If you live in a cold climate but still like to run outside in the winter, you’ll need to make sure you have the right clothes and equipment to get through your runs safely. So, I’m going to write a series of short articles on some of the gear I recommend. Let’s start with the feet and work up.
Do you plan to run on packed snow or ice? If you do, there are a few ways to make sure you have good traction – a do-it-yourself solution and a couple of commercial solutions.
The Do-It-Yourself Solution – Screw Shoes
Screw shoes are pretty much what they sound like. The basic concept is that you take a pair of running shoes and drive screws into them at strategic spots. The head of the screw provides the traction. Matt Carpenter has written a great article on how to make your own screw shoes. If you’re going to try this, make sure that you follow his advice and use screws between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long. Any longer than that and you could end up in a fair amount of pain!
The Commercial Solutions
There are at least two commercial products that I know of that are designed to slip over your running shoes to provide you with additional traction: Yaktrax Pro
I haven’t tried the YakTrax personally so I can’t vouch for them, but according to the reviews I’ve seen, they seem to do a pretty good job. It’s an interesting design – the ‘cleats’ look kind of like springs – and they have a strap that goes over your toes to help keep them in place. If you’ve used these, please leave a comment to let us know how well they work for you.
The Stabilicers are not too different from do-it-yourself screw shoes. I have used these and I think they work pretty well. I would caution you if you buy these to look down occasionally and check to make sure they have not slipped out of place, as I found this to be a problem the first couple of times I wore them (probably because I hadn’t taken enough time to make sure they were on properly). One nice feature of the Stabilicers which might recommend them over the YakTrax is that you can buy replacement cleats
In future articles, I’ll talk about what clothing layers you need for the different winter conditions you’ll encounter. Enjoy the cold!
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I use the Yaktrax’s and I think that they work real well on hard packed snow, but not so great on ice. As long as there is some snow on the ice, they are good.
I love running outside in the winter. Once you get started, the weather doesn’t bother me at all.
Twitter: kchealy
November 29, 2007 at 9:51 am
Thanks for letting us know about the Yaktrax, Dave.
I enjoy winter running too – I used to live in Chicago and run through the winter – now that was cold! Colorado seems mild by comparison.
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