Boldly running where I've never gone before

Having not run the marathon or having run the non-marathon or however I plan to remember the Boondoggle in Berlin, I have been in a bit of a quandary as to what to plan next.  Thoroughly burned out and unwilling to do anything even remotely resembling scheduled training, I have spent the last 6 weeks living like a normal person:  sleeping late, going for walks, doing yoga or the occasional Zumba class, even wearing shoes without laces every day.  It’s been a nice change.  Milling around without a particular goal — in a holding pattern one might say — imparts a sense of freedom and spontaneity.    A lack of obligation and direction can be positively liberating!  At first anyway.  Until it gets boring.  And that’s pretty much where I am right now.   So it’s time to get my ass back in gear.

It’s pretty late in the year to expect any exciting events in this area, being almost December and all, so I set my sights on 2012 and the upcoming snowshoe racing season.

I’ve never been much of a winter sport enthusiast but I decided to banish the winter blues last year by planning one race per month from January 1 until April.  On a whim, I signed up for a snowshoe 5k on 1/29/11 with my dear friend Pam who is always up for outdoor adventure and actually owns a pair of snowshoes.   I didn’t think it could be that hard, so I ordered a pair online and stomped around the garage in them for about 10 minutes before deciding I was ready for anything.  The day of the race we headed out to beautiful Glacial Park in Ringwood, IL for the Snowshoe Stomp.   We had a blast!   Once I learned how to walk in the damn things without catching the front crampons in the snow and toppling forward, I did great.  Of course, I fell a bunch of times first but that’s just part of the fun, right?

So I am dusting off the old training journal and getting busy.  There is a race in Barrington on January 29 called the Frozen Zucchini 5k and I just registered for it.  I have 11 weeks to train and I’m pretty confident I’ll be ready.  Forward motion, as in walking or running, is a given.  The added legwork of taking larger and wider steps while trekking up and down hills can be practiced in the woods near my home.  And the best part is this:  since I’m not actually a “snowshoer”, I don’t have to worry about speed.  I don’t have to be fast.  I don’t have to be good.  Hell, I don’t even have to run.  I just have to strap those contraptions to my feet and remain upright for the better part of 3.1 miles.   I think I can handle that.

Captain Picard, update the mission log!