Winter hibernaton over- progress report

Last fall I found myself unable to update my blog, and sadly, have neglected it until now.

Why? Because I became very busy working towards my goals, and had to sacrifice something, which ended up being my quiet time at night. So, Yay, a good reason!


What was I doing? Skate skiing (a form of nordic cross country that's really freakin' hard)! Of course, we tried dragging the kids along. Then we bribed the grandparents to tag along to appease the kids, which only sort of worked. We weren't really getting to work out.

Our solution was to get up at 4:30/5am twice a week to ski before my husband's work began. One of us would stay home with the kids and 'sleep in' while the other dragged their backside up to Eldora, 40 minutes away, and stumbled out into the dark to fumble with skis and poles as hands went numb, and then glide off trustingly as the sky slowly lightened up enough to see the snow. I went up Mondays and Thursdays, my husband went Tuesdays and Fridays.

It was heaven. I know I have truly 'arrived' as a hard-core enthusiast when, in Boulder-Land-of-Athletes, there are only a handful of us doing this regularly. Why was this so fun? Certainly, the strain on my heart (literally!) of going up to 9000' in elevation to flail around on super-skinny skis uphill most of the way (Eldora is infamous for its steep trails: the saying goes, "There's no such thing as a casual day in Eldora"), the very cold wind that frequently blew, and the mildly creepy sense of wandering around in the near-dark alone were not the highlights. But here were the snapshots that kept me coming back: the sunrises; the quiet snow and trees; the sudden powerful views of snow-capped peaks; the gentle snowfall that muffled the world; birdsong as spring approaches; learning to recognize animal tracks in the snow; first tracks on freshly groomed trails... ahhhhhh, I'm so spoiled by that one thing that I can't even be bothered to go during normal business hours anymore!


Did I mention that this sport is insanely unnatural and hard? I also asked for my Christmas present from everybody to be that of pitching in towards a women's ski clinic that was once a week, all day, for 6 weeks. So I was really skiing three days a week through February. And it was soooo necessary. I couldn't go more than 50 yards without stopping to pant uncontrolledly, and certainly couldn't make it up a gentle hill without falling or totally losing form. The clinic gave me the tools to start putting the puzzle of skate-ski balance and coordination into place.

Now, last week, I think I went about 7 miles, watching the sunrise, and found myself making it much further between rests. I can go on blues and blacks, not just greens, and have a good time. My cardio is MUCH improved, and my clothes are fitting better. My legs are stronger, and I was able to keep with it through some minor injuries. A knee strain and back strain (both from gardening/construction projects at home) both were unable to keep me from going up for my commune with the snow. Even that demon-nemesis of mine, Sleep Deprivation, tried to stop me and failed. I recall one Wednesday ski clinic where I loaded up on coffee (which I never drink), sudafed for the cold I had, and ibuprofen for the knee pain and skied the whole day with my group. Another Wednesday, the temperature when I got there was -23 when we headed out to ski. We rocked it, though.

I discovered a whole new level of tough. I learned that being cold was okay. Frostbite is not, of course, but there are many levels of functional cold before that. I learned that to be an athlete means working with and through injury, not letting it stop you. Being sick doesn't mean you can't work out, either. Being sleep deprived is the same, as long as you can drive safely.  A certain degree of discomfort comes with the territory of working hard for something. And learning to not let it bother you is huge. Realistically, I have to expect that during the Ultimate Florida Challenge, for 30 days, I will experience all of these types of discomfort at some point. It just can't be a big deal. And the more athletes I meet, the more I understand that for many of them, it isn't that they're genetically primed to never get hurt or sick (although there are a few people like that out there). It's that they have conditioned themselves to work through it. They've toughened up. And so have I, although I'm still a total newbie. I have a stronger mental approach to physically demanding work.

I'm back now, and plan on updating my blog with regularity again. Thanks for letting the blog hibernate, but now it's spring, and I'm ready to add more to my plate again.