Meet The Trail Breaker, Our Favorite Winter Running Jacket

Tis the season to be jolly, or Christmas shopping, or running in the cold and snow…. Heck yeah!!!

The On Trail Breaker, a lightweight breathable winter running jacket, is hands down my new favorite item of running apparel. As those that have had the “pleasure” of spending much time running with me can attest or anyone who has read this blog, I am absolutely not a fan of long pants OR jackets and long sleeves.

I never really put together why that is until now.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that after 5-10 minutes I am already too warm and sweating like a pig. BUT! The Trail Breaker is remarkable in that it has found a way to address that issue.

The front portion is water repellant, offers great wind protection, and provides great articulation in the elbows. With my other light shells, the fabric will bunch in the seams and I find myself like that little child that is tugging that their clothing trying to escape from its stranglehold on me.

The back of the garment is also a much “looser” textile (high ventilation technical fabric is the proper term) that allows the heat to escape which allows me to not be a sweaty mess on a cold day.

As if all of this wasn’t enough, there is a super cool slit in the wrist area where I can open to my Garmin watch face and see all the data I normally would on warmer days, pace, cadence, and heart rate, without tugging at the sleeve.

Want to know the only downside I have found so far?

It’s that I refuse to wear ANY of my other shells! This means I have been wearing a dirty jacket because I haven’t wanted to be without it to wash it (I’m going to have to go address that now, though it may help to part the crowds on Legacy, which isn’t a bad idea).

Anyway, big thumbs up to On’s Trail Breaker, my favorite winter running jacket. I would highly recommend it to anyone else who might share my general aversion to cold weather apparel.

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