SNOWSHOE ADVENTURES

First snowy day outing on snowshoes. Taken by PKSenagore January 4 2019. All rights reserved.

TALKING MYSELF INTO TRYING OUT A NEW SPORT ACTIVITY  I went looking for an article that will help me try out brand new snowshoes.  I found one by Josiah Middaugh, written back in 2011.  
 
Snowshoeing is presented as a cross training tool for running in his Runnerworld.com article, “Winter X-Training on Snowshoes, Improving the Aerobic Engine on Snow”. But I’m hoping it can stand alone as a winter sport for those like me, who live in areas with a consistent snow cover in winter. I am planning to strap on my first pair as soon as the white stuff covers the beach and bike paths near my home.
 
“Snowshoeing requires little skill and minimal equipment,” Middaugh encourages. “if you can walk or run, you can snowshoe” he says. Great, I’m thinking, he must know me!
 
Middaugh further explains that for runners who usually focus on moving at a specific pace to train effectively, doing so on snowshoes requires a change in mindset.  He recommends thinking in terms of time, not distance. Merely walking on hilly terrain in snowshoes can move heart rates into desired training zone ranges even if the pace is slow.  Perfect for former runners who seek to replace their favorite activity, it seems.
 
This four times U.S. snowshoe racing champion offers other tips and advice in the article.  Those looking for something to help them enjoy the outdoors January through March or later, might consider this sport and read it in full. If the 2019 winter snow season extends far into spring, as it did in some areas of the United States in 2018, perhaps disappointment can be replaced by joy at the prospect of continued snowshoeing opportunities.
 
Various lists of national park and other amazing venues for snowshoeing can be pulled up online, but the most exciting aspect of this new adventuring for me is that there's at least one right outside my front door. The future looks bright for me and this new winter sport.

RUN & MOVE HAPPY!

NOTE: I tried out my new snowshoes the first week of January on a brilliantly sunny but cold day. There was a fresh 3" of snow on the ground.  A trek to the nearby State Park was  exhausting yet exhilarating, even at the slow pace of snowshoeing.  

Often times in the winter, the beach's sand is blown over the snow drifts.  And it's sand drifts are blown over with snow. These conditions usually make hiking difficult, hard on the knees. This was the beach's condition on this breezy day.  

Can't describe with words the joy I felt, experiencing the same thrill as with running.  The snowshoes provided stability in the soft sand-snow. Forward motion was slow but traversing the dips and irregularities of the beach surface and dune trails was easy.

​I am not praying for lots of white precipitation, but I stopped fearing being kept indoors by a heavy snowfall.
 
https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20813587/winter-x-training-on-snowshoes/
 
http://www.snowshoeracing.com
 
https://www.liveoutdoors.com/recreation/243533-5-snowshoeing-destinations-u-s/
 
https://www.travel-experience-live.com/best-usa-national-parks-for-snowshoeing/
 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/10greatplaces/2017/02/03/snowshoeing/97392402/