Comments on: Winter Running

By: Barefoot Running Options For Winter | Living Barefoot

Barefoot Running Options For Winter | Living Barefoot — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:09:01 +0000

[...] doubt I could convince one of you to stay inside even if I offered money. No, I don’t think some cold weather is going to deter many barefoot runners from obtaining that prized ‘hey look my bare feet are in [...]

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:04:46 +0000

Folks do use moccasins, for sure! This creation however is more handmade, or knowing someone (or paying quite a bit for them), so I haven't had the experience. The updated winter article is more along the lines you're thinking.

By: kate

kate — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:03:50 +0000

I was wondering how people did this. I live in a place with a real winter and was wondering how it was done. I’m wondering why no one uses moccasins? Like out and out real native american style moccasins which do not have a hard leather sole, are loose and in which you can feel the terrain. They’re basically just very thick socks. Is there something I’m not seeing about them?

By: Barefoot Running Options For Winter

Barefoot Running Options For Winter — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:01:32 +0000

[...] I could convince one of you to stay inside even if I offered money. No, I don’t think some cold weather is going to deter many barefoot runners from obtaining that prized “hey look my bare feet are [...]

By: Tema

Tema — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:24:51 +0000

I’ve been running barefoot in Baltimore, MD this winter.
The temperatures here have been down to -19F in January (we had our share of snow too). But it has not been a serious problem for my feet. Yes, the feet do get numb, but only at first. After about 10-15 minutes of running your blood starts pumping and you will feel your feet get warm. If anything, the uneven surface of the snow and slippery ice end up being good benchmarks for your running technique. I realised how much I was pushing off when my feet began shooting up behind me.
The only real problem has been the ungodly amounts of salt that people poured onto the pavement (what helps, though, is that other people walk in normal shoes and grind up the salt into dust, which doesn’t hurt as much). The snow itself also can be treacherous because you cannot see the glass that might be in it. Also my hands get really cold without gloves and the sweat starts to freeze on my elbows (too much info?).
It does help that the sidewalks and roads are cleared, but I don’t see that much of a problem running on packed snow. Yes, it does get cold, but running if VFFs has been worse for me in that respect than running barefoot. The snow starts to melt on them and just stays there.
I generally run for only an hour (I figure most people wouldn’t want to spend more time than that in the cold). I wouldn’t advise a session longer than that – do 2-3 runs instead of a long one.