Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Snowshoe Run

I got new Dion snowshoes for Christmas. They've been sitting inside, unused, for weeks. I always seem to have an excuse: too cold, too icy, too dark, etc. On top of that, I plan my running weeks by anticipated mileage rather than time. Because snowshoe running is slower (for me) than treadmill running or road running, it's easy to rationalize that I won't get as many miles done in however much time I have available to train.

On Monday, I read Julie Berg's snowshoe marathon race report from this past weekend. I felt like a real loser after reading what she did over the weekend in weather way worse than what we normally see in Vermont. So, this morning, I decided I was going to do a snowshoe run - no excuses. I got up a bit earlier than normal. Last night, I got out some of my ultra gear - headlamps and gaiters. I found all of my coldest-weather running gear.

I left the house at 6:00 a.m. this morning. It was dark, but the snow was illuminated by the setting moon. We'd gotten a dusting of snow overnight, so the trails were a bit softer than they have been. It was 18F and calm. Perfect. I had an amazing run. About 40 minutes into the run, I was able to turn off my lights and I finished in the dawn light. I covered 4.25 miles in just over an hour.

In reality, I probably got way more benefit out of this hilly run than I would have gotten from an hour on the treadmill. I have to stop worrying about the number of miles in my training log and really think about the value of the run itself.

I felt good this morning after doing 14 yesterday. I'll run easily for another hour tonight.

And, my weight has finally dropped a bit. Not much, but it's a start.

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