Winter Challenge - 2013

Barefoot TJ said:

Hey Mokie! How much snow did you get today? We got a nice dusting, but it was all gone by 10-11 a.m. What were your temps today during your run?

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Snow didn't stick over here...just a bit too warm... I waited till around 11am it 36-37F the wind was gusting into the 30's mph so wind chill was around 30F. Its been a long time since I've I ran in the snow...looking forward to it again...hopefully this winter we will get another chance.

Just now found this spot thanks mokaman
I hope its ok to post all past runs this year as long as they are in the time frame, BF and match temp ranges.
What are the tabs at the bottom?

Broke out the IR thermometer today after today's barefoot run out of curiosity. Skin temp (top of foot) = 60°F. Road surface temp = 39°F (it's sunny). Air temp = 34°F. Windchill (30mph gusts) = 24°F. Thanks for keeping this challenge alive!

First cold run since last winter, first run at all in a month or two (no need to rush it after a marathon, if my body wants to rest, it can rest as much as it wants) -- and it went great. 4c sans wind chill (seldom very cold country, Denmark), 7 fast kms, warmer than a [insert something funny and vaguely vulgar here]. Looking forward to this year's challenge!

Snow! OK, so far, just a light dusting, but it was enough, together with my stubbed toe from Saturday's run, to commute shod this morning. I would claim it as my first shod run of the season, except I walked because I'm still nursing the toe a bit. From here on out I guess I'll be picking my battles; we're supposed to get more snow over the next 48 hours, and then single-digit highs by Friday I think.

Bare Lee said:

Snow! OK, so far, just a light dusting, but it was enough, together with my stubbed toe from Saturday's run, to commute shod this morning. I would claim it as my first shod run of the season, except I walked because I'm still nursing the toe a bit. From here on out I guess I'll be picking my battles; we're supposed to get more snow over the next 48 hours, and then single-digit highs by Friday I think.

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Likewise, I was hoping for a good weekend of BF running with the weather that we had but it created a soupy mess of slush and cold which reduced me to no barefoot mileage. One more day of this and then a good cool down tomorrow. Unfortunately we are slated for a good 3 plus inches of snow today and tonight.

Battles will be definitely be picked from this point forward. Rick and YOW will be gaining some serious ground from this point forward I be thinking.

Barefooting Bob said:

Likewise, I was hoping for a good weekend of BF running with the weather that we had but it created a soupy mess of slush and cold which reduced me to no barefoot mileage. One more day of this and then a good cool down tomorrow. Unfortunately we are slated for a good 3 plus inches of snow today and tonight.

Battles will be definitely be picked from this point forward. Rick and YOW will be gaining some serious ground from this point forward I be thinking.

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Yah, it's funny, I really missed my bare run-commute this morning. It's extremely invigorating to run a mile in sub-freezing temps at 4/5am, soon after waking up. I think I might've been able to make it this morning too, were it not for my stubbed toe. I know it wasn't walkable though--the temp was about -5C and the whole way was either frosted or wet. Dammit, the streak is gone (you like streak-running, right Bob?). Hopefully my toe will be healed up enough by tomorrow to get in a morning run-commute and a decent afternoon run, shod or bare, depending on how much accumulation we end up getting. Besides the Winter Challenge, I'm hoping first, to run over 1000 miles this year, and second, to run over 1000 miles bare. The first goal should be met if I can continue decent weekly mileage, but reaching the second goal will depend on how bareable the conditions are this month. I've already got a deficit of 70 some shod miles from the beginning of this year, during the second half of last winter, to overcome, so it'll probably be a race to the finish.

I'll be getting a Brunton Wind Weather Station in the mail this week, so that I can begin checking out windchills at various points on my routes. Not so much for the Winter Challenge, but rather for better defining exactly what my tolerances are. The online sites aren't that reliable. Anyone have experience with this type of handheld device?

I continue to feel ambivalent about the challenge of running bare in the winter. On the one hand, it's annoying to have to take extra factors into account, things like moisture, wind, salt, plowing, etc. On the other hand, it adds to the adventure and holism that's inherent to barefoot running. Running with cold or somewhat numb feet makes me feel really vital. I love the embrace of the elements, most times anyways. And it's a pleasure to be in touch with all you kindred spirits here on the Winter Challenge thread.

Anyway, hit us with your best shots Rick & YOW! Bob and I are weak and vulnerable.

Bare Lee said:

I'll be getting a Brunton Wind Weather Station in the mail this week, so that I can begin checking out windchills at various points on my routes.

