Winter Running Shoe Hack

dewd2

With the recent snow and temps below freezing for weeks, I decided to try something new. Instead of Yak Traks or similar I found a shoe hack. I'm going to give it a go on Tuesday morning.

http://blog.timesunion.com/running/diy-screw-shoes/7106/

I may have overdone it just a little...

MobyCarp

I did this the first winter I ran, 2011/2012. I found that I was running on a lot of clear asphalt, 30% to 60% of my route even when there was snow. Problem: The screws tended to come out when running on clear asphalt. Replacing them is cheap, but if they come out in the first half of the run I don't have them for the second half of the run. You may have better luck than I did because you used a lot more screws than I did.

In 1Q 2014, I trained for my first half marathon during a severe winter. On the advice of my pace leader, I bought trail shoes to run in the snow. Still doing that; wore Saucony Peregrines today instead of the Kinvaras I wear for clear pavement. They work well on packed snow, not terribly deep snow, and clear asphalt. They're not that much better than road shoes for ice, but over time I've kind of learned to keep my balance when I know I'm on ice. (The same guy who told me trail shoes for snow says for really nasty winter surfaces, do screw shoes made from trail shoes, with the screws on the protruding knobs of the trail shoes. I have not tried that.)

My current thinking is that if I needed to get out and run right after a real ice storm that coats all the roads with a sheet of ice, I'd put quarter inch spikes into my cross country shoes and wear them. But I have needed to run after a real ice storm only once since 2012, and that was a cross country event anyway.

dewd2

I ran with them Tuesday morning. My first impression was they didn't dig in as much as I though they should. I think they helped a bit, but it wasn't as much as expected. The good news is they were sturdy even on solid asphalt and concrete. I expected some sliding and it didn't happen.

I won't do this to a good pair of shoes but I won't hesitate to wear these again for shorter runs (these shoes had well over 400 miles on them and had already been retired).

I think I will purchase a pair of trail shoes since I am running trails more often as well.

Spilinek

I've read 9 screws max per shoe. I've never lost a screw, but I know there are limitations to them as well. I don't think anything will help on a solid sheet of ice; that being said, I'm not willing to risk an injury to find out. Like dewd2, I have a repurposed older pair that I keep the screws in all winter.

polskagirl01

Tried this and the shoes were awesome! Hubby made them for me on Thursday and I went out in them for a one-mile test run. Then I had him take 2 screws back out because (maybe it was in my head) they were bothering me. So there are now about 9 screws per shoe, similar screws to Dewd's picture After that slight adjustment they were perfect. Ran 5k on icy and snowy trails today and didn't slip once. Guess I'm not totally retiring those shoes yet.

polskagirl01

Finally got around to taking a picture. @MobyCarp is right, they aren't good on clear roads. They aren't even comfortable on clear roads. So I actually avoided the clear spots today, and will only use these if it's really a mess out there.

dewd2

I didn't have any issues on the clear asphalt and concrete. Now I ran less than half mile total on dry ground but the shoes were surprisingly stable. Other than the noise they made I really couldn't tell they were there.