You probably have read several of my previous posts about running in the winter in Kahtoola Microspikes. This is a first for me though. It snowed a good 7-12" a few days ago, but it was right around 32F when it did. Then over the next couple of days it stayed pretty warm.
I was wearing my Pearl Izumi Road N2, which, I swear, are almost exactly identical to my old Pearl Izumi Streak that I used to wear while training for the Aspen Backcountry Marathon in 2011. They are a bit different from the Trail N2, being a touch more flexible in the instep and toe, and with a much steeper toe-off ramp. I mention it because the bottoms are fairly smooth, without a lot of lug in the tread. I'm not sure if that contributed or not to the sticking snow in the microspike chains. See that snow buildup? On a mountaineering trip, snow balling up on your crampons can lead to spectacular and deadly falls. The recommendation is that if your crampons ball up with snow, it means you don't need them. In this case though I had smooth bottom shoes, so I probably would have had no traction at all without the spikes. It was "sixes" so I slowed down to prevent rolling or twisting my ankle and just twisted the balls of hardening slush off the chains every now and again.
It was a beautiful day and I ended up with a few less layers by the time I was done.
Check out that blue sky. Let me know what you're doing for your winter training. I had a few great comments on my Facebook Page (Link with the video above).
I was wearing my Pearl Izumi Road N2, which, I swear, are almost exactly identical to my old Pearl Izumi Streak that I used to wear while training for the Aspen Backcountry Marathon in 2011. They are a bit different from the Trail N2, being a touch more flexible in the instep and toe, and with a much steeper toe-off ramp. I mention it because the bottoms are fairly smooth, without a lot of lug in the tread. I'm not sure if that contributed or not to the sticking snow in the microspike chains. See that snow buildup? On a mountaineering trip, snow balling up on your crampons can lead to spectacular and deadly falls. The recommendation is that if your crampons ball up with snow, it means you don't need them. In this case though I had smooth bottom shoes, so I probably would have had no traction at all without the spikes. It was "sixes" so I slowed down to prevent rolling or twisting my ankle and just twisted the balls of hardening slush off the chains every now and again.
Video from my wet concrete trail run:
It was a beautiful day and I ended up with a few less layers by the time I was done.
Check out that blue sky. Let me know what you're doing for your winter training. I had a few great comments on my Facebook Page (Link with the video above).
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