Winter Trail Running Tips
From a New England Trail Runner
I live in New Hampshire, where we often experience six months of the year with snow on the ground. If you’re a runner and live where there is snow in the winter, it’s important to be equipped to run in the cold, snow and ice if you want to run year-round. Here are some tips I learned over the last couple of years:
Footwear
I wear the same thing on my feet no matter what time of year it is: wool socks, (Darn Tough brand, made in Vermont), and running shoes. No chemical feet warmers, no layers of socks. I have only experienced cold feet on a few occasions. The reality is: if you’re running, your feet stay warm. The wool socks stay warm even when wet—your feet will get wet running in the snow. I do use Gore-Tex shoes when I know it’ll be really wet or slushy. The one downside to Gore-Tex is that they will trap moisture inside the shoe if you’re not careful to keep the wetness out. Gaiters can help mitigate that. Gore-Tex shoes are typically a bit warmer too.
Snow and ice call for traction above and beyond what typical trail running shoes offer. For deep snow, packed snow, tracked out trails, and ice, nothing beats Kahtoola microspikes, (pictured above). They are rugged, lightweight, easy to pull on and off, and offer superior traction on packed snow. For icy trails, I wear IceBugs shoes (from Sweden) with built-in carbide spikes.
Another option, (that works particularly well for road running), is to convert a pair of trail running shoes into screw-shoes. Just screw some 1/4 inch sheet metal screws into some of the lugs and you’ve got pretty decent traction for very little money. You’ll lose a screw now and then, but they are easy to replace. The best thing is that you won’t worry about running on pavement with these like you will with microspikes. When spring rolls around, just unscrew the screws and you’ve got regular shoes again.
Kahtoola also sells nanospikes, which are a lot like screw-shoes in terms of traction, but are easy to pull on an off mid run. I find these useful when I’m going through various conditions, such as in early winter when I’ll find ice only at elevation.
I’ve tried running in running snowshoes and think they are great, but if you want to run fast, they will often slow you down—unless the snow is very deep and not packed.
Since your shoes will be soaked after most runs, you’ll want to dry them out when you get home so you can hit the trails again the next day. I lean my shoes up against the wall in the basement or mudroom, and setup a box-fan in front of them. My shoes usually smell bad, and the fan can be noisy, so I turn the fan on before I go to bed. The shoes will be dry by the time you wake up in the morning. Or, of you have a woodstove, set them near it after a run, but make sure they are not too close!
Keeping Warm
Here in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, it is typically within the 10°–40° F range during my winter runs. Wind-chill can be significant, and it may or may not be snowing. Keeping warm and dry is key to having a pleasant run.
Anyone who lives in New England knows that layers are the way to keep warm and regulate a comfortable temperature as you enjoy the outdoors. On my legs, I wear heavy running tights, and if it’s really cold (>10°), I wear a another layer of pants over them. For the upper half, I wear many layers of various tech shirts, topped with a lightweight running rain jacket. (I buy these tech layers at TJ Maxx pretty inexpensively.) I can regulate temperature pretty well by zipping and unzipping the rain jacket, letting heat escape from my core. Plus, it keeps me dry.
Update: Over the last couple of winters I have been transitioning all of my winter running clothing to merino wool. It stays warm when it gets soaked with sweat, and it doesn’t stink. I also have come to LOVE looser-than-tights fitting running pants. An air layer helps keep my legs warmer than tights, and, when they get wet, they’re not pressed right up against my skin like tights are.
My favorite winter running jacket for the last two winters has been the Deviator Hoody by Outdoor Research. If it’s warm, I wear it next to skin, if it’s really cold, I wear a long-sleeved wool base-layer under it. It has great venting in the back and on the arms, and open, easy to get to front pockets that are deep, and a warm, form-fitting hood. I wrecked the first one I had (because I am tough on things), and OR replaced it at no charge. Good deal!
As for my hands, I use five dollar mittens I bought at Wal-Mart. (They have cool skull & cross-bones on them.) Mittens keep your fingers much warmer than gloves. Every time I run with water-resistant winter gloves, I find that I sweat a lot inside of them and I can never get them to dry out completely. These simple mittens are easy to dry out, and I just toss them into the washer with my other gear when they get too stinky.
Update: The mitten only lasted a short while, but I use the same principal with my OR Meteor Mitts. They are mittens made up of two layers, and fleece inner mitten and a weather resistant outer shell. The fleece inners flip open so you can air our sweaty hands on a run, which is very useful. I only use the outer shells when I know it’ll be really wet, and they work well on their own too. There’s a dedicated pouch for hand-warmer on each mitt too.
When it’s warmer out, I have been liking Patagonia’s wind-shield running gloves. They offer more hand dexterity and do a decent job at keeping the cold out if it’s between 35 °–45 ° F.
To keep my head and neck warm, I wear a buff and various hats, depending on the temperature. A buff is a wonderful invention that has so many uses, all year round. I prefer a very lightweight buff so I can pull it over my mouth and still breathe through it. When around your neck, a buff acts a scarf that you can pull up over your face and ears to help keep the wind and cold at bay. Or, you can wear a buff on top as a headband or as base-layer under a hat.
My hats range from a very light merino wool beanie to a water resistant hunting cap with ear flaps (pictured above). I recommend a wool hat as the base because your head will sweat while running, and the wool will stay warm when it’s wet.
When you get dressed to head out for a winter run, think about what you’d need to wear to keep warm if you were only walking. Too many layers are better than too few, and you can always shed as you warm up. It may be a long and cold walk home if you roll an ankle and are under-dressed. Remember, you’ll be wet with sweat under your layers when you stop moving.
Other Tips
I sometimes refer to my winter runs as Rocky IV runs—deep slogs through the snow that really push the cardio threshold. Winter runs can be tough! Make sure you bring a lot of fuel with you. Gels and shotblox tend to freeze up—unless you keep them close to your core while running. Store them in an inside pocket. Eating food has a bonus effect of warming up your insides as you work to digest.
Carry a handheld water bottle. All of the sloshing while running will keep the water from freezing. If you’re wearing a hydration pack, put it on over your base layer and then layer up over it. If you wear it on the outside of your jacket the line will freeze. Keep it close to your body and you’ll be good to go. My buddy John uses a insulated sleeve on his hydration water line and that seems to keep it from freezing for him, but, I have yet to try that. (UPDATE: I now use a neoprene sleeve for longer runs where I need the capacity of a bladder. Works great!)
With a lot of snow cover you can access areas in the woods that are hard to get to during other times of year. Go off the trail and explore! You can always follow your tracks back! Just in case, bring a headlamp—the days are short in the winter! For night runs, mark out the trail with reflective tacks used by hunters. They light up like a street sign when your headlamp beam hits them, and you can order a pack of 100 for a few dollars online. Try doing a full moon run without a headlamp—you’ll be surprised how well you can see on a clear night with all that white stuff on the ground!
