Winter Running Shoe Advice

[5km]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

[HCcD]

Sports 4 on Bank St., has one of the best selection of minimalist shoes out there, and carry most brands, as well ... Prices are competitive, if not, better than most other local shops, and now they are offering a 20% Sale on all regularly priced items this week ....

[turd ferguson]

Sports 4 on Bank St., has one of the best selection of minimalist shoes out there, and carry most brands, as well ... Prices are competitive, if not, better than most other local shops, and now they are offering a 20% Sale on all regularly priced items this week ....

Good advice for a man who lives in Oakville

[HCcD]

Sports 4 on Bank St., has one of the best selection of minimalist shoes out there, and carry most brands, as well ... Prices are competitive, if not, better than most other local shops, and now they are offering a 20% Sale on all regularly priced items this week ....

Good advice for a man who lives in Oakville

Now you tell me ...

Sports 4 will ship out ... think it is a standard $10.00 Canada Post ...

[turd ferguson]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

[HCcD]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

[Joe Dwarf]

Move here where its always cold and dry. Waterproof not required!

[Stampie]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

And sheet metal screws!

[ian]

MEC carries a couple of Nike models (the Free and the Air Pegasus) in the "Shield" versions, which in my experience have allowed me to stomp through ankle deep puddles without the slightest worry. Whether or not the other 90% of these shoes suit your tastes is to be determined, although I find that I can manage a wider range of shoes in winter than in summer.

[Nicholas]

Saucony Kinvara comes in a GTX (Goretex) version. Not sure about winter traction but it meets the other requirements.

[5km]

Good advice for a man who lives in Oakville

Burlington actually ....

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

I've been thinking of trying silcone adhesive to fill in the holes in the outsole of one of my old pair of shoes.

[turd ferguson]

Good advice for a man who lives in Oakville

Burlington actually ....

Hmmm. Did I buy a pair of Lunar Racers from you, Upper Middle near Glen Abbey? Or who was that?

[5km]

Good advice for a man who lives in Oakville

Burlington actually ....

Hmmm. Did I buy a pair of Lunar Racers from you, Upper Middle near Glen Abbey? Or who was that?

Nope. It wasn't me. I live in south Burlington.

[ultraslacker]

I would worry about traction, not water proofing. Are your feet made of sugar? A good pair of wool running socks is worth more than its weight in gold... feet will dry. Unless it's stupid cold out in which case you still need wool socks!

[Spirit Unleashed]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

Nice nails Andy!

[Stampie]

Now that the roads and sidewalks are covered in snow, ice, salt, slush and typical winter muck, I'll thinking of getting shoes more suited to the wet, slippery and messy conditions. I run in Asics Hyperspeeds year round. I'm currently on version 5. I like them because they are light, have a 4 mm drop and still have some cushioning. They are not, repeat not, waterproof! Last winter I resorted to putting plastic under the insoles. The holes in the outsole, presumably there for lightness, let water into the shoes. The plastic helped but not much.

My criteria for a winter running shoe include a heel-toe drop of approximately 4 mm, light weight, good traction, reasonable waterproofing and hopefully, but not essentially, sold by MEC. I've looked at a number of trail running shoes but a lot of them are too heavy and have too much heel.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Interesting dilemma - every time I've looked, I've run into the same problem - winter shoes are chunky, heavy and have a ton of lift. I'm currently in Pegasus trails and they're exactly what you don't want.

Can you do a bit of DIY waterproofing with duct tape?

Nice nails Andy!

[NewFinnLoper]

I've been running in the Nike Free 5.0+Shield
They are weather proof and quite reflective (as most of my winter running seems to be done in the dark). My feet stay quite warm as there's no mesh for the wind to whip through...

[5km]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Shh ... Santa bought me a pair of Saucony Peregrine 3's at MEC.

http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-437/sauc ... 0838+50983

The tread pattern is fairly aggressive and it feels like a pretty solid shoe. The toe box is a bit narrow, not too narrow I hope, and the ride is quite firm. I'm not wild about the colour but they have the 4 mm drop I'm used to. I haven't run in shoes like these for a long time. I'll be trying them out after Christmas.

[turd ferguson]

I've been running in the Nike Free 5.0+Shield
They are weather proof and quite reflective (as most of my winter running seems to be done in the dark). My feet stay quite warm as there's no mesh for the wind to whip through...

I've got a pair of Free's (not shield) and they're not the slightest bit grippy. How are they on snow and ice?

[5km]

Winter shoe update:
Well, I didn’t wait till Christmas to try the Saucony Peregrines. I decided that the toe box was indeed too narrow so I took them back to MEC and bought a pair of Merrell Mix Master Move Road Running Shoes. They have a nice wide toe box, a 4 mm drop and a lot more cushioning than Merrell’s other shoes. They feel more or less like my Asics Hyperspeeds but without holes in the outsoles. The ride is a lot more hard but replacing the insoles with softer ones seems to be working for me. I don’t want my plantar issues flaring up again. I still get the odd soaker but it’s from splashing and not pumping up water through the soles.

Oh, it didn’t hurt that the shoes were on sale. That was a nice surprise. So I ordered a second pair!

http://WWW.MEC.CA/product/5031-366/merr ... 0838+50982

[richie-rich]

Hmmm. Did I buy a pair of Lunar Racers from you, Upper Middle near Glen Abbey? Or who was that?

that was me

[fingerboy]

I had a pair of the saucony trail shoes with the gators built in. They were great for jumping into anyhting but they were heavy as anything. 15oz? I generally run in my newer lighter trail shoes - adizero xt3 but they're 10.5 and I've since switched to 11's and I think its a bit too tight for me now. So I'm also looking for a winter shoe that's similar enough to the Adizero Tempo 5's, which for anything but the winter, are the best shoes ever made IMO.

[alexk]

Thinking about buying trail shoes for winter running. It's traction I need - snowy/icy roads here. I've used yack tracks but don't like them. The shoes I'm looking at are NB 910s. They're called a cushion shoe; weight is 8.2 oz, so fairly light. My every day trainer is NB 890s (6.64 oz). Are trail shoes good for winter running? My biggest worry is putting myself at risk for injury (if the shoes aren't meant for the roads). I wouldn't wear them for every run, just the snowy/icy ones. I'm training for a marathon so they could potentially see lots of miles. Thoughts?

[Habs4ever]

Thinking about buying trail shoes for winter running. It's traction I need - snowy/icy roads here. I've used yack tracks but don't like them. The shoes I'm looking at are NB 910s. They're called a cushion shoe; weight is 8.2 oz, so fairly light. My every day trainer is NB 890s (6.64 oz). Are trail shoes good for winter running? My biggest worry is putting myself at risk for injury (if the shoes aren't meant for the roads). I wouldn't wear them for every run, just the snowy/icy ones. I'm training for a marathon so they could potentially see lots of miles. Thoughts?

I know nothing about the NB shoes, but I wear Ascis (like you), and I got some Asics Enduro (6) trail shoes. I figured since I wear Asics I may as well get the same brand of shoe I know and trust. I've done a few long runs in them, and a few shorter runs with no problems. I've only worn them when I know the trails are really snowy, as they are not cushy like my regular runners. So far, no problems. For ice I wear DueNorth ice and snow grips over my regular runners. Not sure if it helps your decision, but that what works for me.

[alexk]

Thanks, Habs. I tried my friend's Duenorth grips and didn't like them either but she loves them. I'm a bit like the princess and the pea . I should go look at the asics too - I still use my nimbus for long runs when my legs are tired! The 910s feel light and seem to have good cushion...and they are on sale for $74!