Got in another mile of bfr yesterday afternoon, and got another case of extremely mild frostnip. Was it worth it? Yes!
It was in the mid 20s, about -4C, when I run-commuted home. Yesterday's earlier high had been above freezing, and people had had a few days to shovel and plow since the last snowfall, so I was hopeful that at least half of the way home would be clear surfaces, either dry or moist. It turns out most of it was still compacted snow and mild slush. Opps.
Just a little hot pain as my toes warmed up after I got home and put some smart wool socks on them. Today my toes are just a little bit crispy. Still, it felt great to run bare again, and I must've gone at least 8mm pace the whole way. Nothing like imminent frostnip to keep the speed up!
My fairgrounds street still hasn't cleared so today I'll try to get in a five-miler with my Vapor Trails. I've decided to use those most of the time because they're the only shoe besides the Moc3s that don't alter my foot landing. With the Neo Trails I really have to think about it in order not to land on my heels. I don't really care about foot landing when I'm running in fresh snow, but on compacted snow and slush I think it's worth trading in the extra traction of the Neo Trails for the ability to run mindlessly in the Vapor Trails.
Mostly I've just been really unmotivated to run in shoes. More so this year than last. But I think I need to give it a week or two, like Dutchie does, to acclimate, so to speak, to the loss of sensation. I've been putting it off because I've been hopeful that it'd be possible to barefoot it soon, but the rest of the month here in St. Paul isn't looking very bareable, although January is supposed to be milder. And we're going to visit relatives in California early January, so hopefully the lows in the morning will be low enough for some good qualifying runs, although winter running in California feels a little like cheating.
Oh sh!t, I see this is my 4000th message! And it was mostly about shoes.