Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Valentines Day WMAC Snowshoe Race, Saratoga NY




As I drove north from JFK to Newburgh, I listened to some Christian radio. The discussion was about the serenity prayer, which holds the oft-repeated line "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change". That was a great precursor to my Valentines Day weekend! If I can't make the snow melt, I might as well run in it!
This was my first snowshoe race, and I registered II and myself in it for Valentines Day morning. I told him about it the night before, and he was psyched! I had been emailing Laura in the weeks before, and she was so sweet, so I was expecting a good vibe for the day.
We drove up Saturday morning and found the parking lot, after which we crowded in a log-cabin type structure and pulled on our borrowed snowshoes. When the race organizer (Laura's husband) said go, we headed off. Running in snowshoes wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, though it certainly slowed my pace down a bit. II ran with me, so we had a nice time hanging out together. The course we well-groomed and little hilly, the morning was sunny and beautiful, and before long, we had finished and huddled with the rest of the crew in the log cabin. It was just the kind of scene I love- not many people, crock pots full of home made warm soups and chilis, and friendly chatter all around. Laura even arranged for a barbershop quarter to sing a few post-race love songs. II threw his arm around me, and we swayed to the music. Our first snowshoe race, and our valentines day, was a success!

1 comment:

jen said...

Awesome! I have heard of snowshoe racing but haven't done one. It sounds intense. Great job, what a fun way to spend Valentine's day!

Love the pictures in your latest post too. I would love to see those mountains in person someday.