Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cold morning of snowshoeing

I lifted last night, fighting the crowds at the gym. We got to the gym a bit later than normal and the place was packed. I started with dumbbell snatches, using 45# DBs. After one set, someone else grabbed the only pair of 45s, so I tried a 50 for the second set. I was able to do the second and third set with the 50 pounder and I may try 55 next week.

My next set was squats and some idiot was doing barbell shoulder shrugs in the squat rack. Most gyms have only one, or at most two, squat racks. The squat racks are supposed to be used for squats. Rack pulls are fine too. But it's a common practice for some people to find the squat rack convenient for another lift, and they then lock up a piece of equipment that they don't need while others wait for it. The worst is when people do barbell bicep curls in a squat rack. But, shoulder shrugs are just as bad and the guy could have done them anywhere else he wanted. Eventually I got into the rack and did a superset of 4x10 squats and 4x10 step-ups. Then, a superset of 4x10 incline bench presses and barbell rows. Then, some cable woodchops and some 3-point planks. I was exhausted by the time I finished.

I slept a lot better last night than I have recently, and I got up at 5:00 for a pre-dawn snowshoe run. My legs were tired and I was just plain cold this morning. The temperature was 6F when I finished. The biggest problem I'm having is with my feet. I don't have any shoes designed for winter running and all of my trail shoes just don't keep me warm enough. I've been debating buying snowshoe booties or a Goretex running shoe, and finally decided on the booties today. Crescent Moon makes a snowshoe bootie that ZombieRunner carries, and it costs less than half of what a Goretex-lined running shoe would cost. Now, if I can just stop my toes from freezing solid until the booties get here...

I'll go out for another easy hour of snowshoe running tonight. After being on the treadmill all week last week, I want to get outside as much as possible this week.

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