Winter Fun and Fitness

Winter is upon us, complete with short days, slippery trails, and cold temperatures.  I love it! I have a feeling that it is going to be a good snow year here in the Northeast. We got jipped last year, so we are owed one.

Kevin, Scout, and I snowshoed the Ossipee River Trails yesterday to celebrate the new year. It is surprising and pleasing to see how much traffic has been out on the trails since the last snow storm.  The most popular trail, River Run, had a rock hard snowshoe packed tread. The more oscure trails had only seen a few tracks. Equestrian Sue and her trusty steed had been through the hard packed trail and fortunately, didn't post hole through in very many spots. The deer have been traveling up and down all of the trails in great numbers. The beaver have been busy gnawing down small trees and dragging them off to their dam. There was evidence that a lone hiker bravely crossed the cold water and found the Boot Legger Trail, no doubt following the snowshoe tracks Kevin and I left behind from previous trips.  I had to wonder out loud what he thought about those rollers Kevin incorporated into the trail for mountain biking fun. We didn't see any signs of fresh activity from the goat herder who has been known to frequent the area with his little herd of friends, but I'm sure he'll be out soon. I've been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook from snowshoe runners about the evil work of post holers. I'm not a snowshoe snob, let the goats and deer and hikers and trail runners and even equestrian Sue enjoy! If the land is open for public use, it's there for all of us.

Kevin and I hiked fast, taking turns leading. Scout ran ahead and circled around over and over again, covering three or four times the distance we did. My original plan was to do a loop with Kevin and Scout, then change into my Dions and run 3 or 4 miles. But our loop was a long one and I'd had enough by the time we were done so I called it a day. I did my Insanity workout when we got back and was surpised I still had enough energy to do those squats, jumps, lunges, and drills. I am on week four of Insanity and feeling fitter, more flexible, and lighter on my feet than when I started. And it's still fun!