I'm done fighting winter

I am a Maine girl and I usually love winter, but this year I have either been fighting it or fleeing from it. I either tried to run outside and spent the whole run angry at the terrible road conditions or went to the gym and suffered on the treadmill. I think this was because I was trying a new marathon training plan. I felt like I needed to get every single run in.

But now that I am in taper mode, I am trying to get out of this mindset and embrace winter instead. Why keep forcing myself through runs that I don't enjoy when I could be doing a winter activity I do enjoy?

I was going stir-crazy by the time I was done with work yesterday. I was just SO tired of being in my house. So I decided to try my snowshoes. I got them a couple years ago thinking I'd use them all the time- most of the trails near me are too snowy for running and too uneven for skiing. The first time I tried them they didn't stay on my feet, and I got so frustrated I threw them in the basement. But yesterday I dug them out and success!

I went for a 40 ish minute tramp around Hinkley park right across from my house. It was so beautiful and peaceful and I worked up a good sweat!

Inspired, as I started thinking about my workout for this morning, I decided to go for a cross country ski instead of a run. I headed to the Eastern Trail in Scarborough. It was an absolutely beautiful morning. The sun was shining, making the snow sparkle. The marsh was all frozen and because of the cold, there was cool sea smoke rising off the water,

When I first arrived I was excited because I saw tracks. Someone else had already been there and done all the hard work of breaking trail! Unfortunately, those tracks only lasted about 20 feet and then I had to break trail.

 I was not moving very quickly, but I was sure getting a work-out. Pushing 10 inches of snow out of the way gets the lungs and the legs burning!

Once I turned around and headed back I got to use my own tracks and the skiing got much easier! I felt like I was actually gliding a little instead of just slogging forward. I only went about 3.5 miles in an hour, so I certainly wasn't flying. I probably would have gotten a better workout doing a speed session on the treadmill, but I was so much happier out on the trails. 

Have you been enjoying the winter weather?