I ran through the record-breaking snowy winter two years ago, so I know I can deal with the weather, but this will be my first time trying to run on snowy trails.  I've been doing a lot of running on some short loops of singletrack near where I live.  I think I'll be able to keep a trail broken on these through the winter, unless we really get hammered by a couple of feet at once.  

My biggest problem is that I have do do snow removal at work, including a lot of shoveling on the walks.  Several hours of that can leave me too exhausted to run.

Do you have Raynaud's?  Mine has been horrible already this winter.

Yes and mine has been pretty bad, too. I've been using Hot Hands (thank you Catty!), but even with those and 2 pair of gloves my hands are still painful at times. I saw a pair of gloves in the Lands End catalog that you plug in and they stay warm (or so they say). They're way out of my normal price range, but I'm considering splurging on myself.

I have these mittens (I got them on sale a few years ago)...  http://marmot.com/products/expedition_mitt

 

I wear them with gloves underneath and Hot Hands when I am walking my dog at the dog park.  It's the only thing that works.  Seriously, invest in a good pair of mittens.  It really helps.  I have a different set up for running, but it doesn't bother me as much *when* I am running.  It's afterward that's a problem.  And getting into a cold car.  And in my house at night at the computer.  I can feel it happening right now in fact.  UGH.  I only started to develop this a few years ago and it's gotten progressively worse every winter.  It's really frustrating.  What do you do when you have an attack and your fingers go totally numb and white?  The only thing I can do is run them under warm water for a few minutes to get the feeling and blood back. 

I'll look into getting some mittens. I've always hated wearing mittens (I feel like I suddenly can't do anything with my hands!), but I think I'm going to have to suck it up if I want to keep running outside when it's cold. I do wear gloves almost everywhere, already and that does help some. I knitted my daughter a pair of fingerless gloves last winter and I'm thinking of making another pair for me to wear around the house.

When I get an attack the only thing that helps is hot water. I know you're supposed to take an ice bath after a certain amount of exercise, but I think that would probably kill me!

I ran through the record-breaking snowy winter two years ago, so I know I can deal with the weather, but this will be my first time trying to run on snowy trails.  I've been doing a lot of running on some short loops of singletrack near where I live.  I think I'll be able to keep a trail broken on these through the winter, unless we really get hammered by a couple of feet at once.  

 

My biggest problem is that I have do do snow removal at work, including a lot of shoveling on the walks.  Several hours of that can leave me too exhausted to run.

 Heavily-used single tracks will be the best packed, and you can run fairly normally. Seldom used wide tracks will be the place for your snowshoe running. And lots of options in between. Where I live, some ski trails are multi-use (non-motorized) and groomed. These can be good, but be sure you know your local trail etiquette for winter use. Single tracks in forests only get about half the snow as the wider trails because of the tree canopy protection. Some wide track trails get what I call "feedlot texture" for footing when you've got lots of people and dogs (and sometimes horses) on the trail before the snow has set after being groomed or the trail may not be groomed at all.

For traction, I'll use stud-like stuff on ice, and probably Kahtoola microspikes on deeper snow. In between, I might use screw shoes (but I change shoes frequently) or one of the stabilicer products (lites or sports). I get a lot more traction from the microspikes than the shallower screws or studs. (I don't use yaktrax anymore since they elevate my feet above the ice and the smooth coils glide down the hill with 0 traction. They're uncomfortable on ice or hard-packed snow, but probably ok on loose snow where you don't need flotation of snowshoes.)