10 Ways to Keep Your Feet Warm on a Cold Weather Walk

1.  Less-Breathable Shoes

If I’m not walking for speed, I switch to trail shoes or boots that don’t have mesh uppers. Shoes that are full leather will keep out the wind and cold. You still want to choose shoes that are flexible enoughfor getting a good walking heel-to-toe roll,rather than rigid boots built for carrying a backpack. Otherwise, you may find yourself with shin splints and foot pain. Luckily, more and more designs of trail running shoes provide both protection and flexibility.

2.  Double Layer the Socks

The classic combo for hiking is a sweat-wicking polypropylene thin sock with an outer wool sock. This works well for keeping your toes warmer for winter walking. But don’t choose a combo that ends up too thick to wear with your shoes. I choose SmartWool socks for my wool layer as they are less scratchy and are machine-washable. They come in a wide variety of thickness. But I’ve also done well with just switching to a single, thicker hiking sock made of a sweat-wicking fabric. Another trick is to wear a pair of knee-high nylons as your inner layer. They add no thickness at all but provide the little extra that can keep your feet warmer.

3.  Insulate With Paper

4.  Toe Warmers

5.  Keep Your Feet Dry – Sweat Wicking Socks

Your toes are going to get cold if they get wet. Your feet will sweat even though it is cold outside, so you need to wear socks that will wick the sweat away from the skin. Don’t wear cotton socks or socks with cotton padding, as cotton soaks up the sweat and doesn’t wick it away. You want to choose wool, polypropylene, CoolMax or other technical fabric socks.

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6.  Keep Out the Rain and Snow

Don’t let the wet in. You can invest in a pair of waterproof shoes, such as those with a Gore-tex liner. This usually adds $20 or more to the price of the shoe. I’ve had good luck with keeping my feet dry when wearing waterproof trail shoes unless I get so wet that rain soaks into my socks from my legs or pants. You can battle this by wearing rain pants or shoe gaiters.

7.  Plastic Wrap to Keep Cold Air Out

8.  Disposable Shower Caps to the Rescue

Those single-use hotel shower caps are worth collecting. You can use them as shoe gaiters to keep rain and snow out of your shoes. I do this for cold weather races, but they are odd-looking for wearing on your fitness walk unless you don’t mind the stares.  You can be more discreet and slip them over your sock, then put on your shoe and now you have a waterproof layer inside your shoe that will also keep out the wind. I’ve done this with success, although it can result in sweaty feet and wet socks, so you need to experiment with it.

9.  Duct Tape

If you don’t mind the fashion statement and the glue residue on your shoes, you can quickly add a windshield to your shoes by putting duct tape over the uppers of your shoes. The advantage is that it is quick, easy, and it’s free if you already have a roll of duct tape. I’ve had good success with taping a full circle, including the sole, as duct tape sticks to itself strongly and didn’t come off throughout a rainy 3-hour walk. If you only tape to the shoe fabric, it may come off in wet weather. If you use the shower capgaiter, it’s best to add a final circle of duct tape to keep it all in place.

10.  Just Walk Faster

You should always start at an easy pace for the first couple of minutes. After that, on cold days you may want to pick up the pace with some fast-walking intervals or choose a route that has hills or stairs near the beginning to get your blood moving. The extra blood flow from a faster heart rate will help keep your feet warm. It will also get the rest of you back inside sooner.

By Wendy Bumgardner