Running vs Snowshoeing

So, what is the perfect balance between running and snowshoeing? How do you maintain (or preferably improve) your fitness in both without sacrificing either? Heck, is it even possible to do well in both? I have no idea. Not a very informative post, is it.

I did discover an interesting factoid while doing intensive research on the topic, however. Ok, I stumbled upon it while updating my running log. Without any conscious effort my weekly mileage breakdown over the last 3 weeks was as follows:

Run Miles	Snow Miles	Total Miles	Run %	Snow %	Weekly Increase
25.1	10.5	35.6	71%	29%	-
30.6	12.5	43.1	71%	29%	21%
36.7	14.8	51.5	71%	29%	19%

So without even trying I increased my weekly mileage by about 20% each week and still maintained an exact 71% - 29% split between running and snowshoeing. How about that? I have no idea what it means but I thought it was interesting regardless.
Of course now that I'm onto myself I'll totally skew the data this week, guaranteed.

A Quick 2008 Recap

Ok, I won't go into excruciating details of what I accomplished in 2008 (hence the title 'quick 2008 recap') but I will summarize what I consider to be the highlights (and sometimes lowlights) and what I came away with in 2008:

• Probably for the first time EVER, I ran the entire year injury-free. It's not like I took it easy, running my first race on Jan 1st, 2008 and my last race on Dec 28th, 2008. Having no data to back up my theory, I credit snowshoe racing and trail racing early in the year as the main reason(s) for this.
• Ran a total of 1,811 miles for an average of 5.9 miles per run. I had a secret goal of breaking 2,000 miles but I'll take injury-free over 2000 miles any day.
  
• Snowshoed a total of 120.3 miles in my first year on snowshoes. Maybe it's me but the miles never got any easier. Every time out felt just as hard as the previous one.
  
• Competed in 16 road races, 10 trail races, 4 snowshoe races and 1 triathlon.
• 9 races were 10 miles or greater.
  
• Completed two 200+ mile, 12-person relays (Madison-Chicago 200 and Reach the Beach) with two different teams. Both teams finished 5th overall.
• Best performance of the year: Baystate Marathon (2:58). Ran on pace, negative splits and recovered quickly.
  
• Worst performance of the year: Mt Washington Road Race (1:30). Started off slow, got slower, finished going backwards I think. For the first time ever I vowed never to run this stupid uphill race again. 7 months later I'm still on the fence.
• Best overall trail race: Soapstone Mountain 24k. I LOVED this course (dirt roads, single track, hills, river running, mud).
  
• Hardest trail race: Seven Sisters 12M (ugh) I was warned not to run this on a rainy day. Now I know why.
  
• PR'd in the half marathon (1:23) and marathon (2:58).

Now it's time to figure out what to do for 2009. I've made an early attempt at the 2009 race schedule and will modify as needed. Stay injury free everybody.

Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k

I headed out to Temple, NH for the 31st annual "freeze your butt off" 5k on New Years Day, or what locals call the Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k. It's a nice small town race (put on by the local Lions Club) on a somewhat challenging course (on a normal day) but a tad more difficult with snow covered roads and a wind chill waaaaay below zero. At least it wasn't snowing this year...
The race starts on West Rd near the center of town, climbing right from the start and continuing on for about 1.5 miles before turning back onto Hill Rd. Unfortunately for us today, West Rd surprisingly heads due west, right into the nice 20+mph winds coming in from the west. Uphill into the wind is not how I like to start a race! Thankfully we run DOWN Hill Rd for about a mile (with a tail wind), turn left on a dirt road at about 2.75 miles and then left again on RT 45 for a final 400m uphill push to the finish right in the center of town (near where we started).
I scanned the field at the start for familiar faces, spotted a bunch of Gate City Striders including my current arch nemesis Mike Wright. Mike has a habit of passing me in the last few seconds of a race. With a Ready, Set, Go we were off. 5 or 6 young guns immediately got out in front and I settled in close behind, running with local Temple resident Sean Radcliffe (also a masters). We ran side by side for 1.5 miles before I was able to put a little distance between us on the downhill section. I wore my screw shoes which worked great. Unfortuanetly I was not alone so no real advantage was gained.
I generally don't like to look behind me during a race, choosing to run 'scared' instead. I always assume someone is really close. I knew Mike Wright was back there but I didn't know how close. I have to admit I was a little nervous on the last uphill stretch to the finish. I was tired, cold and running out of gas (might have been those black and tans from New Years Eve!). With about 100m to go I finally took a peak and realized today I would win the battle with Mr Wright :-)

I managed a 6th place overall, 1st in the 40-49 division with a time of 19:43.I t was the toughest 19:43 5k I've run in a while, that's for sure...Results can be found here.

In addition to the table full of cookies plus bagels and gallons of soup for post race grub, they also give out unique chocolate chip cookie shaped medals. There seems to be a theme. Heck, the 1st Temple resident (Sean Radcliffe) also takes home a pizza sized chocolate chip cookie. Sweet.

