Cold Feet?

[Christopher]

Hi all,

I mean cold feet literally - not figuratively (though I am a little scared 3&1/2 wks out...).
I'm wearing Vibram Trek Sports for TNF100, and while I've got plenty of kms under my belt in them I have no idea how cold my feet are likely to get - especially late in the piece on Saturday night / possibly early Sunday morning. My preference is not to wear socks with them though I've done training both with and without. I have no idea whether even just socks will be enough so wanted to lob it out there for some advice.
Any Vibram wearers able to shed some light - especially if you've run TNF100 before in them - how cold are my feet going to get in the middle of the night and what do you recommend to do about it?
Thanks

Chris

[Jeffrey]

Hi Chris,

I haven't done TNF in Trail Fingers, but I do run in VFF Treks.  I would recommend strongly that you wear socks--as I would for everyone else on the course that day ... unless you are one of those amazing Tibetan zen masters, who climb the Himalayas barefoot.  :-)

Of all the places that people lose body heat, the head is #1:  the feet and hands are #2.  I wore trail shoes with one layer of socks last year with a fresh pair at CP3.  Things were fine.  There was a tiny "creek" crossing at 80km, which was easy to skip through.  The feet did get wet, but were dry again in 5 minutes because of the cold temperature.

One sock layer should be sufficient, but be prepared.  In your place, I would carry a dry pair with me at all times, and then keep an emergency pair in at least one of the CP bags.

Hope that helps (and a big nod of admiration for you and everyone else running that course in Five Fingers ... maybe next year.)

Jeff