I am in KC, and I am with you. It has to be in the 30's before I will even put a shirt on.

If I wore half the stuff recommended here, that gear would be soaked through in under an hour, and THEN I would be in trouble.

I am from Winnipeg, MB and we get winter from the beginning of November to about the end of March.

I do not use any sort of spikes for my shoes. I just wear my normal runners. I do not have a problem with cold feet.

I start with a very light mitten (important, not gloves) then covered with a windproof mitten. As I warm up I ditch the windproof cover mittens.

I use a nice thin polypropylene wicking base layer for both upper body and legs. Then a windproof vest. Then finally a wind and water resistant jacket. The jacket I have has pit zips and a zipper that opens from the bottom or the top so I can control the amount of heat and moisture I allow to escape. I avoid Goretex and other such materials because they just don't breath as much as I need and I end up getting soaked from the inside out and this is very dangerous as the temperature really starts to drop.

For the legs I usually use a windproof pant shell that is designed for wet weather cycling. Waterproof/windproof on the front but flexible on the back. The single most important piece of cold weather gear I found at MEC and that is windproof underwear. Getting frostbite on your dick is not a lot of fun, especially when it starts to thaw out.

For my head I use a 3 way gator type balaclava. With that I can cover my entire face except my eyes, then I can pull it down to chin level or down to my neck. Over top of that I have a thin running beanie.

With this basic system I have comfortably run down to -40C (no windchill, actual temperature). Up here we get stretches in January and February where we can go 20 to 30 days without the daytime highs getting above -30C. It is like heat acclimatization, you just get used to running in the cold. I would much rather run in the cold than the heat. You also want to make sure when you go outside that you are feeling almost too cold. Because once you start running you will get very warm, very quickly and once you start to really sweat and you get wet that is when you can get into trouble. Hypothermia is a real possibility.

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Layers.

Especially on the top -- things you can unzip, especially, to vent, take off, etc. as you run.

In weather that's not too cold (above freezing, 30s-40s) I have a kind of system of things that come off/unzipped as the miles go by.

Andrew Moss

XC ski people train in the cold. WHY is running much different?

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It's easy to wear too much. So avoid anything thick because you'll end up having to choose between "too warm" and "cold". Thin and easily removed is the ticket.

Jacket. Needs to have a long zipper so you can adjust how much heat can vent. Someone mentioned a big vent and that's gold. But don't get gortex or similar. That will be a waste of money. Sure, gortex will breathe, but not enough for a runner. The vent will do the breathing. Just get a cheap nylon shell in bright dayglo colors.

If you're tempted to wear a thick shirt, instead wear a shortsleeve and a longsleeve shirt. That way you can easily remove one of them as you warm up and tie it around your waist.

Instead of gloves, wear crappy old socks on your hands. As you warm up in a run, gloves are often removed. Then often lost. No one cares if they lose a few pairs of crappy old socks. Thin is good.

Hat should be cheap and thin. Your head generates a lot of heat so a thick hat will be too much. Get a cheap one because they get lost too.

As folks have said, don't worry about the cold air. It actually warms up a whole lot before it ever gets deep in your chest. It's just that the air is dry. Doesn't take long to get used to.

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The other great thing about wool is it doesn't stink after it gets wet. Not anywhere like polypro anyway. After a run I just hang tights and shirts to air dry for 3-4 uses before laundering again. Cuts down on laundry bigtime and I also don't have the issue of not having the baselayer I want because it is in the wash. I love smart wool shirts. Expensive but last a long time .

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Breathing cold dry air can definitely be a problem. Cold related asthma is very common among skiers. I recommend something like Airtrim (http://www.airtrim.se) below - 10C. It also helps keep your body warmer.

I find this is a great reason to wear a Buff over your face. They're very thin, so easy to breathe through, and they trap the moisture from the exhaled air. Sometimes you end up breathing through a rigid, frozen section, but somehow it still seems to work.