As I headed out the door for my long run I decided to grab my snowshoes and hit the trail. I spend alot of the week running my workouts on the road so the opportunity to snowshoe before the snow is gone was just too tempting. When I arrived at the trail I realized that the conditions were much worse then I expected. The trail was sloppy wet where the snowmobiles had travelled so I decided to go wherever the pristine white snow on the sides of the trail invited me to go. I also decided that I didn't have to run in a straight line as I was not heading to anywhere in particular so why not go off the beaten path and see where the snow takes me. Funny but many of the places I ended up running I found myself following in the tracks of some large dog who's owner I assume took the sloppy trail in lieu of the higher softer snow. Yes following the higher snow was a bit of a struggle forcing me to step a bit higher and slow my pace but it also afforded me the opportunity to take in some views of the lake I had not partaken in before. If there was snow heading down to the waters edge or up a hill I took it. I came to a piece of property that had a huge yard of pristine snow so rather then just run straight through it I decided to really leave my mark and trotted out a huge happy face. I climbed some snow covered rocks and discovered some long forgotten wooden staircase below which at one time would have been used to access the lake. Anyhow it was a great snowshoe run and great how I felt like a first time explorer on a trail I have run 100's of times. Today's run also reminded me of a saying I have hanging on my office wall,
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail"- Ralph Waldo Emerson .
This quote also inspired me to write down the following quotes. I am not sure if anyone has said these before or better but they just popped in my head-
The path you forge yourself is the loneliest path of them all.
Make your own path. Those you meet along the way are your kindred spirits.
