Snowshoes

Last weekend I snowshoed 10k with a group of 20 people at Telemark. Monday I snowshoed with a friend at Big White for 3 hours. We climbed half way up the mountain, back down and then on trails at the bottom. Tuesday I snowshoed at Sovereign in Vernon with 24 other people for 3.5 hours. This is Day 31 of consecutive running days and my body is coping well. It has been a blessing to have very little snow on the ground in our lower elevations.

Day 21

On Saturday a group of us snowshoed through the bush for 18km near Postill Lake. We were glad to meet a group of 10 people on snowmobiles who helped point us in the right direction when we took a few "out of the way" excursions in very deep snow. And yes, we did have a map and a compass.
Today, on Day 21 of my consecutive running days, I decided that I will donate $5 for every day that I run, to a charity. My first $100 donation (first 20 days) is going to a local food bank. It will be interesting to see if I give more finances to charities this year than I did in previous years.

Day 15

I was happy to see new snow this morning. This means that I can finally wear my Yak Trax over my runners now that the snow is deep enough. Running on deep snow is comparable to stomping on soft cushions. Previous to last year I ran without these additions right through the winter but having them on gives me a little more confidence when running on ice. Sometime soon I will have to give up my routes that go up into the steep hills. No sore muscles yet from running at least 8km/day. However I do have inflammation in my TMJ on the right side of my jaw which is causing a lot of pain. There are a number of facial exercises that I have been practicing and have to take a few drugs at night. This problem has surfaced two other times in my life. On Saturday I went snowshoeing for an hour by myself while the rest of the group went cross country skiing. What I accomplish in an hour would be more like a two hour trek for some other people.