BRS 2012-2013 Winter Challenge

[ThomDavid]

Impressive results, particularly since my idea of winter running here in SoCal is a "cold" 42 degrees. Way to go rickwhitelaw! Proud to have been a 13.1 mile part of your record-smashing achievement this past winter (I presume you counted that race, since, even though it wasn't exactly wintry weather, it WAS in January).

Congratulations to all the participants. Braver men and women that I will ever be.

 

[Bare Lee]

Thanks again YOW, and great write-up!

I would still lobby for a sub-freezing sub-classification next year, but I guess that would make things messy.

OK, now it's up to all the folks living in hot places to have a summer challenge, so that those of us stuck with endless winter can have a few laughs watching y'all suffer on hot asphalt.

It would also be cool for those of you who run on rougher surfaces to have a challenge, but I suppose it would be hard to standardize the measure of, say, chipseal or gravel difficulty.

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Great report YOW. I love the charts. Congrats to all of the participants, huge improvements over last year and great numbers logged by the new challengers. I look forward to the next one.

So given that the top two spots were Americans, I vote we get rid of all the metrics on the spreadsheet. What do you think Bare Lee? (Pause for effect).............

and, I'm just kidding, keep everything the same. Besides, k's make it seem like we run more.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

I would be ok with losing the km's and going to miles, but I am old school.

 

[Bare Lee]

Sooner or later us 'Merikans gotta start using metrics, disavow our colonial heritage and its irrational imperial standards. In the meantime, the Winter Challenge's base-10 reckoning is good practice, and like Rick says, it makes it seem like we're running farther and colder. I'll never be able to run more than around the block minus 0 Fahrenheit, but with Celsius I do it all the time.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Yeah, -31 sounds better than -23, so I am good with metric.

 

[Bare Lee]

Yeah, -31 sounds better than -23, so I am good with metric.

Well, -40 F = -40 C, so we might consider that our absolute 0, akin to Kelvin's, the point at which all thermal motion ceases. And now we need to see if you can defy the physics of BFR and run around the block in that!

 

[bfsailor]

YOW - Thanks for taking the time to keep track of all this. Great report!

I am sad that I did not participate more in this. We had an unusually warm December this year, and I had some ankle issues that caused me to quit running for most of the winter. Usually I do a lot of running in snow and cold conditions. This year just kind of sucked. Once my ankle healed up I had trouble getting motivated to start running again. Just started up again last week. Looking forward to logging LOTS of miles in the snow next winter!

 

[Grant]

I ran most of the winter barefoot, coldest I think was about -20c. Everything was fine till the road salt was spread.I found myself wearing my vibrams until february. I do however go out to the parks year round and swing kettles and so forth regardless of temperature. It was -5c in my profile pick and I have more up at my blog. http://thecalloussole.blogspot.ca/2013/04/situational-training-pt2.html

Off topic sorry, I am in for next year!

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Well, -40 F = -40 C, so we might consider that our absolute 0, akin to Kelvin's, the point at which all thermal motion ceases. And now we need to see if you can defy the physics of BFR and run around the block in that!

Will give it a go next year, but it will need to be a dry cold with little wind.

 

[Zetti]

did a cold and wet 5mi in 36 and rain last week....was a tad chilly but feet were okay.
Slowly but surely the benefits are showing themselves....of course its not -40C.....good lord Bob

...Lord Bob....that has a nice ring to it

 

[Barefoot YOW]

... Lord Bob....that has a nice ring to it

Really? It's bad enough that he wants us to refer to him as Ambassador, now you want to elevate him even more.



@Grant --- you'll have to join our 2013 Challenge, though does Toronto get winter conditions ... Oh yeah there was that one storm when Mel called the (best not to bring up old wounds )

@Sailor -- you did great this winter. It is difficult to get back into the swing of things after an injury. Best of luck and enjoy the summer!

@Walker and MandytheArtist -- we expect to see you two in next years challenge. Walker, I'm sure you'll come up with some interesting photo opportunities. Mandy should be able to give Rick a run for his money.

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Mandy will have a new addition to her family. Watch her mileage plummet. (on the other hand it could increase when she wants to get out of the house).

@Grant - it will be great to have you in the challenge next year.

@ThomDavid - a great half marathon, but unfortunately not even close to cold enough. I had to condition back to cold after that trip (but I was injured anyway).

@Zetti - thanks for feeding our egos, but I think this is what TJ meant about hot shots.

 

[Zetti]

@Zetti - thanks for feeding our egos, but I think this is what TJ meant about hot shots.

I thought she meant this...

 

[Barefooting Bob]

I need all the elevating I can get being as short as I am . I definitely like the challenge of the cold, I can't get the distance in once the cold Winnipeg winters set in for the long haul. But if the conditions are right, getting a sprint or two in at abnormally cold temps is kind of fun.
The funniest thing was when I ran that -31 degree 2km, I passed Nanook of the North all bundled up walking his (or her, couldn't quite tell) dog (a husky too). The dog was wearing boots, I swear the dog looked down saw my bare feet and had this look of shame that it was wearing them.

 

[melaniepittam]

After training almost exclusively barefoot in the UK this winter (our longest recorded winter for ages), I have just completed the London Marathon. It was almost two years to the day that I started my barefoot journey and have loved 'almost' every minute of it!!!!!! Havn't got a clue how many miles I did but proud to be a part of this forum

 

[DNEchris]

Congratulations!

 

[happysongbird]

After training almost exclusively barefoot in the UK this winter (our longest recorded winter for ages), I have just completed the London Marathon. It was almost two years to the day that I started my barefoot journey and have loved 'almost' every minute of it!!!!!! Havn't got a clue how many miles I did but proud to be a part of this forum

very impressive!

 

[melaniepittam]

Thank you kindly