The sun’s beaming, the snow’s melting, and it's finally time to shed those layers! I love the winter, but this time of year is so special. Everyone is ridiculously happy and we get to see blue sky’s multiple days in a row. It almost makes you want to scream, “We made it!”
With the change of seasons comes a change in how we dress; especially while training in April for the Vermont City Marathon, where we get tastes of spring and flashbacks to winter. A great pro-tip would be to make sure that you keep a synthetic layer or wool and synthetic blend as your next-to-skin layer. This will help to wick moisture from your body, keep you dry, cool, happy, and out there for longer.
That being said, here are some of my new favorite pieces broken down by different scenarios:
Chilly windy days by the lake:
When the rain (or snow) is REALLY coming down, the Stretch Rainshadow Jacket (pictured in header photo) keeps you nice and dry. The stretch fabric moves with you and is perfect for any activity.
To battle the cold and constantly changing weather, I’m a huge fan of the R1 Pullover or Full-Zip Jacket. I’ve been running in this mid-layer all season because it’s designed to regulate your temperature working to keep you cool, warm, dry and happy. I tend to run cold, and this has been one of my favorite go-to layers for any sort of adventure - from running to hiking to skiing. If you’re looking for some great adventure stories, check out our Done in an R1 (#DoneInAnR1) blog post to see how our staff have been using this layer.
Hot summer and spring days (…anything above freezing temperatures these days):
Capilene Cool Daily and Lightweight Longsleeve Shirts are the perfect shirt for navigating this transitional season and to become your staple this summer. Some awesome benefits of this shirt are: it's crazy light, very stretchy, has built in 50+ UPF to protect your skin from the sun, extremely breathable, and is made with Polygine which is Patagonia’s technology to help control odor…even after many runs! And to save the best for last, the Capilene Cool collection along with many other collections from Patagonia are fair trade sewn, bringing more revenue back to factory workers who then earn premiums - they can decide to use either as cash, collective social investment, or both!
If you're looking for an awesome windbreaker, look no further than the Houdini and Houdini Air Jacket, made of featherweight 100% recycled nylon ripstop fabric. Both are a great option for a light and breathable layer to protect you against the wind and rain. The main difference is that the Houdini Air is more breathable and packs down even smaller than the Houdini.
For a loose short, I love the Nine Trail Shorts. They are the perfect length to help against chafing, super light and incredibly breathable. If you do find yourself battling the all-mighty chafe during those long runs, I would recommend trying out some Body Glide or even Chamois Butter as a preventative approach.
Lots of new spring and summer adventure wear styles haved arrived at Patagonia Burlington these past few weeks! Come on down and try on some different layers to see what makes you feel the most comfortable and excited to get out there and run!
I hope to see you out there as a runner, volunteer, or spectator at the Vermont City Marathon on May 26th - where I will be running my first marathon! Also look out for our Patagonia Burlington 5 person relay team - they will be running in Capilene Cool Tees and Nine Trails Shorts!
You are strong + you got this.
- Emily Hoffman,
Patagonia Burlington Sales Associate