Woodford (VT) Snowshoe Race

I headed out to Woodford, VT with Bill Morse for the 1st snowshoe race of the season (or is it the last race of last season???), the I Love Woodford 3.5 mile race. I'm not sure what 'drives' us to travel over 2 1/2hrs to race for less than 30 minutes but oddly we are not alone.
Jim Johnson has a nice write up on the race on his blog ( with links to pictures) so I won't repeat too much, although I will steal one of his pics :-)

Like most people, I wasn't sure what to expect with the first race. The few times I've been out were punishing (humbling) to say the least. After a fairly conservative start I decided to pick it up on the very first hill in order to get decent position going into the single track section (the rest of the race essentially). I got behind Abby Woods (eventual women's winner) and stayed there for most of the race, only passing her after I took her out right before the gated trail. It wasn't on purpose (and she helped) but the result was the same. At least I was able to beat one CMS runner/snowshoer today...

I haven't seen any results posted yet but I believe I ended up in 10th with a time of 27:50. I think styling Dave Dunham (what's up with the orange hair?) was the only 40+ guy ahead of me though. Overall not a bad day.

UPDATE (12/31) - Results can be found here -->Woodford Results

Be Careful What You Wish For

SNOW. Except for a couple of hours early Sunday morning, I think it snowed continually from about 2pm Friday until sometime late last night. I like snow but even I was getting tired of it.

I spent a couple of hours on Saturday clearing more trails in Horse Hill Nature Preserve (where I do about 90% of my snowshoeing). Made some decent progress, especially on some of my favorite trails. No running at all to speak of, mostly because it was too dangerous (poorly plowed roads, no visibility and a town full of stupid drivers).

Sunday wasn't much better (from a running point of view). I went back out to HHNP in the morning for 1 1/2hrs of snowshoeing and trail clearing and then returned again late in the day for another 1 3/4hrs of JUST snowshoeing. Very little running since I was breaking trails in knee deep snow (18-20"). The lack of running didn't make it any easier. Racing shoes are pretty much worthless in 20" of fluffy snow, but they do make great snow scoops as was evident with each step. Another 15 minutes out there and I may have chucked my Dions into the beaver swamp.

Today was a recovery day, tomorrow I'm back to training (hopefully a few miles on the road and a few miles on the snowshoes). Plenty of time to play since I'm off for 16 days! Woo Hoo.

PS: Care to guess what color blazing they use in most trails in HHNP? Look real close in the picture above. Hint: it's the same color as the stuff falling from the sky, in the trees and on the ground. No more hints.

Screwshoe Review (aka road test)

First, I have not and do not take credit for 'screwshoes'. Like everything else nowadays, I found it on the internet (so it must be true!). In fact, a quick search for 'screwshoes' and you'll find lots of blogs with very detailed instructions on how to do it, although it's not overly complicated.

I used #8 1/2" sheet metal screws for the entire shoe. Sheet metal screws are nice because they have a raised lip on the screw head which provides the bite on ice. If I were to do it again (and I might), I'd probably use 1/2" screws in the back half (heel) and 3/8" screws in the front half (toe). The sole is much thinner up front and you can 'feel' the screws (although they don't actually stick through the shoe into my foot). I did remove one screw from each shoe prior to running (beneath my big toe) because it felt like it might come through. In the end I had 13 screws in each shoe. I don't know what the magic number of screws should be but I'd guess somewhere between 10 and 20. Just be sure to place them in the lugs or thicker parts of the sole.

Since it snowed Wednesday, most secondary roads in NH are a mix of snow, slush, sand and salt with a little ice thrown in for good measure. When the road conditions deteriorate the value of these shoes becomes very obvious. You get a confident grip on pretty much all surfaces, especially up and down hills. So much so that I ran just as fast in crappy conditions today as I normally do on a 'normal' training day. Pretty much all that slipping and sliding (along with the shortened, cautious stride) that is typically a part of winter running can be mostly eliminated. They are a little noisy on bare pavement but not really annoying, but I did find myself jumping off to the side of the road a few times and running in the snow shoulder (I mean really, it doesn't take much to get me annoyed so better safe than sorry).

My recommendation: 2 thumbs up! It was worth the 2 bucks and 5 minutes of time it took and if you don't like them just remove the screws. A word of caution: be careful in the house.

Snowshoes or Screwshoes?

Our first measurable snowfall of the season fell today, a measly 3" to be exact. Not exactly a snowstorm but I couldn't wait to get out there and do 'something', but what to do?
I decided to take my snowshoes AND my screwshoes out to Horse Hill for some sort of trail run. I figured I'd use whatever was more appropriate once I saw the trails.

First, my shoes:

Dion 121 Racing Snowshoes
















Salomon Trail Shoes (with 1/2" sheet metal screws for studs)















I went with the snowshoes (I just couldn't resist!). Come on, did you really think I'd pick the studs? Actually, it was a close call. Turns out the snow WAS deep enough for snowshoeing but it was a bit tricky navigating all the downed limbs and trees on nearly every trail. Horse Hill needs a lot of clean up to make some of the trails passable again.
I broke the first rule of snowshoeing right out of the gate: DON'T OVERDRESS. It was a chilly start (mid 20's) so I had a fleece and a Gore Tex shell. I knew a made a mistake after about 1/2 mile but I was too stubborn to turn back. Man, did I sweat. Next time...
Overall not a bad 'run' of about 4 miles. Just as tiring as I remembered too.