Winter Blah’s and Keeping Fit

This winter has been quite a blessing for me! Last year, it started snowing in October and didn’t stop for 6 months. It was awful. Getting to work was miserable. It was such a huge pain in the butt to go anywhere with small children since they were bundled up in puffy coats and could barely walk through all the snow in their clunky boots. Is it possible to still work out in the great outdoors during the cold winter months?

 ABSOLUTELY! Do some research in the city or town you live in and find out if they have any snow shoe races or hikes in your area.  Snowshoe racing is one of the fastest growing winter sports in the northeast. Snowshoe races are typically 5-10 kms in distance.  It’s very similar to trail racing except for the foot gear. This is a racing snow shoe:

There also snow shoes that are meant for hiking since they are generally larger and heavier than the racing shoes. Snow shoeing is definitely more difficult than a normal trail run but it’s a fantastic workout! My first snow shoe race was a 4 miler and it seriously took me forever to finish. My father actually finished long before me and came back on to the trail to find me. The biggest adjustment to snow shoe racing is the gate of your run changes as you adjust to the added weight of the snow shoe and you also run slower than you would normally run.I'll be running a 10k snow shoe race tomorrow so I'll be able to share some first hand pics from my journey through the trails! Stay tuned!