Slowly breaking through the daylight

Today was my first cross country ski in almost two years. The last time I skied was December of '06. I've had the best intentions of adding more skiing to my training but seem to have missed out for a variety of reasons each winter. Either the snow wasn't there when I could ski or it was too damn cold or I was so deep into my run training I didn't want to ski right before I left town for a race.

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country.

None of those reasons/excuses were available today and I knew yesterday's run/race would leave me a little sore. It was nice to be on the boards again gliding around the trails at Kincaid Park. Having nice weather and adequate snow was a big plus. I was surprised that my balance and technique were there for me. Strength and ski endurance were another story. It became pretty evident that while I do have arms, they were as hollow as a drinking straw. Yes, I have some work to do to regain some semblance of ski strength.

For the first day, however, it was all good and leaves me motivated for more. As I skied I kept reminding myself that one of my best summers of road running came after a good winter of skiing and a few long ski races of 25-30 kilometers. I set two road PR's for 5K and 10K the summer after winning the 25K at the Tour of Anchorage. I just need to find a way to get my skis waxed occasionally as I gave up most of my ski prep tools after I stopped coaching in 2000. One of the things I don't miss about skiing is the damn equipment and driving out to the trails. Once you're there its fine, but the process is more time intensive than running.

A good training day that kept me from beating my delicate legs and out of the damn gym. I look forward to more opportunities like this.

I created a seperate page for my training each day with specifics so I don't clutter this spot up with details. Click on the upper right or here.