Double Down

After a week of dreary weather it was great to see the sun shining this morning. I decided to take advantage of this sunny (but cold and windy) day by going for a run in Breakheart Reservation. My plan was to do a snowshoe run on the trails followed up with a “regular” run on the plowed, paved path. I decided to bring my camera along for the ride so I could get some winter shots in the woods.

Frozen lake cove.

Rock hopping ahead.

River crossing.

Cold stillness.

Many more photos of my run can be found here.

Much to my surprise, someone had already shoed though some of the trails so I only had to break trail on half of the run. I felt much better today than I did on my previous two snowshoe training runs. I had more strength climbing today and didn’t have any of the shin tightness I experienced on my other runs. I guess my body is starting to adapt to the unique stresses of snowshoeing.

I made a slow climb to the top of Eagle Rock to take in the view. It was very windy at the top and the wind had swept away most of the snow. I was worried I would break my cleats but fortunately I didn’t. I just got one caught in a crack in the rock and took a tumble. Lucky for me I landed on a soft spot. No, not my head, a pile of snow! Below is the video I took. I think you’ll be able to tell when I fell. Be warned, you’re going to get sun in your eyes. The audio is titled “Living Hills” but I have renamed it “Death March.” It seems more appropriate.



The rest of the run was uneventful and I made it back to the ranger station unscathed. I changed into my screw shoes and went back out for a 5K loop. The road was covered in hard-packed snow and the screw shoes provided excellent traction. I startled a few female walkers on my run even though I called out to them long before I got too close. I can never figure that out. I don’t think a perv would say “excuse me, coming up on your left.” if he’s planning to jump you.

Snowshoe run.

"Run" run

Another snow storm is forecasted for Friday. That could throw a monkey wrench into my plans to run the Fat A$$ 50K on Saturday but it’s still too soon to tell. If that falls though I can always run another snowshoe race.

It’s nice to have options….