Running with screws in your shoes

Yesterday morning, Tuesday, I did get up early enough to go for a run. If you read my previous blog posting you will know that I had rigged up a pair of running shoes by inserting ¼ inch sheet metal screws into the soles using a power drill, I should add, as a way to get traction running on ice and packed snow. Well, the verdict came in. A definitive success! They work very well. If you look at the photo of my shoe, you will get the idea of what it looks like and also the size of the screw.

I ran to the river. My street still had a layer of ice/snow. I did some little test stops and starts and the things do really grip well. It is easy to feel confident with them. I ran on the road for a little bit and they are fine for running on paved roads. Not something you would want to do all the time but not a problem and they grip perfectly adequately—there is a clacking sound as they hit the road and you lose a bit of shock absorbency too, I think. The shoes that I put the screws into are very old and probably have not much cushioning left. I probably should have used a pair that was not quite so used up. The only surface that the screw shoes are not good on is the red brick sidewalks that you get around here. The bricks don’t offer much traction. I think it is because they very hard and smooth, this despite having gaps between the bricks.
When I got to the river I realized that they have given up trying to keep the paths clear. I think they did try for the first storm and not for the second, or at least on the Cambridge side of the river. This isn’t so good. And even part of the path that was cleared had snow that was plowed off the road thrown in on top. I ran on this for a couple hundred meters but that’s annoying. Then I ran on unplowed paths for a few hundred meters. Not much fun either—you really need to concentrate on both these surfaces or you risk landing badly and potentially hurting an ankle. And my ankles seem to be always to be a little sensitive to slights of this nature. One of my traning goals is always to strengthen them, and I do from time to time, but not consistently. Do I see a New Year’s resolution abrewing. Anyway, I hope that the rain we are having today starts a thawing process so the paths along the river, and the sidewalks generally clear up and we don’t have a winter of running discontent. I renewed my gym membership last week assuming that some of my training will have to be done indoors. I had no problem whatsoever with traction. I did have problems with not feeling much energy. But I cannot blame the shoes for that.

The first month of my training ends this Sunday coming. Four weeks in. I am very happy with how things have gone so far. Sometime between now and the end of the year I am going to spend a little time evaluating how things have gone and a little time examining the next while. I have been reading a book about Kenyan runners and a little component of one coach’s training struck me. I think my next blog will be a little review of the month and a preview of the next while. Bet you cannot wait! Thanks for reading, and Happy Christmas.