Winter Challenge - 2012

How many of you suffered a cold weather injury?

What do some of those new to the challenge think about running barefoot in the winter?

It seemed to me that fewer people were recording runs after December. Why? Was it cold or running conditions?

Who ran the farthest? (Chelsea and Bosenoge both did marathons)
 
Quick recap for me:
Mileage increase for me (broke 250 km).
Temperature decrease to -31.2 degrees 2 km jaunt.
Was in Arizona for part of Jan and Feb thus no winter running, technically.
Longest run was a half marathon, no marathons this time of year for us.
Weather was colder than it has been in a few years and much more snow and ice, which means more chemical and salt spread, thus no barefoot running for alot of Feb and March, but was still able to sneak a few in.

Overall great experience again for the third year.

Thanks YOW for all that you do.
 
January and feb. got really wet over this way. There were very few days where there were cold and dry conditions.
I did get my first couple of slush runs in...but it was not realistic for me to run BF in those conditions (yet at least) on a consistent basis.
My overall mileage went up a bit (not BF mileage though), but dang it got cold near the end of Jan. I guess not SUPER cold, but it was consistently below 10F with windchill for a few weeks....that made it hard as my tolerance is right around 30 degrees right now...:sorry:
 
This has been a disappointing winter running season. Actually my barefoot running has been hindered by an aggravated right soleus, even after only 3km. ART, physio, and stretching have not been able to get rid of it. Besides, work has been super busy. The busiest I've been in over 20 years. Overall, I've only run a handful of times since Christmas. Best run was 21 Dec, we had 15 cm (6") of snow. I loved the feeling of floating through a snow storm. There became a blur between the snow flying through the air and that covering the ground and trees. I felt transcended, as if I was in flight. The road had not been plowed. Traffic had packed down the light fluffy snow. I ran 6 km and did not want to stop. People were out shoveling and making encouraging comments.

I was excited to see how many people joined our challenge. Looking forward to barefoot on the muddy trails.
 
How many of you suffered a cold weather injury?

I had thought I'd been methodically working my way down, but at the end of December I ended up with either frost nip or mild frost-bite after running on a thin layer of snow in 21F / -6 C degree weather. After 3-4 weeks, most of my plantar and toe calluses molted. Wasn't able to start running barefoot again until Feb or so, and didn't really regain my tolerances until about a month after that.

What do some of those new to the challenge think about running barefoot in the winter?

I ran barefoot last winter too, but was unaware of YOW's challenge until close to its finish, when I began participating on BRS more actively. And I have done minor things barefoot in the winter (get the mail, take out the trash, shovel the walks, go on short walks, grill out on the deck) for a good part of my adult life. Nonetheless, this was my first winter of really extensive barefooting, despite being held back by injuries earlier in the fall. Last winter was a lot warmer and my mileage was a lot less due to a nagging problem with TOFP throughout the season.

I'd say this year my tolerances improved, mostly in terms of being able to better deal with wetness and slush, although I found out I still can't deal with snow below a certain temperature. At this point running on dry asphalt or concrete when it's above freezing doesn't feel like a challenge at all. That is, it feels like normal barefoot running, not like winter barefoot running, although I know my first 41 F / 5 C run next fall will feel chilly again.

It seemed to me that fewer people were recording runs after December. Why? Was it cold or running conditions?

For me it was partly conditions--January was a lot colder than December--but most of it was having to first nurse my feet back from late December's mild frost bite, and then rebuild my calluses. I found uncallused feet, especially the toes, are much more sensitive to the cold than callused ones.

Forgot to have any pics taken, sorry. Maybe next year, unless I move somewhere without a winter! The Winter Challenge definitely made winter running more interesting and enjoyable, that's for sure, but I'd still rather not have to deal with winter running altogether. It's soooo nice now not having to think about back-up footwear, layers, weather, surface conditions, and all the rest, and so many more routes are open to me now. I spent a good part of the second half of winter running back and forth on the same .9-mile street in the fairgrounds because I found it always dries out quicker than any other street after snowfall.
 
Photos ... need photos of you in the snow!!!!

Did you get the pictures that I sent. Only a couple but it can be hard to stop and take photos sometimes.
 
Bob sent me what I consider to be the classic winter photo. Bob managed to capture the essence of winter running. I didn't know that Winterpeg could be that beautiful. Bob --- It is definitely on the short list.
I hope you are talking about the background YOW, because who is in the forefront almost ruined the shot. ;)
 
as a final comment here....I went on a run yesterday with temps at 46F and windy (15-25mph gusts)...this is where I can really tell that my tolerance for cooler temperatures has actually changed. My feet were very toasty....where last summer this was the very bottom of my cold tolerance. While I did not log a ton of winter miles, I think my tolerances are slowly adjusting.

Just hope I'll be able to handle summer now...haha :barefoot:
 
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