XC Sking 1:39:05 [3] 18.69 km (5:18 / km) +131m 5:07 / km
First, because it was so cold there was no rush to get on the skis, we drove to Morristown, home of Concept 2. It was of course closed but now I've seen where it is.
Got skiing around 1115, when it had warmed to 3F. Lisa and I both went down to Great Hosomer Pond and zipped around on 3-5cm of "ccoperative" snow covering the ice. When heading north my face got a little ouchy-cold but heading south into the sun was nice. I tried to get over to LIttle Hosmer Pond but they didn't have the the route groomed and while I got close I decided to bag it at a road crossing.
I spent a lot of time working on no-poles and V2 and the cooperative snow turned me made it seem I was an expert skier; I was zipping along at a very good pace. Coming back on the trail was a little annoying because it was all rutted up with classic tracks making it hard to skate; it was a nice little up-and-downy narrowy trail that was fun though.
A great ski on a beautiful day.
XC Sking 1:10:58 [3] 13.11 km (5:25 / km) +225m 4:59 / km
I figured with all the cold snow kms so far and that I had two more outings to go I'd use the break to wax my skis. Put on some Toko blue. I really need to pack my own iron. I thought if any place would have decent irons to borrow it would be Craftsbury but that was definitly not the case. Luckily there was another guy there to borrow from.
The place was super busy, at least compared to yesterday, which was fun to see. Lisa said that it seemed that the main topic of conversation was parents yelling at their kids to wear a face mask so they didn't get frostbite; the kids were typically not happy about it.
We got going about around 1445 when it had warmed to 4F. My heavy wt gloves were wet from the morning so I wore my mids and my hands were just fine. Otherwise, usual outfit with a buff pulled up over my head.
The first 40 min the snow was super duper zippy fast. I'm not sure if it was due to the snow, my fresh wax, or the fact that it was so well groomed/packed/skied upon.
At about 8km I thought about heading back to avoid the climbing but decided what the heck -- just go. Up and up, then fun down and down. At the flooded creek there was standing water that there was no way to avoid. The climb back up to the Nordic Center I could have done without. Then, as I feared migfht happen I my bindings were frozen shut and there was about 30cm of a film of ice on the bottoms of each ski. The later is not fast and the former required and extra 5 min of picking and scraping ice.
We zipped up to Newport for dinner, which was a fun drive.
I'm a littel overtired from the long day in the cold. I might be a dehydrated. Tonight's movie is "The Ghost and Mrs Muir."
To my list from yesterday I add another:
* Weight on the front of the foot.
* Lift my knees and feet.
* Get low on the climbs.
* When climbing focus my eyes about a half a meter in front of the ski tips. Where the eyes go the body will go and so it helps force my hips to turn, get my weight over the ski, and commit to the glide.