An interesting finding...... I've been following a HM training plan for the last month or so that involves 3 runs and 2 crosstraining activities per week of my own choosing. I normally do my long run on Fridays, have Saturday as a rest day and then run again on Sunday and try to get the 3rd run and 2 crosstraining activities done (strength training, the elliptical or core work) sometime during the week. I've been reading roseabi 's posts on her HM plan closely and learning lots on there. I've been struggling lately with motivation but had a great run on Friday healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...
As I drive home from work during the week, I pass by a coulee that I run in when I can't get out to my gorgeous lake trails. But it is under a decent blanket of snow and although I was able to run it last week; with the most recent snowfall, running it would be a bigger challenge than I'm willing to tackle right now.....but it is just begging to be explored with snowshoes. So last night hubby and I finally strapped on our snowshoes and got out there. We kept it a shorter excursion given kiddo still needed a ride to the youth centre and hubby's fitness has backslid a bit this year since he's not teaching Phys. Ed. for the first time in a very long time and has also been struggling a bit with the winter blues. I have found after the last couple of long runs, my hip flexors and muscle under my right bum cheek have been tight. Not too tight to stop running, but a reminder that my body isn't used to running longer distances on pavement and asphalt, and I'm probably not as relaxed running right now given the snow and icy conditions. So as we started our trek, I noticed my legs started loosening up and by the end, all signs of stiffness and soreness was gone. As I headed out for my planned run today, my legs were tired, but there was no stiffness or soreness noted at all. I recall roaseabi mentioning something about doing a crosstraining activity the day after the long run to help keep the legs moving and I have to say Yes! This works great! I've always kept Saturday as my rest day, but this may need to become my new snowshoeing day and perhaps a midweek evening trek as well! As we were soaking in the hot tub after our little excursion, we could hear they coyotes just a-yipping back and forth at each other. I think I'll forego any solo evening excursions but will hopefully be able to continue getting hubby to join me. We didn't take any pictures because we were using the moonlight and snow reflection with the distant street lights lighting our way, but perhaps next time, I'll see if anything shows up on a picture. It really is quite peaceful crunching through the deep snow, stopping to stare up at the sky and look for constellations and hoping for a glimpse of the Space Station zooming by with our fellow Canadian making his mark up there.