The Pros and Cons of Running in a Foot of Snow

Colorado has entered the "swing season" when the weather swings wildly and the forecasters pull their hair out trying to predict it. My trusted weather source, 9News.com, has failed me about four days in the past two weeks.

So it was to my surprise that I awoke this morning to a rightly predicted 6 inches of snow on the ground. I worked from home and called it a snow day at 4pm, when I decided to make good on my tri training plan and go for my prescribed run. By this time, there were 12 inches of snow on the ground.

I ran my usual 2-3 mile route around Gunbarrel's Twin Lakes (also Chrissie Wellington's stomping ground). There were moments when I was in snow up to my knees and stretches of path that the wind had blown clear.

The snow and wind was a nice preoccupation, but I also kept my mind off running by building a list of pros and cons for running in 12 inches of snow:

PROS	CONS
You won’t be hot!	Your hands and feet will freeze.
The path is all yours.	What path?
So soft! Snow makes running easy on the knees!	Low impact? More like snow impact!
Perfect mid-foot strike on every stride…	…but watch out for ankle rolling.
Quiet, peaceful, pretty…	…unlike your raspy breathing and runny nose.
No sweating = never parched.	Inhaling snowflakes not pleasant.
Beautiful.	Starkly so. And cold.
No need for sunscreen…	…but plenty of need for Chapstick.
No obnoxious dog walkers.	Little chance of rescue!
Uneven surface builds balance and core strength…	…so really won’t be expecting it when you fall!
A well-deserved sense of dedication…	…though you’ll likely cut the workout short.
Cool down is very quick.	Long warm-up.
Cocoa, the recovery drink.	Ouch! Hands and feet sting as they thaw!
No need to ice the knees...	...or the ankles, toes, shins, nose, ears...
Decent blog post?

Some advice for aspiring yeti runners:

• Cotton kills. Your sweatshirt becomes a fridge just seconds after you start sweating.
• Before your run, fill some small bottles with hot water. Run with them to keep your hands warm. They'll cool enough to drink sooner than you think. I like these Hammer Nutrition gel flasks.
• I love the double hat: a fleece hat for warmth and to cover the ears and a synthetic baseball cap to keep the snow out of my face.
• If it's below 30 degrees, consider mittens or ski gloves. My thick liner gloves above are great below 40, but my numb digits made it a struggle to work my watch.
• Wear your watch over the part of the glove that's covering your wrist and keep it loose to avoid reducing circulation to your fingers.
• My new favorite piece of running apparel is my GoLite Wisp Wind Shirt. This shirt is velvety to wear and so light you won't know it's on, except that no blast of icy wind can get through it. You can pack it into its own pocket and carry it if you get hot (not bloody likely today!).
  

Got advice for cold weather runs?