3.56 miles / 21 F;
half inch of snow;
half bare, half shod.
I overdid it this time. After a week off due to a persistent head cold and cough, I went out after fresh, powdery snow had begun to cover the ground. I didn't do my pre-run stretch and rolling routine. I got waylaid helping my wife unload the groceries. As I carried the bags from the car into the house, the ground felt pretty frosty, much colder than it seemed like it should feel given the temp. By the time we had the groceries all put away, it was starting to get dark out.
I had my new tech apparel on and it did a fine job—tights under my sweats, base-layer shirt, merino wool turtleneck mid-layer, and fleece jacket outer-layer, Oregon Research Peruvian cap and fleece gloves. I was warm but not too sweaty. There wasn't enough snow yet on the ground to use my new Neo Trails, but just the idea of wearing proper shoes somehow inspired me to bring along my pair of Bare Access shoes as back-up instead of my trusty Moc3s. I bought those shoes several months ago when I mistakenly thought my TOFP was caused by a stress reaction, and have only used them casually once or twice since. I had never run in them. After getting a taste of ground conditions while helping with the groceries, I was kind of doubting I’d be able to make the whole run barefoot. And I knew I probably shouldn’t run too far on my first day back after the week long layoff anyway, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to test out how I run with a proper pair of running shoes--see if I get blisters or something.
I don’t really consider the Moc3s running shoes. They’re more like running moccasins (hence the name, right?) or outdoor dance slippers. In fact once, in a shop, the clerk who told me to put shoes on asked me if I did jazz dance when she saw them. The Bare Access shoes were harder to carry in my pockets though, so I took them out after a short while and carried them in my hands. The Moc3s remain ideal back-ups, because they fit flat in hoodie or jacket pockets, but I wanted to try the running shoes for a short distance to see if they'll work on longer runs in January, when the highs will sometimes get down into the single digits.
The first mile out I sensed that I was beyond my limits. In fact I was having my doubts after just a few blocks. The snow felt kind of painful. But I told myself that I had run through slush, moisture, and on ice just a few weeks before, in below freezing temps or windchill, so it was just a matter of waiting for my feet to warm up. I tried running a bit faster than I normally do during the initial warm-up mile, but my feet were numbing up much quicker than usual. After a mile I got to my fairground loop, but less than halfway into the 1.7-mile loop I looked down at my feet and saw that two toes on my left foot and one on my right were completely white, and the rest of the foot was pretty red. Crap. So I stopped at the first available spot to sit down and accessed the Bare Access for my bare feet. But by then it was probably already too late. So much for the overheat-the-core theory. I should’ve brought socks, that might have helped my feet regain heat more quickly. (I don't think the overheat-the-core theory is valid in situations where the skin is exposed or contacting a cold object. It's probably based on longer term, general exposure to cold temps doing lesser activity, where the core temp really might be at risk of dropping, and thus blood flow withdrawn from the extremities.)
It was kind of fun to run with shoes on. I could go faster, and my form didn't seem adversely affected--i.e., no heel-striking or over-striding--but within a short while I felt some ITB strain on my right knee. Crap again. Was it the shoes or the fact that I didn't do my pre-run roll-n-stretch? So I had to stop to stretch and massage that out. It kept coming back so I kept having to stop to stretch and massage it. All this stopping of course didn't help my feet warm up any faster. And I couldn't really afford to walk and have my feet cool down again. Good thing I had smart wool socks at home!
I cut the rest of the loop a little short, and gave up on the intended second loop, and made a bee line home. On the way I could slowly start to feel the inside of the shoe. It felt kind of lumpy. Once home I realized I had actually hurt my feet this time, and it took two full hours for the warmth to return completely. It usually just takes 10 to 15 minutes. My wife scolded me as I sat there rocking gently in tingly pain, medicating with a few glasses of Barefoot Shiraz, and I had to agree with her 100%. What the heck is a middle-aged man doing risking frostbite on a recreational/fitness run? Our toddler was of course oblivious to daddy’s self-inflicted plight, and was mad that I wasn’t paying more attention to him while Mom cut up the veggies to stir-fry. His attention-seeking tactic was to begin throwing things down the stairs. This worked, but I wasn't in any mood to get up on my feet and take him away from his task. Our daughter, however, delighted in telling a friend who had just come over that I had hurt my feet because I didn’t wear my shoes outside. I had to sheepishly put on my smart wool socks and RunAmocs to go out on the deck to grill the chicken.
And so here I sit, the next day, with the bottoms of all my toes in mild, prickly pain. I think I got frostnip, or first-degree frostbite, and should be OK in a few days, but man, do I feel like a jacka$$. I thought I understood my tolerances pretty well, but this time the numbness came on much more quickly and I waited too long to cover up. I had underestimated how much more effect the moisture would have when the temp was 5-10 degrees colder. Maybe my metabolism didn’t kick in quite as quickly after a whole week of inactivity. Maybe I would’ve been OK if I had run shod for the first mile before going bare. Hard to say, but I’m definitely not going to risk anything like this again. Dumb, dumb, dumb.