my birthday run and YakTrax review ...

If you haven't watched The Weather Channel recently (or listened to me complain), you might not know that good old Virginia has been hit with three major snow storms since mid-December. This has led to me logging endless miles on my treadmill. My treadmill that I love. That I am beyond grateful for. That I will cry about when it dies.

But, I needed to run outside. To run with my teammates. I had the itch and it needed to be scratched. But, I am not crazy. I know I have a less than stellar ankle. I wasn't about to risk falling unnecessarily. So, I went out and purchased YakTrax. (Note: by went out, I mean called every store in the Richmond area that might possibly have them, then begged for the store to hold them for me. Thanks REI!)

I ended up with these. YakTrax Pro.

Here is the what YakTrax has to say:

Yaktrax have a unique, spikeless, patented coil design, unlike other products on the market.
The Yaktrax Pro will instantly give you better traction, confidence and safety on packed snow or ice. Move about naturally with the same solid grip that you are accustomed to on dry surfaces. Walk or run as you normally would and experience stability on ice and snow like you have never felt before.

Made with high strength, abrasion resistant 1.4 mm steel coils and heavy duty natural rubber material, the Yaktrax Pro easily conforms to the shape of your boot or shoe. With its patented SkidLock coil design, the Yaktrax Pro provides 360 degrees of traction on packed snow and ice and can be worn in temperatures as low as -41° Fahrenheit.

• Easy On/Off

• Walk Naturally

• Spikeless/Ultralight

• Helps Reduce the Risk of Falls & Injuries

So, what did I think?


Overall, they rocked. Super easy to use and I didn't slide at all. And considering the amount of ice we were running on, that says a lot. (Some of my un-YakTraxed friends were not as lucky.) I'm not 100 percent sure how much I would have slid without them, as I wasn't about to test that out. But, either way, wearing the YakTrax gave me a sense of security on some tricky terrain.


There was one thing that bothered me though. I wore a small, which is for sizes 6.5 to 10. I, being a 10, probably should have gotten a Medium. I felt throughout the run that my big toe was being pulled back (not painful, just kind of annoying). Maybe it was the size, maybe it is just the design. I'm not sure. Regardless, I wouldn't attempt another icy run without them.


OK, back to my run. So, I was itching to get out. Since we had planned an eight mile run around the lakes at a local park, I needed to get a few more miles in before I met up with my friends. This meant waking up at 6 a.m. to get in three on the treadmill before leaving. Definitely a good idea. I was nice and warm when we started the eight miler, but it was SO DIFFICULT changing my outfit. Between the sweat and the heat. Ugh!


Anyway, we did two loops around the lakes. Picking up and dropping off people in between.

Here's the group at the start: Kate, Me, Dee from BitsNPiecesofMe, G and Fay

And mid-run.

Despite being super cold and kind of treacherous, it was so much fun. I had really missed running with my team and it was totally worth getting out of bed super early to be with them. And I'm sure that everyone who passed us either thought we were super hardcore or completely off our rockers. (I'm not really sure which one is true.)

Here's Court and I after the first loop.

And me post-run.

Isn't running with your friends the best? I couldn't have imagined a better way to start my birthday.