Ice Shoeing

Snow/Ice/Mud Shoeing
Since next week I have a super far long run (23 miler!), we went out snowshoeing again on Saturday.  Our second week of snowshoeing was a completely different experience.  We went to a place where we have been several times and have had great hikes.  We took off a bit later in the day because I had to work with the scouts in the morning.

We arrived at Big Springs park a bit after noon.  We had to park at the bottom of the park and hike up to the trailhead.  When we got there, people were coming down carrying their snowshoes and walking down the trail.  They told us that the trail was icy.  Ice and I don't get along very well, and me slipping on the ice is even worse.  I had never snowshoed in icy conditions.   It was slow going for me most of the time, not only because of the ice, but my legs were dogging me and I felt like I had been to the local buffet.  I was just sluggish all around.

The brown part was icy.  In some places it covered most of the trail.

We were able to navigate around the ice for the most part and when we got a bit higher, the snow was in a bit better shape but there were some bare spots and we broke through the crusty snow in others.

Mud Shoeing

Sorry for all the complaining, but it was a rough day for me.  I was way behind most of the hike.  We did get a good workout and it is always good to be with my son and my brother.  They are both great guys.

Corey and Gordon.

The Rest of the Story
The rest of my training during the week went well.  Friday was my long day.  The schedule called for another "Miracle Mile" run.  I ran easy over to the high school track.  Did some short intervals and then ran a fast mile (for me) to gauge my readiness for the marathon.  It showed me that I am still on track for a 13:30 min/mile pace for the marathon.  I would be really happy if that ends up being the case.  After doing the quick mile, I did some cool down intervals and then ran easy until I had 7 miles total under my belt.

I got caught up on my blog reading and you all seen to be doing great!

Hang in there and I will too!