Walking Normally Again

Sue and I went cross-country skiing last Saturday with friends in Osceola, a small village on the Tug Hill Plateau. Bands of lake effect snow blanket the plateau every year and usually provide for some kick-butt skiing conditions.

I hate cross-country skiing. Er, well, I *used to* hate it. Years ago, without knowing anything about the sport, I purchased a pair of skis from a local shop. They judged the length of ski I needed by my height rather than by my weight. Like many cyclists, I'm light for my height and with the 215cm, highly arched skis I was sold, I never was able to get much kick at all. Add that to the fact that I don't know how to glide, and I was guaranteed a horrible experience every time I tried it.

I spent an hour on the old skis on Saturday, lagging behind my friends and being pretty miserable. We stopped back at the lodge and I borrowed a new pair of skis from the shop. The owner suggested a pair of Solomon skis, 180cm in length, and wider than my old ones. Shorter and wider (easier but slower) seems to be the trend nowadays.

What a difference! I still had trouble gliding without falling over, but that's because I never learned how to ski or skate as a kid. I was able to get lots of kick and the stability of the wider skis relieved the soreness in my knees I'd been experiencing. After a few more hours of skiing, we headed back to the shop where I forked over the cash for the new skis.

We came home and I spent the next three days walking funny. My hip extensors, shoulder carriage, and all those little balancing muscles in my hips and legs were tighter than guitar strings and quite sore. It felt good to be sore and to know I'd worked myself a bit.

Tomorrow, February 1st, is the first day of my next training period. Forget build, base, etc. I'm finishing up the "sit around watching TV and getting fat" period and moving into the "lose weight and start pretending to be an athlete again" phase. Since I put up the bike in late August, I've added 9.5 pounds and subtracted lots of aerobic fitness. It's going to be a miserable year on the bike if I don't start something now.

It's time to get back in the Attic.