Winter Challenge - 2013

Update - Jan 05

We have reached 3000+ km so far in the challenge. We're on pace to exceed last years total of 3739km.
Good mileage this week from Mikkel (38), rickwhitelaw (37), Run Lite (37), and Yvonne (21)

Is anybody going to set a new coldest run this week .... Polar vortex headed for Ohio to Winnipeg. Be careful!

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Super cold (for me anyway) here in DFW, TX at 17° F and a wind chill of 4. It was very dry though, so my feet didn't get crazy cold like other times when there was more humidity. I ran one whole mile, yay!


Way ta go Bryan .... oh I wish we had dry conditions. It really is limiting my ability to run barefoot.
 
So have only been out in the 40F's, and today was mostly dry so -- post run, was expecting mid-40F's, and was surprised that sportstracklive.com (I use android) reported 33F. Wow -- not *that* much colder than mid-40F -- lol! :p Cheers!
 
So have only been out in the 40F's, and today was mostly dry so -- post run, was expecting mid-40F's, and was surprised that sportstracklive.com (I use android) reported 33F. Wow -- not *that* much colder than mid-40F -- lol! :p Cheers!


Well done dh. Thanks for joining this group of crazies.
 
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Thank you, Barefoot YOW. So fun! (And I marvel at you guys in the coldest brackets. :thumbup)
 
Last week, on the Twin Cities' coldest day in a decade or two, my family and I flew to LAX to visit an uncle and his clan in Corona, CA. They live right at the foothills of Cleveland National Forest.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to run 3-5 miles every morning, and the first morning there I was a good boy and went out for a three-mile run. I got tired so I then hiked around some dirt and gravely trails behind one of the area's last remaining orchards. Most of the houses in this part of Corona didn't even exist before this century. It was all orange and avocado orchards. I didn't bring any back-up footwear, but I found my feet just got slightly numb hiking with a 38 F air temp.

I normally wake up at four or five and work, but in Corona I had to wait for everyone else to wake up before we could begin the day's outing, so it became my morning routine to go out for my run and then kill time walking some more afterwards while everyone else was still sleeping.

On all but the seventh morning there my cell phone reported an air temp in the 38-41F temperature range. So I managed to rack up quite a few qualifying miles, after more than a month of relative drought. Here's how it went:

Tu: 3 mi run, 4.1 mi walk
W: 5 mi run, 7.4 mi walk
Th: 3 mi run, 6.5 mi walk
Fr: 10 mi run, 2.7 mi walk
Sa: 3 mi run, 8.8 mi walk
Su: 5 mi run, 6.2 mi walk

It felt great to get so much plantar stimulation, but my heel fissures opened up quite a bit more because I'm not used to walking bare that much. I mostly stuck to the relatively new and perfect sidewalks and just explored the new housing developments. Hiking the trails in earnest would've involved too much time. On the last day I slept in but then persuaded my Uncle, cousin, her girl, and my daughter to do some hiking in the afternoon. Temp was high 70s. I even got the girls to do half of it barefoot. Man, I really miss hiking. A different pleasure altogether from running.

We got back to Minnesota yesterday and were greeted by several inches of fresh snow, so no barefoot running again until it melts away. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Here's a few cell phone pics.
 

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Nice Job Bare Lee. funny that you had to travel to California to rack up some challenge miles, just like RunLite from Texas will soon overtake me. I was going to put my money on Yvonne also until you updated your totals on the spreadsheet.

Heatwave in my area. Lows are in the 20 F range, but highs have been upper 40's. I have a small window of opportunity to get a few miles in right when the gravel thaws enough, but before it warms out of the challenge range. No sign of Winter returning. Bad for the ski resort near me and our snowpack totals.
 
Nice Job Bare Lee. funny that you had to travel to California to rack up some challenge miles, just like RunLite from Texas will soon overtake me. I was going to put my money on Yvonne also until you updated your totals on the spreadsheet.

Heatwave in my area. Lows are in the 20 F range, but highs have been upper 40's. I have a small window of opportunity to get a few miles in right when the gravel thaws enough, but before it warms out of the challenge range. No sign of Winter returning. Bad for the ski resort near me and our snowpack totals.
Thanks Rick. It does kinda feel like cheating; no challenge at all, temp-wise. At least all the hills were challenging. My relatives live at about 1500 feet I think. It's one steady climb up from the center of Corona. The lows were something like a 5-to-10-degree (Fahrenheit) difference between the center and the foothills. Otherwise I would've been out of Winter Challenge range. So kind of a 'perfect storm' of just-qualifying temps and extra time on my hands to supplement the running with walking.

