Snowshoes!

Today was Laura's and my inaugural snowshoe run. Laura and I headed to Afton State Park to attend a class on running with snowshoes. The gentleman leading the class, Jim McDonnell, was a nice guy and an accomplished snowshoe runner. He talked to us about snowshoe running techniques, snowshoe racing, and the proper snowshoes for running. The snowshoes I'd rented from REI were definitely not the preferred snowshoes for running. They were a little too wide and much too heavy. I was sucking air trying to keep up with Jim as we ran the hills of Afton State Park.

Laura mostly walked after trying some running and she enjoyed the beautiful winter scenery. Talk about a successful Valentine's Day date!

After about 2 miles of snowshoe running I was planning on doing another 5 or 6 miles of regular running. Unfortunately it started snowing while we were at the snowshoe class and got pretty windy. It was also getting late and since I don't have work tomorrow I decided I'll just do a morning and an afternoon workout tomorrow. I had a good week of running, so if I miss some miles this week I won't feel too guilty. I've met or exceeded my mileage goals for 9 weeks straight so I think I can cheat a little.

Here's my workouts for the week:

Sunday -
14 miles (6 easy, 5 miles: 1 min 5k pace, 1 min easy, 1 easy, 2 miles HMP)

Monday -
5.6 miles easy

Tuesday -
5 miles easy

Wednesday -
10.2 miles with 5 mile tempo run

Thursday -
6.2 miles, 8 X 10 sec hill sprint

Friday -
8 miles (2 easy, 2 X 15 min HMP, 1.3 easy)

Saturday -
Rest

Total: 49 miles

Next week: Goal of 48 miles