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Snowshoe Running (Read 58 times)

    Who's done it?  Did you like it?  Advice?

      i have. i love it. my advise is do it.

       

      i see you user name and if your from NH or thereabouts here is a good site with lots of great races.

      http://www.3craceproductions.com/

      In order to see the truth, sometimes you have to loose an eye.

      http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Utri/

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       


      Village people

        i have. i love it. my advise is do it.

         

        i see you user name and if your from NH or thereabouts here is a good site with lots of great races.

        http://www.3craceproductions.com/

         

        This is great!  Thanks.

          I am from NH and am familiar with 3C - thanks.

           

          How did you figure out the running snowshoes?  I grew up on the wooden beaver tails, worn with big insulated rubber boots, so I'm a bit overwhelmed...

           

          ETA - I didn't realize my profile wasn't available.  Not that there's much there, but I don't mind folks knowing where I am.

            Here's a recent thread over in Trailer Trash group.

             

            Until I opened this thread, I thought this was that thread.

            "So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog


            Latent Runner

              I did the Kingman Farm Moonlight (Madbury, NH) race last February, it was my first snowshoe race; thought/comments follow:

               

              Givens:

              • I was 50-60 pounds overweight on race day (I've since lost about 30)
              • I had exactly two training runs in snowshoes prior to the 5K race (4 miles and 3 miles respectively)
              • I read somewhere that you should take your average per mile time and add a minute per mile when wearing snowshoes
              • As I hadn't run a 5K on over 30 years, I guessed I was in shape enough for a 30 minute 5K
              • Six inches of new and fairly heavy snow fell the morning of the race
              • The race happens at night and all participants are required to wear a headlight
              • The course description said, "Gently rolling hills"

              The race:

              • The course was on a narrow hiking track through the woods, fortunately the race was limited to something just over 100 individuals (if memory serves correctly)
              • After the start I got into a decent pace at about the half mile mark and then tripped on a submerged boulder which sent me head over heels off the trail and down into the woods
              • Even though this was a "race" two or three folks immediately stopped and pulled me out of the snow and back up onto the trail
              • Some time into what I guessed was the second mile I said out loud, "Hey, I thought the course description said gently rolling hills."
              • The guy next to me laughed and said, "Yeah, wait until you get to the hill on the other side of the meadow."
              • As I was running across the "gently rolling hills" of said meadow, I looked up and saw a long zig-zagging line of headlights going up, and up, and up through the trees; if someone told me the climb was over 300' in a half of a mile I would believe them
              • On the way up a guy and his dog passed me and I said, "Hey, no fair, dogs have 4-wheel drive"
              • On the way back down I caught the guy and his dog, and as I was waiting for the trail to get wide enough to pass then back I said, "Beware of fat old men, we do down real well."
              • When the finish line mercifully came up, I saw the clock; so much for adding one minute per mile; would you believe five minutes per mile?
              • I finished the course in almost exactly 45 minutes and was way-way beyond exhausted.
              • Have I mentioned that I cannot wait to do it again?  Smile

              Fat old man PRs:

              • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
              • 2-mile: 13:49
              • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
              • 5-Mile: 37:24
              • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
              • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
              • Half Marathon: 1:42:13

                I am from NH and am familiar with 3C - thanks.

                 

                How did you figure out the running snowshoes?  I grew up on the wooden beaver tails, worn with big insulated rubber boots, so I'm a bit overwhelmed...

                 

                ETA - I didn't realize my profile wasn't available.  Not that there's much there, but I don't mind folks knowing where I am.

                 

                dions are really popular. to be honest though, i have a pair of 21" red feathers(i'm 5') that i got from cabella's 3 years ago for 80 bucks and they work fine for me. i just use my cascadias for footwear with a pair of dirty girls to keep the snow out of my feet. here are the dions...

                http://www.snowshoegear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64:dion-121-racing-snowshoe-review&catid=37:gear-review&Itemid=60

                In order to see the truth, sometimes you have to loose an eye.

                http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Utri/

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 


                Running Chick

                  thanks for posting.  every winter, our beautiful bikepath is covered in snow; and is not plowed.  and every winter, i think this is the year i figure out how to use snowshoes.  so thank you for posting this - i will be following and thinking about this as the first snow falls.  who knows?  i may be a convert!  Wink  thanks again.

                    Sounds like a great race Shipo.  Sounds not all that far off my first summer trail race, to tell the truth!  When I lived in Durham I frequently walked my dogs over at Kingman, so I've got a pretty good idea of the terrain.  And I live close enough to do reconnaissance...

                     

                    Speaking of excess weight, the FAQs I'm finding on the racing snowshoes pretty much just push smallest possible, but I have to think the recommendations would be different for 130lbs and 200lbs, right?


                    Latent Runner

                      Sounds like a great race Shipo.  Sounds not all that far off my first summer trail race, to tell the truth!  When I lived in Durham I frequently walked my dogs over at Kingman, so I've got a pretty good idea of the terrain.  And I live close enough to do reconnaissance...

                       

                      Speaking of excess weight, the FAQs I'm finding on the racing snowshoes pretty much just push smallest possible, but I have to think the recommendations would be different for 130lbs and 200lbs, right?

                       

                      Cool that you live so close by, I wish I'd reconned the course before I ran it, I would have been better prepared for what they term "gently rolling hills".  Smile

                       

                      As for weight, I haven't seen any recommendations at all so you're ahead of me on that count.  When I got into this earlier this year I was somewhere in the 220 weight range, I bought a set of Dion Model 132 snowshoes (the yellow ones) for training, and for my one (and so far only) race I rented a set of Dion Model 121 racing snowshoes (the white ones).  While my weight didn't seem to be too much of a factor on the flat, when I was climbing that mother of a hill in the woods, yeah, being so darned heavy was beyond a challenge; geez were my legs and lungs burning when I got to the top.

                      Fat old man PRs:

                      • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
                      • 2-mile: 13:49
                      • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
                      • 5-Mile: 37:24
                      • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
                      • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
                      • Half Marathon: 1:42:13