an aussie in austria

I like running. It’s easy, it’s quick and it doesn’t cost anything. And it’s something you can always do – you just have to rug up, right? Wrong.

Turns out we didn’t have a particularly cold winter this year in Austria (that’s what they tell me), but it was plenty cold enough for me! Though I managed to keep a pretty consistent outdoor running schedule I did spend quite a few days inside on the X-trainer!

I did a bit of research and discovered that it might be bad for your lungs to run for more than half an hour at below 0°C. Good enough for me! So I limited to myself to half an hour on subzero days and if it was snowing or below -3°C, I stuck to indoor training.

In Australia you don’t really need proper gear to go for a run. Sure, shoes are important, but then unless you’re going pretty hard or want to look super-hip, you can get away with wearing old trakkies and a t-shirt most of the time.

In Austria, you must buy winter-specific running clothes. I was lucky, I fit into my boyfriend’s pants (is that bad??) so had access to a pair of thick winter running pants and a pair of slightly thinner winter running pants. So the winter outfit consisted of the following:

• Same basic essentials (shoes, socks, sports bra)
• Long pants (extra thick and standard thick options)
• Single top
• Long sleeve running top
• Long sleeve running jacket
• Running gloves
• Running beanie

Summer, on the other hand is a completely different kettle of fish. These days, instead of running at 2pm (warmest time of the day) I am getting my runs in early at 8 or 9 before it heats up too much. I’ve stocked up on shorts and singlets and I’m running much easier without all the layers. It’s nice not to worry about slipping on ice or wading through slush! Though it still gets pretty muddy when it rains and the smell of the fertilising crops can be quite strong some days!