Friday, November 21, 2008

First Day on Snow-

It doesn't take much to get me in the mood...

Mike Cavaliere showing off his skillz on Moraine Lake Rd in Lake Louise, AB

Yesterday was my first day on snow - Loved it!

I used to chase the snow from one corner of the country to the other in an attempt to spend as much 'on-snow time' as possible before the first races came up - now I just wait for it to get good.


Even though I'm not chasing the circuit as a racer, it's great to be able to have such good early season snow so close to home (50min drive from my house) while the Canmore Nordic Centre gets their act together. With 3 weeks of surfing under my belt, it was nice to be able to come back and hop onto some 'real' snow and skip that transition period where you can't bike, run or ski. Besides, I've ruined enough good racing skis trying to sneak on trails with not enough snow!

In my attempt to get back in racing shape (I'm planning on making a big comeback...ha - kidding of course...)
, I jumped back in the routine after nearly a month of inactivity and found myself faced with a rude awakening. It's amazing how little time off it takes to 'lose' in this case, my running legs and general fitness. I started running again while out East last week and I'm still suffering from stiff limbs! If that wasn't enough, I then decided that I should hit the gym for a weight workout - ouch, I could barely walk the next day, which happened to be my first day on snow...

The good thing about skiing is that it's low impact, and aside from working muscles that hadn't twitched in 6 months, it was nice to go out for a burn knowing that I wouldn't be doing further damage to the torn mess caused by the strength workout-

Regardless, it will be nice once my body gets acclimatized to the change in routine.

4 comments:

holly said...

Pretty sweet that you managed to skip the awkward shoulder season!

Mike said...

Had my first day on Moraine today. It was sweet. Perfect ski day, lots of people were skating but I busted out the classics and loved every minute of it.
First of many, see you on the trails.

Leslie said...

Welcome home!

I've thought about skiing...but damn, them trails are still dry!! My hubby and I are going to "date" ski every Friday at Sunshine and ski tour every Saturday this year. At least that's the plan!

Phil said...

Holly- Yeah, I tend not to run tons during the fall/winter mostly to let my bones recover from the abuse, so the shorther the transition, the better I like it! Looking forward to reading your next post...

Mike - you're alive! I'm sure we'll cross 'skis' on Moraine or the Nordic Centre sometime soon -

Leslie - The trails may be dry but they're hard as hell! Almost like running on pavement...yikes- got some new fat planks this year, so I'm hoping for a bit of touring myself - let me know your plans if you're looking for another partner.