Crampons for running shoes? (Read 1374 times)

When I'm a billionaire I will have my paved rail trail paths redone with a snow melt system underneath, that way I can run them year-round. k

Or move to Iceland. My friend who lives there moved to an apartment complex that 'of course' has heated walkways. Nothing like geothermal energy. But days are short here and not much vegetation so maybe crampons are not such a bad idea. Ewa

RunB, I just read about that recently. I also saw a suggestion that one use superglue to hold the screws in place better. I think I might have DH try this on my old shoes. How does it work if you are running on a mix of icy roads with patches of clear? k

There have been times when I've been tempted to try the screw shoe method and I still may at some point but I think you're really thinking too much about this. It's really not a huge deal when you get used to running on snow and ice. In the winter of '04 when I was training for Boston and running my highest mileage ever we had a really bad winter. January was a record month for snowfall with like 45 inches--our normal season average. It seemed like there was snow and/or ice every day from early December through mid-March that year. And cold too. There were probably a handfull of days that whole winter I didn't run outside with the vast majority of my running happening before sunrise. I had a few "oh jeeze!" moments but I actually fell down a grand total of once and that was while WALKING down my hill to begin a run. Runners run.

How does it work if you are running on a mix of icy roads with patches of clear?

I bet you put down a nice trail of sparks that makes you look like you're running really fast. Hey, did you noticed I used the quote thingy for the first time? Running's easy, posting on the Internet is challenging. My New Year's resolution is to figure out how to post pics without asking my fourteen year old to do it for me.

Most snow conditions are fine to run on. Here in Montréal we often get a surface of packed snow that melts a bit and freezes again or gets a coat of freezing rain on top, or the worse, an uneven ice layer with a very thin layer of snow on top. Sometimes you can run on it, but sometimes you have almost no traction. Trying to run on it is very hard on the shins and ankles as you're always fighting for stability. It's not falling that I'm most afraid of, it's pulling something while trying to keep balance.

That's the stuff! Falling doesn't scare me too much...aside from the fact that I bruise VERY badly (I'm what a surgeon of mine once called "a bleeder"--thin blood that makes a big hematoma), I am also short, so I don't have far to go (and have never had a broken bone, aside from my tailbone...good, sturdy, stocky bones). But I end up running very stiffly and unnaturally and it's not comfortable. I could do that for a few blocks here and there, but for 5+ miles it gets tiresome and takes the pleasure out of running, since my mind is entirely on staying upright, rather than just enjoying the ride. I have a history with shin splints and tight lower legs, anyhow, and have found that running on slippery terrain seems to make matters worse and more frequent. k

I might be inclined to agree, since the roads here in Chicago (and Boston and other big cities, I suspect) are seldom left uncleared for very long.. BUT ZZ doesn't live in a big city, right?

Not unless 2k people constitutes "big."

If they haven't cleared the snow off the road in awhile and it gets packed into a tight, slipperly layer, I can totally understand how that would be really annoying (if not dangerous) to run on. Also, as RunB has said, it depends on the quality of your snow, since some climates produce fluffy, harmless powder and others produce nasty, icy sleet. I remember the time a friend of mine came to visit from Philly and was amazed at how different our snow was in WI (it's a lot colder too).

Our snow quality is all over the map, too. Isn't it the Inuit who have something like 30 different words to describe snow, since all snow is not created equal? And being by the lake we get that wonderful "lake effect" monster. Our temps have a lot of bearing on the snow, as well as Lake MI water temps and how far out the ice goes (you get this, too, as do the folks in Buffalo, NY). We're only a couple of miles from the coast. Lately our snow type has been what is often described as "greasy." But the biggest problem is that some of the roads around me never really get plowed and as soon as they do they drift back over or they only are able to plow the top two inches, which really makes a slick, compressed layer underneath. Then they get driven on, which presses the snow down further, warms it up a bit, then it refreezes hard. Or they just dump sand and salt on it, so it gets slushy, then refreezes. This is why our car has $$ Blizzak Revos (mounted on cheap, durable steelies with no cosmetic covers to trap snow and ice) on it and not run-of-the-mill all-weather tires.

So do what you have to do ZZ.... if it's that bad, maybe you can find a gym with a month-long free trial? hehe.

Hmmm...I should see if the health club in town has any special holiday deals--I like that idea of scammin' a month off 'em! k

That's good to know Crabby. I'd rather have something that can be easily put on or taken off, which is what's inconvenient with screws. It's hard to figure out what kind of traction you will have by just looking out the window, it all looks white to me. I will add them to my Xmas wish list and give them a try .. Ronald

Link was laready posted sorry