Winter Training

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we rarely have a White Christmas, so it was with the delight of a child that I headed out Christmas morning for my run in the snow. I felt strong and happy as I sure-footedly made my way through the neighborhood, kicking up powdery snow as I went. Dressed in spirited attire (red and green polka-dot knee high socks with santa cuffs and a red shirt), I waved at the handful of cars passing by and said Merry Christmas to the lady out walking. These carefree 45 minutes came courtesy of some shoes I bought last year.

In December 2016, I was in an REI and found a pair of waterproof Merrell running shoes with studs and deep treads, Allout Terra Ice, on clearance. At the time, I thought I was probably being impractical buying something I would probably never use. It seemed especially silly since I was recovering from a torn plantar fascia at the time. I used them once last winter, walking my dog when we were in Winthrop for cross-country skiing. This Christmas was my first time trying them out running. I was so happy I bought them! My traction was great, whether I was running on untouched snow or compact snow on the road.

The Merrell Allterain Teraice is waterproof and has spikes embedded in deep cleats. The silver insert I made myself from Reflectix.

The day after Christmas, I ran in them again, this time encountering compact snow and ice. I was running on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, which is flat, and the shoes did well. I never felt myself slip even once.

The next day, I ran in my neighborhood, which has some hills and the road is dirt so it is crowned (higher in the middle, which means it is a little slanted on the sides where I run). The compact ice combined with hills and slants was a little more challenging. I felt myself slip slightly once, so I decided to stick to a half mile of trail, running up and down, up and down, to get six miles in. I found it to be a pretty good ankle workout since the many footprints had hardened overnight, a bonus for when I finally hit the trails again.

I did run into a little bit of a problem the first day running in them: snow got inside my shoe, so despite the fact that the shoes are waterproof, my heels got wet and then cold. The next day, I ran with my hiking gaiters, some shorties from OR (Oregon Research). That did the trick--my feet were dry and toasty. Today, I went without them since most of the snow was fairly trampled. Next time, I will try my Dirty Girl Gaiters and see if they work just as well.

I should also mention that I lined my shoes with Reflectix, a mylar and plastic bubble wrap insulation you can find at hardware stores. I used my orthotics to cut them to size and I put them in the bottom of the shoe with my orthotics on top. I always remove the insert the shoe comes with to make room for my orthotics. This adds an inexpensive layer of warmth on the colder days of winter.

Overall, I am happy with the shoes, and much prefer them to Yaktrax, which are heavier and kind of pull your toes up. Plus, they feel more stable when I run on bare pavement.