Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Went up to ski at about midday, and walked right past racer X8A7's Sub(aru) vehicle to get to the trailhead, so I knew I would need to be very attentive the whole time I was out. I did a bunch of hill repeats on Summit Loop, and then skied back to the trailhead. When I saw that racer X8A7's Sub(aru) was still there--2 1/2 hours later or whatever it was--I became worried that maybe he hadn't known about the pine cone gatherers, and had been taken prisoner. So I turned around and went back out to look for him.

When I finally found him, he looked as tired and beat as I had ever seen him. It just goes to show you can not underestimate the pine cone gatherers. He hadn't known. I escorted him back just in case the pine cone people renewed their attacks and fortunately there were no further incidents. He looked very happy once we reached the parking lot and he could see his car. It will probably be a long time before he comes back to Happy Jack--I bet it will be a week, anyway.

Ran afterwards. Much cooler air moved in while I was skiing, and that made the running all the better. You don't want to get overheated.

Skied in mid afternoon and was surprised at how full the parking lot was when I arrived--lucky to spot one empty space, but otherwise a lot of parking had spilled out to the shoulders of the highway. Usually things are only that busy on a Saturday if there is a race going on. But it must have been something else. Maybe people were out hunting for pine cones and bits of icicle. My arms felt sluggish; maybe my skis were slower than I was thinking.

Ran afterwards.

Temps warmed up into the 20s, with mostly sun and some amounts of thin clouds. Ski trails were in great shape and I was in even better shape, having skis with me today!

Lots of cars in the parking lot but I saw comparatively few skiers on the trails. Sometimes people drive out and just stay in their cars, put their strava devices on their dogs, release their dogs and tell them to go run around real far, and once the dogs have taken off, then they slink down in their seats so nobody can see them, and they nap. I would never do that, not least because I have no idea what a strava device even is. No sign of any of the ski teams, so they must be off traveling to races.

Ran after skiing, and there were some bodacious drifts in the trails left behind by yesterday's winds! Narrow cut inov8 shoes + bodacious drifts = work.

That was all fun, and it was also fun to get back home and enjoy a giant yellow berry.

C • would never do that 2

It was coldish and enough wind to cut away at any remnant pockets of warmth. Since my skis were waxed for much warmer conditions, I knew glide would be nil, if that, so the plan was to go out and ski classic style for a half hour or so, and then run. The plan fell apart in the parking lot when I went to get my skis and poles, and realized I had poles. Only poles. You have to be really good to ski with just poles and no skis, and I'm not nearly that good. So, running! ; )

The wind was really whipping around and skiing would not have been all that much fun anyway, so really it worked out for the best. I wore two knit caps, a neck gaiter, extra warm gloves, thick wind pants, super troja under my jacket, and a good attitude. Of all those things, the most important thing by far was the good attitude. Though the other things were good, too.

I ran snow bike trails almost the whole time. In most places some amount of snow had blown into the trail, and in some places the trail was totally obliterated by blown in snow and indistinguishable from the adjoining terrain--until you stepped off the invisible trail, and sank in to your waist. I tried my best to stay on the trail, but if I had seen someone in one of those sections, I would have deliberately left the trail and floundered, trying to make it look like a horrible snow monster had me.

I was out for about 140 minutes. For the first 90 minutes or so I had good sun, so it all felt relatively benign. But once the sun went down, I was quickly reminded it was pretty cold out. One mountain biker passed me at at dusk, but otherwise once I left the ski trails, it was a solo experience.

Snow off an on during the day, some sunshine late in the day while I was skiing. A nice amount of Yowsa! was fun.

I set out skiing with light ski gloves. It had felt comfortable out during Yowsa!, but it may have been deceptive: I think already by then colder air was seeping in from the east/northeast, and I hadn't skied too long before I realized it was quite a bit colder up top than it had been down in town just a little bit earlier. But I warmed up, and kept going. Even so, the air kept getting colder and colder. I skied for 2+ hours and by the end my face was getting pretty cold; a neck gaitor would have been good.

Came home, grabbed a snack, and then headed out the door to go to a Cowgirl basketball game with a friend. It was a fun game against the Zoomies. -3F out by the time I got home, so it really had been getting colder out.

I had several vanilla wafers for breakfast. Well, I had some other things for breakfast as well, but it is the wafers I want to focus on here. After eating the wafers I read the ingredient list on the box, and learned they contained prodigious (my guess) amounts of monocalcium phosphate. I reasoned that while this was probably a deadly substance, it probably wasn't as deadly as the substance used by the Australian Brown Snake when it bites. Thus reassured, I went ahead and had a few more vanilla wafers. Yum! So fine.

Ski intervals were the order of the day, and got them done. It snowed lightly overnight, and the new snow was slow. One light snow squall came through while I was out and this newer snow was about the same as the older new snow. Nice day to be out with pleasant temps and mostly sunshine in the afternoon.

After skiing, I spent some time working more on my Eurostep. It's developing nicely and should help with the sage this summer.

Skied and then ran. Trails were strangely deserted.