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Take it easy Bare! You are taking this to another level, I am not evening doing the challenge, well here and there I log when I remember, but it's all about getting back to the simplicity of barefoot running, which is less information

Wow Lee, you're getting to be a gadgeteer. Here I've gone the opposite way of no gadgets. Still curious though about your findings. Did get a 1 km run in today, stayed on the sidewalks and away from slushy roads.

No worries TJ, we are behaving! Just helping out fellow members and reel them back in if the technology overpowers them My high tech alert went off on this one!

Barefoot Gentile said:

Take it easy Bare! You are taking this to another level, I am not evening doing the challenge, well here and there I log when I remember, but it's all about getting back to the simplicity of barefoot running, which is less information

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dutchie53 said:

Wow Lee, you're getting to be a gadgeteer. Here I've gone the opposite way of no gadgets. Still curious though about your findings. Did get a 1 km run in today, stayed on the sidewalks and away from slushy roads.

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Well, it's not so much data for data's sake, but to find out what my tolerances are, so I can more reliably predict whether or not I can barefoot it on any particular day. I agree that it's necessary to take windchill into account for the purposes of classifying a run in a Winter Challenge 5-degree-C category, but I also suspect that windchill temp is not as important for sole-to-ground contact as air temp. So, for example, if it's -10C air temp but windless, is that easier or harder to put up with than -5C air temp with a -15C windchill? I'd like to develop a better sense of that sort of thing.

Also, I'll soon (like maybe this afternoon) be forced to start running up on this one fairgrounds street where the snow melts and runs off before it does almost anywhere else around here, and where they plow promptly and don't salt. However, it's a bit windy up on that street, so I need to know how much windchill is going to affect my ability to run bare up there.

It's still all about running barefooted as much as possible, not the data per se (or even the Winter Challenge for that matter). In fact, my Garmin F205 has been reduced to an odometer; I almost never pay attention to pace any more. I just put the Garmin on at the beginning of a run and then check the miles at the end. During the run it just sits there on my wrist, and on well-established routes I no longer wear it at all. In either case, I just try to feel the run, and have been messing around a bit with fartleks lately, speeding up when I feel like it, slowing done when I tire or lose motivation. Same with my lifting; I've always gone by feel, never by a set number of sets and reps, or even exercises. If I'm not feeling it, I don't do it.

Anyway, we got a few inches of wet snow yesterday, now it's turning into slush. My stubbed toe is almost runnable, so I might do my first back-n-forth run up in the fairgrounds later today, if the street there has cleared by then. However, what I really feel like is another longish run down by the river. I think they've probably salted it though, with this latest snowfall, so the river is probably out now for most of the season. It's a pity, because the Mississippi is quite beautiful in the winter, half-frozen over with snow-covered bluffs. The ice was just starting to form when I ran down there on last Saturday's 10-miler.

Barefoot Gentile said:

No worries TJ, we are behaving! Just helping out fellow members and reel them back in if the technology overpowers them My high tech alert went off on this one!

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Ya TJ, no offense taken from my barefoot brethren BG & Dutchie. I realize reformed data-junkies will always over-preach abstinence. But us social numerologists know how to imbibe data responsibly.

Sadly, I had to skip the Turkey Trot I had signed up for.
Just got too far behind in getting ready for relatives to visit for the holiday and needed the time at home Thursday morning.
I did get in two good Winter Challenge runs over the weekend though. Got in 3 miles on Friday when the wind chill was a brisk 22F.
Also some other good outdoor barefoot activity - about three hours total putting up outdoor Christmas lights (snow on the ground and temps in mid 30's) and two 30-minute stretches of snow-shovelling.
My neighbors definitely think I'm crazy.

I ran the Manchester, CT Thanksgiving day race for about the 20th time. With 15,000 runners and walkers, I have to get there 3/4 hour before the 10 am start before the starting area fills up. The temps were hovering around 30 degrees (which is right around my lowest bf running temp) so I had my VFF's on. My toes got real cold before the start but warmed up quickly when I hit the hill after mile 1. At mile 2, I had enough of the Vibrams and so I ran over to the side of the road and pulled them off. I carried them for the rest of the race and finished with a time of 36:31, my best time since 2004!

n a side note, we had a runner, Dr. Charlie Robbins, who ran the race for 50 straight years barefoot! He passed away a couple years back but he was so well known in the area that sometimes when people see me running barefoot, they yell out "Charlie!"

Yes Robbins was one of the pioneers.

http://barefootgentile.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/charley-robbins/

I did 5k in 24 F yesterday. It is much different from 30 F. People that live in places colder than 24 are nuts.

Who us....... we are all just a little nuts in our own way.........