Icebug - Järv RB9X

I prefer training in the winter for a spring/ early summer marathon over training through the summer for a fall marathon. I've trained for spring races (race dates usually ranging from April to June) while living in either Iowa or Minnesota with a decent amount of time also spent in South Dakota some years. These are definitely places that get plenty of cold weather so I'm not talking about training through mild winters! Ice does make me nervous so when there's a lot of ice I will run inside on the treadmill, which fortunately I don't mind as much as some people. I find that middle of winter isn't usually too bad for ice where I've lived, but in the spring when it's warm enough to thaw during the day and then refreeze at night it can get really slick (March is often the worst for this). But as long as there isn't too much ice I love running in the cold! And when there is a lot of ice I'll sometimes put on my [icebug shoes](https://www.icebug.com/en-US), which have spikes, so that I can at least do some easy runs outside. However, I prefer to do all hard speed sessions on the treadmill on icy days to be safe. The hardest part for me is honestly the risk of having hot or even warm race day when you haven't had a chance to get acclimated to it. This happened to me at Grandma's this June and it made for a rougher race day. Even after running in the heat all summer I'm still not great in the heat, but I'm definitely better than I am in the spring! Next year I'll look into heat acclimatization protocols like taking hot baths or even finding a sauna to help with that. There are probably not as good as actually running in the heat, but hopefully it'll help.

Icebugs are high quality and durable. Also had Hoka Speedgoat Spike and was happy, particularly with how the foot is protected from the spike pressure.

Icebugs are a game changer for winter running.

Trail shoes (GTX) with Kahtoola NANOs for road and EXOs for trail. For all in one, check out Icebug

It snows half the year where I live, so I do IceBugs. I have a nice set of trail gaiters I wear when it's softer snow.

Icebugs did not work for me, they were way too narrow.

I run outdoors all year round in Norway because I haaaaate the treadmill. As soon as it gets slick, I swap to spiked running shoes - VJ Frost 2 are the ones I'm using currently, although I've also used Icebug. I tried Yaktrax and found that they kept twisting around my shoes, and I also bought the spikes that you screw into existing running shoes. They definitely provide traction, but I found that after running repeatedly on hard surfaces, the screw part of the spike would tear out of the soles.

Icebugs or Salomon SpikeCross 6 running shoes are best for snow/ice.

I run all winter long in northern MN in Icebugs. When paired with gaiters, total game changer. I’ll never be without them for winter running.

When I was living in Russia I didn't do any VO2 workouts from October to April. Also I was free to cancel any tempo run or adjust pace due to the weather conditions.  I did a lot of trail running. I also enjoyed cross country skiing in lieu of running.  I never ran when it was colder than -25, but that happened rarely. Basically you just build your base for the summer workouts. Also shoes with small spikes, like Salomon Spikecross or IceBug were helpful.