Running in icy and snowy winter conditions can be very dangerous, especially if you’re getting your runs in before the sun rises or long after it goes down. Run SMART coach Vince Sherry covered this subject in the Arizona Daily Sun yesterday and offered a few great tips.
There are a few options for winter traction. Look for shoes with fairly aggressive tread and soft rubber. Soft rubber (referred to as “blown rubber”) stays more supple in cold temperatures, putting more surface area in contact with the ground and better traction on slick surfaces. Hard rubber (referred to as carbon rubber) is more durable, but becomes even harder in cold temperatures and less able to grip on slick surfaces. Make sure the tread pattern is either fairly open (for traction in snow), or very tight (for traction on ice). If you get something in between, snow will pack up in the tread and you’ll have no traction at all.
Vince recently recommended The Brooks Cascadia, Saucony Xodus, Nike Wildhorse and the Adidas Glide ATR are all good shoes for winter weather, due to their tread patterns and softer outsoles. Also, YakTrax, Kahtoola Microspikes and hex screws drilled in the bottom of old shoes are also great solutions.
You don’t want to suffer an injury from falling in the snow but at the same time it’s pretty miserable to be stuck on a treadmill all winter, so check out the full article. It’s a great read.
If you have any further questions for Vince on the topic or regarding other elements of your training, email [email protected].