BB, I run-commute to work now. I have an office just one mile from my house. So that's two runs, two miles, each day, 5-6 days a week, even if I don't go out for a real run. It feels like cheating, I know, but YOW made up the rules, not me.
Even so, some of the lows on my early morning runs have been challenging, and pretty soon I'll probably be running them shod. If I were running these really short runs just to pile up mileage for the Winter Challenge, I'd feel bad about it, but since this is part of my normal running routine now, I guess it's OK, right? I'm doing my best not to let the Challenge influence my running routine. I still try to get in three longer runs a week, and I intend to push the temps a bit more on those this year, just for fun. Last Thursday's long run was pretty challenging for example, with a decent windchill and a light frosting of snow. I almost buckled and put on my back-up footwear. I think I can run long at -10C in dry conditions fairly consistently now, and may be able to extend that down to -15 this year. We'll see. But I'm avoiding taking risks in snow, that's for sure.
The problem is that you, our most accomplished winter barefoot runner, live in one of the most disadvantageous places. When I told my dad about the Winter Challenge, and about you and Dutchie up in Winterpeg, he told a story of how he visited the university there (late 40s/early 50s), because they have a really good design school. But then he asked why all the streets have parking meters, and whoever was showing him around explained that those weren't parking meters, but outlets for plugging in cars in the winter! That scared him off, and this is a guy who grew up in small town near Fargo (Ortonville), loves ice-fishing, and used to work on cars with his bare hands in the middle of the winter!