Snowshoe Run!

Last night, Ryan suggested that we fit me into one of the Dion snowshoe pairs he has on loan from Bob for the upcoming Bradbury Snowshoe Series so that I could take them out this morning for a run. Bob had told him I was more than welcome to try the shoes out while Ryan had them, which was really nice of him. Thanks Bob! So, this morning, after I dropped Sam off, I came home, got suited up for a run and took off running through the complex with snowshoes in hand.

Although I've done a fair amount of snowshoeing in the past, it's all been snowshoe hiking, not snowshoe running. And it's been in my Tubbs. So the Dion snowshoes, and the whole snowshoe running thing, are new to me. When I got to the high school road, I veered off onto the sidewalk where the snowmobiles start their path onto the powerlines. There, I stopped and put on the snowshoes. I had to crank the straps literally all the way to get a tight fit, but it worked. Guess I have small feet! Ha :-) Then off I went.

Although a number of snowmobiles had been out, the snow is still pretty soft and uneven. I felt a bit clunky starting out, but the slim contour of the Dion shoe makes them relatively easy to run in, and they are pretty light. I ran the snowmobile trail until I got to Ryan's tracks from yesterday. He had packed out a loop through the woods, so I didn't have to do all the hard work of trail breaking, which was nice. It was still hard work though! Once on Ryan's trail, the snow was light and fluffy underfoot, and in keeping within the trough he'd created, I kept kicking myself. Ouch. I ran a few loops and then wandered on the snowmobile trail until I was out of time. I ended up running 3 miles in 35:31, although I was only in the snowshoes for 2.3 miles. It wasn't a speedy run, but it was a fun change of pace, and a good workout!