I do more or less everything in a pair of Adidas Terrex trail runners (the Rain.Rdy ones). Well except actually run, because I don’t do that, and I’d avoid anything where I’m actively expecting my feet to get absolutely *saturated*. Although that said, they stood up really well on a couple of recent forest walks where there was a couple of inches of fresh snow laid. Absolutely no soak-through to my socks, across about 6-7 miles each time. And just yesterday I got them absolutely caked in wet mud in the same forest across the same time/distance - and again they held up perfectly. They wash really well.
Only thing I wouldn’t attempt in them is where I’m expecting really slippy conditions (beyond a bit of mud trampling), such as hard ice, or always-wet rock. But I’m a very cautious winter walker anyway, and unlikely to go out of my way to encounter packed ice in *any* shoes, full stop.
I have a pair of Adidas ColdReady waterproof trail runners for winter use. They do well for the wet, windy, cold weather for me in Northern Poland. I used to have some from ON running that were terrible in cold weather, the soles can’t handle it and turn into bricks for cushion and ice skates for traction. That’s been my issue with most trail runners in below freezing and why I switched to the Adidas ones. Nike has some decent waterproof running shoes that are supposed to handle the cold well to now in the ACG line. But I haven’t tried them myself.
Columbia would be my other recommendation for some tennis shoe like waterproof and insulated options that you can use for walking and city use.
Adidas. [https://www.adidas.de/en/men-running-shoes](https://www.adidas.de/en/men-running-shoes)
I switched from Hoka, best decision ever. I used to tear through Hokas around 300 km, they would just rip...
Spikes typically have very little cushion compared to trail running shoes, so it really depends on the trails you plan to run. But unless you’re trying to break some personal record, it’s kinda pointless. I have dragonfly XC spikes that I use for 5k’s but I never do any kind of crazy trails in them. One wrong step on a rock and it’s a sprained ankle. Not a big deal in a 5k with a ton of people around and medical nearby. But out running alone, yea it can potentially be a big problem. XC shoes are also going to wear out a lot faster, especially in the heel.
I have 3 pairs of trail shoes I use if I go out alone. One pair of trail runners Adidas Terrex I picked up super cheap that I just use on flat dirt, and two pairs of hiking shoes, Columbia low tops and North Face high tops for rugged terrain that are both 5+ years old. I can honestly run fine in any of them, just not fast of course.
Big-Loss-Energy
