WOW! Day 64 Shannon

So after Diane's bootcamp, I was sore. Well come Saturday morning I was REALLY sore. My legs and bum we're crying. I was crying everytime I tried to sit down to use the potty. OMG!

Well I had to run 14 miles Saturday morning. I did it! But it was extremely painful. Every step I took hurt! We had run this 14 miles before in late September, so I knew the terrain, which was really nice, but it didn't make it any easier. By the time I was done, I could barely walk. I attempted to stretch, but that was extremely painful. So I crawled into my truck and went home. Got a bite to eat (not too much as my stomach was upset, was for the whole run), and soaked in a hot bath. While I was in the bath, I stretched, which I found to be much easier. I then proceeded to take a short nap. I was glad that run was over!

I will say, that even though I was in pain, I did manage to shave 8 seconds per mile (average) off from my last time out. I'm impressed, even if no one else is :)

Now comes the fun! Sunday was our scheduled snowshoeing day. I managed to assume too much and didn't make it to the correct Park and Ride spot so I ended up driving myself all the way up to our meeting point - Boreal Ski Resort. As soon as I got there, I got a parking pass ($5). Then I moved to the correct parking area, got out of my truck, feeling confident because I had already walked around, took a step toward the outhouse, hit black ice and down I went, right on my tush - OUCH! Luckily the only thing that truly hurt was my pride. :p. I managed to get up, and safely made it to the outhouse. However, I walked very gingerly.

Once everyone arrived, and everyone was changed and geared up, we walked to the trailhead and proceeded to get our snowshoes on. What a challenge that was, for me anyways, having never done it before. Well I did the best that I could and found that it wasn't all that difficult to walk in them - phew.

We proceeded up the trail and after about 50 feet, Pam said we were going off the trail - woo hoo. Well at least I thought, woo hoo at the time. Off the trail means less compact snow, more fluff, much softer. What does that REALLY mean, more work! I think I found every sink hole there was. At one point, Steve, noticed that my snowshoes needed to be tighter and he was kind enough to help me with that, while I stripped off my heavy jacket. HOT! After he fixed my shoes, I had to try to get up this small embankment, well my first step took me all the way down to my knee. I couldn't lift my leg up and out, so I crawled - LOL. I was quite the sight I'm sure. But luckily no one was looking, except Steve, but he was too nice to laugh.

We finally made it the prairie and took a breather. Here's a pic of Pam and I. Pam still looks good, and me, I'm all disheveled having stripped my beanie, earmuffs, jacket, gloves, etc.,etc (after only 30 minutes). Luckily the camera doesn't show all.

After our breather, we took off, going up, and up, and up, stopping only briefly for potty breaks & disrobing.

We finally made it to the peak that we were aiming for - phew. It was a climb, but well worth it.

Isn't it just beautiful there? We stopped to have lunch and enjoy the beauty. Then Pam took a pic of me conquering the hill!

It was an absolutely fabulous day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. All I can say now is - When are we going again???

Thanks Pam for an awesome day!