Coldest and Whitest

[JosephTree]

My run yesterday was notable both for its brevity and its relatively extreme conditions. At 2:00 PM it was about 22 degrees and the winds were steady at 25 mph with occasional gusts to 45. The snow was only about 6 inches on average, but was whipping around so much I ran on both clear paths and through knee deep drifts. My Bikilas were fine for the first couple miles, but I turned around when I came to drifts that appeared to go to 3 feet deep (or more!)

I loved that running in snow is even quieter than on pavement and that I could try to follow my own footsteps on my way back. I was surprised at how much difference there is in stride length between uphill and down. I think Bikila footprints are very cool.

My toes were very cold by the time I was back to my car, but not bad for all that. The rest of my feet were fine and the toes came back pretty much directly after I got the VFF's off at home. I didn't have any trouble with snow falling in around my ankles, but I will try to engineer something to keep my toes warmer. Maybe just a shaped piece of tape across the tops would be enough to hold out the snow from between.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Sounds nice.  How far did you

Sounds nice. How far did you get?

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

Sounds like a great run!   

Sounds like a great run! We got about 17" of snow yesterday, I didn't run yesterday it was blizzard conditions with about 40 mph winds, thrilling storm. I have seen a few snow drifts about 6 feet high. Anyways was up at 5:15am this morning for a 6 mile run, it was 19 degrees. I wore my vibram sprints without socks (i have no room for socks in my sprints, I bought them really snug on purpose). Some roads were packed snow, some all ice, and the worse were the streets that were slushy and wet. Once I hit those slushy streets, my feet were really starting to get cold and numb toes. I do notice that after the initial wetness and cold my feet do adapt, it goes in waves.

Spints are horrible in the snow and ice as far as traction goes, but it's a great training tool on your form. I increased my cadence more and had no slippage.

The best alternative I have heard in writing so far to protect your feet in the cold and snow while wearing five fingers, is wearing surgical gloves on your feet. I have not tried this but want to give it a shot, I guess the gloves protect you from the wetness and add some warmth to the feet.

 

[JosephTree]

Adam G.,  Good for you!  No

Adam G., Good for you! No matter how brave I feel going out these days, it's nice to know someone's broken the trail for me in one sense or another. Surgical gloves....hmmm. I'm going to try cotton socks over my Biks, which should help unless it's wet & slushy. That stuff's only to be avoided, imo.

TJ, I ran over 3 and under 4 miles. Not sure, exactly, as I was operating off my regular routes. About 27 minutes.

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

Joseph:   Try out some Nuwool

Joseph: Try out some Nuwool Injinji socks. I just ordered a pair today from REI. I have a pair of KSO's that have enough room for socks, I want to see how the Nuwool feel.

 

[Danjo]

I don't know how they'd do in

I don't know how they'd do in vibrams, but I can say that the Injinji's themselves are nice and warm. I got a pair for christmas, and the other day I was walking around, and my upper body, with under-armor, a t-shirt, and a jacket, got cold before my feet did, even though I was just wearing the socks and 4mm huaraches. They're pretty comfy too, though the material between the toes takes some getting used to.