Gearing Up

How do you motivate yourself to go for a jog when you see this out your window:?

Can't see it here, but in addition to being gloomy and overcast, it is snowing and 18 degrees.

Well, for me the answer is new gear. (In addition to making me feel more prepared, I just get excited about new stuff.) My years in New York helped me get used to running in the cold--in fact, I love running when the mercury dips--but this weather has been a little colder than it was there. A bigger consideration here is the snow factor. In New York, the sidewalks were almost always salted and there was very little snow build-up. Sidewalks were often wet, but I almost never ran on snow. In Boulder, residents are responsible for shoveling the sidewalks in front of their houses, however, and although the city does enforce shoveling (you can get fined if you don't attend to your walkway within a certain window), sidewalks have been snowy. Some people don't get around to it right away. Some stretches of sidewalk aren't associated with a residence. And the multi-use pathways don't get shoveled or plowed much at all. Reflecting on all of this on Friday morning, when I had intended to go for a jog, I realized that my breathable running shoes were not going to cut it. On top of that, although I was in good shape as far as warm shirts and athletic jackets, I had only one pair of warm-ish tights.

(By the way, for anyone looking to run or hike outside when it's chilly, Runner's World has a cool tool called What to Wear that I highly recommend. Simply enter some information about the conditions using drop-down menus and it will give you advice on exactly what kind of clothes to put on, whether you should wear a hat, whether layers are in order, etc.)

The first order of business was to reinforce my pants situation. So I headed to REI where I found a fantastic pair of Salomon pants, designed, according to the label, for Nordic racing. Salomon makes great ski gear, and so I knew I could trust these pants to be windproof and warm even though they were light. They were fitted but not skin-tight, which was perfect for my purposes: I could wear them alone or throw on the tights underneath for really cold days.

Next stop: the Boulder Running Company. I picked up a pair of killer trail running shoes, some Yak Trax, and some light, insulated mittens.

Trail shoes are different from street running shoes in a few critical ways. First, they are less flexible because they have much stiffer soles so you don't feel every single pebble when you're on more rugged terrain. They also tend to have beefier toe structure to protect you in case you kick a rock. My new La Sportiva trail shoes will be great for running actual trails, of course, but two other features make them essential for snow: more textured treads and Gore Tex. Not all trail runners have Gore Tex, of course, but wet feet are cold feet so I wanted mine to be waterproof.

How cool are these??

 Bigger treads are helpful in the snow, but they're not enough on their own sometimes, so I picked up some Yak Trax as well. Yak Trax come in several versions, but the pair I got are designed for running. They're light and easy to strap on and take off shoes. Under the ball of one's foot, there are several small metal spikes that dig into snow and ice. Under one's arch and heel are springs that grip slush and snow.

Yak Trax. The one on the left is upside down so you can see the spikes (small, encircled by red rubber that looks pink in this picture) and the springs. The one on the right is right-side up. The Y goes over the front of the shoe, and the other end hugs the heel. The gray rubber stretches; these will fit over women's shoes that are size 6.5 through 10.

Yak Trax on my shoes. They take about five seconds to slip on; I run in size 7's and imagine women with larger feet need to do a bit more wrangling to get them to stretch into place.

Turns out we were in need of spinach, and so I decided to test out my new gear with a quick run to our grocery store. It was 18 degrees, overcast, and snowing with a very light wind, and the trip would take about ten minutes each way. To my new acquisitions, I added a long-sleeved, synthetic shirt (cotton gets damp and cold in no time), a windproof, lightly insulated cycling jacket, and a warm hat. Warm? Yes. Ninja-like? Yes. (Ed said I looked like I was going to break into the CIA.) Note to self: purchase colored clothing. Can you spot the New Yorker?

I'm wearing a small backpack so I can tote the spinach home. It's designed for running and has chest and waist straps to keep it from bouncing. The spinach arrived looking a little jostled but not too much worse for wear.

Everything performed beautifully. I was warm, but not too warm. My feet stayed dry and toasty in the La Sportivas and the Yak Trax did an admirable job of gripping the snow. I was running on a layer of very dry, fine powder that sat on top of icy crust from our last snowstorm, and though my foot slipped just a bit on a few steps as I pushed off, I felt pretty stable the whole way; I think the snow must have been a bit deep in those places for my short little spikes. Occasionally I ran across patches of sidewalk that were snowless, and the Yak Trax did fine, though I tried to avoid these to keep my spikes nice and sharp. It was easy to pull them off when I got to the store, then slip them back on for the jog home. The only change I'll make to my next run is to bring my cycling sunglasses. I have a pair of yellow-tinted lenses, which will go a long way toward keeping snowflakes out of my eyes. Oh, and I'll remember to bring a tissue. The cold makes my nose run almost as fast as my legs!