I headed out ahead of him. It was almost 40 degrees. Since I would be kicking up snow though, I couldn't wear shorts. That was kind of frustrating.
A bunch of people had walked through the trail. That seemed promising, but I figured it wouldn't last long. It only lasted to the building next the softball fields. It was probably just dog walkers.
I ran easy, but it wasn't easy once the tracks were gone. Suddenly, there were no tracks at all and I was blazing trails. It was fascinating to see all the animal tracks. At one point, I did follow deer tracks.I'd run until I was tired, then I'd hike. I would tire quite quickly. At half a mile out, I was determined to make it 1.5 miles out. It didn't matter how long it took.
It indeed was long. I saw this brown thing in the distance. I thought it was an animal. It took me forever to get there. Eventually I realized it was a log. There was a fence there too.
Getting over a mile was great, when it finally happened. The trail was pretty, with the snow cover and the frozen river too. If only I wasn't working so hard and could actually enjoy it.
Right near the turn around was the best part of the run. Two deer ran right across the trail. I didn't have my camera out and couldn't get it out in time. There was smoke coming out of a house up above.
I turned around at 1.5 miles. I stopped because I could see the deer up above. I watched them for awhile and they watched me. I got a few photos, but they weren't very good as the deer were hidden in among the trees.
I ran on back. The first half mile wasn't too bad, but it was still pretty deep out this far. It was a little easier with my other tracks there now. There was also one set of footprints.
It was nice to get to mile 2. However, I now encountered a problem. My snowshoes don't close properly over my foot. The front of my foot slid out of the binding. I couldn't run and even walking was a pain. There was a giant clump of ice building up in it, below my foot.
I tried to go on. Then, I found a stick, but the ice wouldn't budge. I had to keep walking along. Finally, I was able to break the ice and get the strap back on.
I was back in business and back to running again. It was nice to get near the last half mile and stuff that I know. I still wasn't running much. It seems like I'd start at a low spot and then run a short distance and the snow would be too high. I definitely needed more packed down trail.I mostly just hiked on in. My right binding then had the same problem and the right foot slipped out of it. That was so frustrating. I need to get some velcro straps I think. I noticed that my dad didn't have any XC ski tracks, as I got close to the path.
I finally saw him and his tracks. I guess he just went out and back a short distance, over and over again. I didn't want to ruin his tracks, but I didn't want to make a new path either. I went over them.
I tried to take my loose shoe off, but I couldn't. Instead, I stumbled on in. I took them off at the end of the trail. I was soaked and this was an exhausting 3 miles. It was slow, but I made a path.
Tomorrow, I'm going down to Philly for a concert. I'll probably run down there. I might snowshoe run, but more likely, I'll go around the river. I have not done that loop in some time. I don't know that I'd be up for all 8 miles of pavement, but maybe.
3 miles - 1:05:55 (21:58 pace) 33 feet of elevation gain
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