Today I ventured out for my very first "very cold barefoot run". It's been a bit late coming as last week saw large parts of the UK covered in snow, and if your area wasn't covered in snow, it was freeeeeeeezing. My area was a bit of both - we had a light dusting of snow on two days and then sub-zero temperatures for the rest of the week.

I've been doing a fair bit of reading on cold weather barefoot running and I've drawn a line in the sand (or should that be snow) as to when I will and will not head out for a run barefoot. That line is 0°C. This is technically freezing point or water at sea-level and if the air is this cold, there's a very good chance the ground and water on it will be too - probably colder once you add the salt and grit.

On Monday I went out in Vibrams as I had scheduled a fast tempo run along the Thames which would take in quite a long section of pavement that was quite heavily gritted. It was also bordering 0°C so I didn't want to risk it. Today it was definitely warmer, so I decided I'd brave the cold and I'm glad I did. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be.

Following the Owen McCall's very good tips, I

1. over dressed: tights, long sleeve t-shirt, close fitting windbreaker, beanie and gloves
2. warmed up inside: dynamic warm ups from Brain Training for Runners with some kettlebell swings

... and then headed out a little on the sweaty side. Normally I'd strip off at this point but I held back and stayed wrapped up for my entire run. My body and feet soon cooled down a bit in the 1 mile to the field in which I did my 6x600m intervals at 3k pace. The cool down wasn't dramatic and I soon found my feet warmed up again too.

The coldest part of the run was running on grassy sections no one else had passed over that day. The grass was still a little dewy and cold, but thankfully not frozen.

Bar the very strange looks I got from people I passed, my first very cold barefoot run turned out to be a great success and provided the temperature is above 0°C on a given day and I'm not running through heavily gritted areas, I'll continue to do my runs barefoot this winter.

Well folks, it's sad to say that I won't be doing anymore barefoot running this year. Winter has finally set in and it's blarrrrry cold outside. Whilst we in the UK don't get the extreme cold and snow some other countries get, we do get a lot of rain which doesn't play well with the freezing cold on bare feet.

Now I must say, I'm not wussing out here, it's all for my own good. Very cold numb feet just don't feel the ground anywhere near as well as warmer feet do. As a result form is likely to go to pot and I'm then likely to rip my feet to shreds without even realising it. It was quite cold and wet on my last completely barefoot run and my feet took about 15 mins to warm up completely. It's much colder now so I don't expect my feet to warm up at all during a run, unless it's a very very long run.

All is not lost though: I'm not giving up minimalist running. I will still be heading out in my Vibrams. Whilst the Vibrams aren't waterproof, they do keep my feet sufficiently warm that any moisture that does enter my Vibrams soon warms up without numbing my entire foot.

If all goes well, my feet should be nice and strong come spring when I can kick off my shoes again and return to clocking up the miles completely barefoot.