Some mornings I have to bargain, coerce, convince to get myself out of bed. The conversation goes something like this: "I'm sooooo tired. I need sleep."

"C'mon Sarah. If you don't do it now, you'll have to do it at nap time on the treadmill."

"That's fine. I don't mind the treadmill."

"That's a lie! You hate the treadmill. Just get outside. Once you're out there you won't regret it."

[Now you're completely convinced I'm crazy.]

Part of why I run is to get OUTSIDE. I love being outside. If I didn't get out I would miss amazing things like this:

Yesterday morning I headed out for a quick snowshoe run just before sunrise. We had 7+ inches fall throughout the day on Wednesday and it was begging to be played in. Just through the woods on one side of our house is a large power line path, which serves as the perfect trail for snowshoeing--especially when the snowmobiles get to it first and pack down some of the snow.

Running in snowshoes is a workout. If you let yourself focus on pace it could get frustrating, but if you focus on effort you'll quickly realize that you're working incredibly hard to move through the snow with the added weight of the snowshoes. I don't have "running snowshoes," but I've been able to figure out how to run in the 28" ones that I do have. You have to take bigger strides and stability from the core is incredibly important. The running motion: arms and legs, becomes more exaggerated as you try to move through an uneven and soft surface. It's hard and I love it. It also takes me places I wouldn't normally go.

Yesterday's snowshoe run was just over two miles and took me 26 minutes. It's a relatively hilly swath through the woods. Some of it was deep powder and other parts had been packed down by a snowmobile. The uphills were hard work and the down hills felt like I was floating across the snow.

In a couple weeks I'll have a chance to test out my snowshoe running abilities in a race. The race, the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe race, takes place at night on a trail and will most definitely put me out of my comfort zone. I'll be renting racing snowshoes so I'm hoping a lighter, smaller snowshoe will make it just a little easier. It will be my first race of 2014 and a very different one at that!

Do you have similar conversations with yourself in the morning?

Have you ever run in snowshoes? Have you done a snowshoe race? Any tips or tricks to snowshoe running you can share?

--Sarah

Snowshoe Running+Spectacular Sunrise

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