Unfortunately, I'm back Minnesota now and the rest of January looks pretty bad for bfr. We'll see about February and March. It was such a treat to run barefoot again without having to worry about temperature or moisture or wind. Both my wife and I are determined to do everything possible to move someplace warmer now! I especially enjoyed shocking the Californians by swimming in the ocean without a wet suit. Wimps!
 
Holy sh*t Lee. I looked at the spreadsheet and you're over 400km. I thought Yvonne was going to catch you too. I'm glad you took photos. I kept looking but could not find the frozen white stuff so common in my area. I think I've got to move to CA.

Our streets are starting to dry out, so if we don't get snow over the next couple days, I should be able to put skin to road. 5 miles on the treadmill today .... zzzzzzz
 
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Holy sh*t Lee. I looked at the spreadsheet and you're over 400km. I thought Yvonne was going to catch you too. I'm glad you took photos. I kept looking but could not find the frozen white stuff so common in my area. I think I've got to move to CA.

Our streets are starting to dry out, so if we don't get snow over the next couple days, I should be able to put skin to road. 5 miles on the treadmill today .... zzzzzzz
Well, it all depends on conditions. December was close to a total bust for me, barefoot-wise, and the rest of January doesn't look too favorable either, although I should be able to get in some more one-mile run-commutes bare here and there. The temps won't be too bad, but it may snow every few days. If February stays relatively dry, I should be able to get in some decent barefootin', and then finish strong March, if the snowfall is average or less.

I can hardly wait for April. I really hate having to check the weather before a run to see what sort of gear I'll need, although I'm loving my Icebreaker Merino wool kit and I just got a pair of Sockwa G4s that are the best minimalist shoe I've tried by far. The soles have a true barefoot feel yet decent traction, and the upper is thin enough to keep the feet from getting hot. Plus they're about half the price of most other minimalist options like the Moc3s and Vapor Gloves. Highly recommended.

California is nice, but not the LA area. You have to drive at least an hour to get anywhere besides the local strip mall, Target, or Trader Joe's. Plus I think I'd miss the change of seasons after a while. Maybe further up the coast in a smaller city would work better. In any case, we're definitely set on getting out of viable Winter Challenge territory. I want to live my life in shorts with bare feet!
 
I forgot to add my cute little cold runs from last week to the chart, so I just did it. 44°F mostly wet is still much colder than 30°F dry. Could only manage 2.6 miles in the wet, and that broken up. The 3.7 at a dry 30°F was pretty fun.
 
We did it!!! We now stand at 3744 km

We exceeded last years total of 3739 km
For such a harsh winter in so many places, it's great to see we're collectively putting up some pretty decent mileage. Here in the Twin Cities we've had five school closings in January due to extreme cold and windchills. Now I realize how barefoot-friendly last winter was, and what Winterpeggers must go through pretty much every year!
I've been sidelined with temperatures in the single digits (F) for the last week.
It's supposed to get above freezing this weekend again so hopefully I'll get a few miles in.
Yah, pretty sporadic for me too. I've been doing back-n-forths up in the fairgrounds on days when it's warm and dry enough to run bare. Yesterday afternoon I got in the car a couple of times to warm up the footsies. The street was still slushy in spots and pretty windy at times. I hate having to drive to run. Seems pretty dumb, but I gotta get in some plantar stimulation, and nearer to home the sidewalks are still pretty hit-or-miss.

This morning I did my first proper out-n-back in almost two months, in Sockwas g4s while it snowed. I can hardly wait to run down to the river again bare. In the meantime, the only bareable running will probably be up in the fairgrounds, going back and forth, back and forth, along the street that always clears first. If today's snow melts in time, I may have a window of opportunity Saturday afternoon before temps drop down again.

The next two weeks are forecast to be a little warmer--no polar vortices--and then mid-February to the end of March should see much more bareable conditions, so hopefully I can get my bare mileage back on track. My calluses are withering. California dreaming . . .
 
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