I went out for my second snowshoe run for the week. I thought I would have a better run than my last one but I was wrong. Last time the snow was dry and powdery. This time it was wet and heavy. I thought it would be easier going with the wet snow. It wasn’t. About 5 minutes into the run I could feel my shins tightening up. I kept moving thinking I just needed to warm up a little more and the tightness would subside. Wrong again. I finally decided to stop to adjust the bindings thinking they were to tight and restricting blood flow and causing the muscle in my shins to cramp. When I bent down to adjust the straps I tweaked my lower back. It’s always the simplest movements that seem to throw off my back or SI joint.
After loosening the bindings I continued on my run. Still no relief to my aching shins. Then I thought maybe my foot placement was to far back in the shoe. Again I stopped to adjust the binding and slid my foot forward so the ball of my foot was directly above the cleat. This helped a little and the tightness in my shins lessened but didn’t go away completely. Then it started to rain and I wasn’t dress for it. I was beginning to think I should have stayed home and had a huge breakfast and a pot of coffee.
Question to all you experienced shoers out there. Do you think the tightness in my shins was due to tight binding straps, poor foot placement in the shoe or just a general lack of snowshoe specific conditioning? I only had 30 minutes in the shoes before today.
I have no experience with snowshoeing, but I'll be back to read the responses you'll get. Santa brought me some snowshoes so I am excited to try them out!
ReplyDeleteMy experience with snow shoes is very similar. The mere fact that you are running on an extension of your foot rather than directly, causes more tension on the calf muscle which in turn puts more than normal pressure on the shins.
ReplyDeleteI think you were just experiencing the change in stride compared to regular running....the same thing that happens to people who start running for the first time.
With snow shoes, your stance is wider, your feet are heavier and you have to lift the legs up higher, center of gravity is changed....all different actions that affect new muscle groups.
Dan, being an experienced snowshoer I would have to say that your muscles are weak and out of shape. Oh, I mean the snowshoe muscles. Heh.
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