Snowshoes? No shoes? (Read 538 times)

Hi everyone! I was cleaning out some old emails and found this site from a link that Kirsten had given me, so I thought I'd check it out! (Hey Kirsten, remember me....neighbor to your very very near south from the See Mommy site?? Thanks so much for this link!) You guys seem very knowledgeable, so here's a question for you! Assuming we'll get snow sometime again here in Michigan , I'd like to buy snowshoes in order to continue running through the winter! I run 100% on trails through the woods, so when it's snowed any amount, the running choices are treadmill or….treadmill! After thinking of all options of how to plod through the snow without getting wet feet within 5 minutes (just wear my clomper boots and run in em?....spray silicone on the outside of my mostly mesh Saucony shoes....put baggies on the inside of my shoes like my Mom did for me in 2nd grade....) , I figured snowshoes were the solution! So now the question is: Running snowshoes or regular snowshoes?! Does anyone own either and can you tell me if there really is that big of a difference? From what I can tell, the running ones are designed more for packed snow, but how packed is packed? Couldn’t you just wear your regular shoes then, or would you still sink and get wet? The trails around here aren’t groomed or anything….maybe an occasional set of tire tracks. Can you snowshoe in a tire track? LOL I’m wondering can you really “run” in fluffy snow even WITH running snowshoes? Also, looks like the ones for running are tapered more so you’re not knocking the sides of your legs while you’re running. So I’m thinking you really couldn’t use regular snowshoes for running, but as soon as I think that, I read on another description (for regular shoes) “for winter walking, hiking and running”! Hmm. Anyone have snowshoe experience?? Thanks!!

Kirsten! My thinking exactly! Infact, my husband said, "You know, if you get snowshoes, we won't get any snow for the rest of the year!" And I know what you mean about the pains from running on snow! When we got that last snow, I found myself so tensed up (even on sandy trails it was still icy) that I was sooo sore afterwards! I spent half the time freaking out worrying about falling! My leg's just getting back to normal after that rollerblading incident this summer (think I told you how I tried my new blades out and ended up just about breaking my leg), so don't want to mess anything up again! I just bought my brother some Yaktracks and thought those might be good on those slippery days. I'll let him test them out first!