you can't have everything.
Morning:
10km run into work starting just before dawn (8am). Wearing Ron Hill lycra shorts, very thin Rab base layer, paramo, rab aleutian gloves, sealskin waterproof socks & vivo running shoes. Temperature when I set out was about 5 deg centigrade, light breeze.
I was on the warm side of comfortable for most of the way with the vent zips open, mostly when climbing. A little sweaty, but only a little warmer than I'm used to.
Evening:
15km run home with 600m of ascent in 2 climbs. Same gear but Buffalo mitts instead of the gloves.
The weather last night got properly toss. Nominally 7 deg C, 70kph winds at 400m and heavy (horizontal) rain. To start with I was on the warm side, until I cleared the village and got out in the wind. By the time I hit the top of the moor at 410m I had all zips shut, it was blowing 40kph with light rain, and I was nice and comfortable.
It got worse.
By the time I'd dropped to the valley bottom and climbed the other side onto Windgate Nick, the rain was properly heavy, the wind was up to 60kph plus, and I was just about warm enough. I couldn't run on the top due to buffeting/head wind. I wouldn't have wanted to stay up there for more than 20 minutes or so without adding a layer, although I think just putting a buff on would have been enough for safety, if not comfort.
I was unsure about how the jacket was going to go - Paramo waterproofs tend to be on the toasty side so running in one was always going to be a 'try it and see'. I'd consider it a qualified success:
- Temperature control is fine using the vent zips handles temperatures up to 7 or 8 deg Centigrade with no wind. Any more than that, it's going to be much too warm. (handy hint - fasten up the neck press stud to keep your hood up when it's windy and raining, then you can open the zip to provide venting).
- Below that temperature, it can handle a very large range of conditions without needing to layer/delayer. Much more so than anything else I've tried.
- I found that the hood snugged neatly around my face with the drawcords. I've never managed to do that really well with any other jacket, and it makes wearing a hood much less irritating.
- That makes it ideal for changeable (grim) weather. Exactly what UK upland winter conditions throw at you.
It's impossible for me to stay dry in a waterproof when running. No 'breathable' waterproof fabric can handle the volume of moisture that I generate when exercising hard (and I don't think I'm unusual in that regard). I was noticably drier and more comfortable in the paramo than my old Montane Atomic DT. The wicking and the texture of the lining makes all the difference. As some others have said it doesn't keep all the rain out in driving wind & rain, but when running that's ok - you expect to be slightly moist.
Yes it's relatively heavy, and only really suitable for winter conditions. But because you can handle a much wider range of temperatures/conditions by careful venting, you don't need to carry as much gear. For what I was after (making longer evening training runs in bad winter weather more comfortable) it's exactly right. In the spring it'll go in the cupboard and I'll go back to softshell/windproof and a taped seam waterproof in the bag when I have to.
Note: for comparison, it's about as warm as a Montane Fireball.
Update 27/2/15: this was first written at the beginning of January. It's now the end of Feb, so the VAL has had more use.
About the end of Jan the jacket started to wet out easily, so I washed it in techwash. It was fine for another 2 weeks, but then started to wet out a bit so I ran it through again and reproofed it with tx-direct. That made it good as new. I can live with reproofing a couple of times each winter, to be a lot more comfortable on the long slow night time runs that make up the bulk of my winter training.
Last week I decided to leave it at home - it was a little warmer, perhaps 7 deg and no wind to speak of. Instead I used a thin marmot softshell and a Fuera windproof. That turned out to be a mistake - the last hour of a 24km/600m run was cold and damp and nasty. This week, back to the VAL with a temperature of 5deg and wind of 20kph and I was toasty warm. The weather turned properly crap towards the end - sideways rain and no visibility to speak of. I was wearing a Rab Aeon base layer (very, very thin) under the VAL, and I'd have been happy to be a bit warmer in the last 30 minutes. Up to then I was fine. The visibility forced me to slow right off, and that's something that would have been a problem in a different coat as relayering would have been needed.
Still well impressed. I'd use a full weight Velez for walking (as I did last weekend, when it rained then snowed horizontally), but the lighter VAL is perfect for long slow runs in the cold, rain and wind.
