Winter can be great for fitness. Cross country skiing is probably the single best aerobic activity there is. I have often said that skate skiing up a hill is the most physically challenging thing I've ever done (aside from giving birth to Kai); it is as tough as climbing up a butt kicking hill on my bicycle with the added challenge that I have nothing to sit on at the top for recovery. Not only that, but while in this state of severe oxygen debt, I need to maintain my balance while speeding downhill with two greased toothpicks on my feet for stability. But alas, you can't just walk out the door and go for a quick 45 minute x-country ski - at least not in these parts. And I'm kinda cheap, always looking for a quickie workout.
My favorite way to work out is on a trail. When that is not possible, I'll take the road. If that is not possible, then I'll begrudgingly drag myself to a gym. So today I found myself gym-bound. With no snowshoes, running wasn't possible today and I haven't assembled my x-country ski gear yet. So off I went to the gym where I faced them....the cardio machines - devices of boredom and torture.
So I started with the erg - 1o minutes. Its been years since I've been on one so it took my brain awhile to remember the proper technique:drive with the legs, don't let the upper body pull until the hands pass the knees. I think I got it right. I managed to burn about 150 calories in 10 minutes. Now that is intensity when you consider that rowing is not a weight bearing activity! No wonder rowers are in such awesome shape and no wonder they only race for 2000 m. Rowing is far too intense to be an endurance event.
After my epic 10 minutes on the erg I moved onto the spinning bike. Where once again I had to admit to myself, I hate spinning. Maybe other cyclists are more open minded (although I don't think so), but I like my bike. I don't like riding bicycle impersonators. I think other cyclists would agree, otherwise why would we spend hours in the winter stuck on our trainers or balancing perilously on rollers? Anyway, riding the spinning bike in running shorts (not comfy), I tried as hard as I could to create interesting work outs for myself so that I didn't just zone out watching liposuction on some show called "The Doctors." I thought back to my off-season days in Calgary and Victoria and came up with some ladders and intervals to keep my mind somewhat occupied. I lasted 20 minutes.
Then I moved onto an apparatus that I've never tried before. This thing looks like a stair climber but it isn't. You sort of look like you're running on it but you're not really. And there are these things for you to hang onto that move back and forth. I'm not really sure if I was pushing them or they were pushing me. To be honest I have no idea what they were for, although they did have sensors for measuring heart rate. Thankfully there was a woman beside me who looked to have decent mystery machine technique so I checked her out of the corner of my eye and tried to match my technique to hers. I kinda got into a rhythm that almost lulled me to sleep but somehow I think falling asleep on this thing would have been quite dangerous. I lasted 15 minutes.
It really is hard to be motivated for these kinds of workouts. It was one thing when I actually had an "off season" and had specific goals for these workouts. But my life is no longer divided into racing and off season. Now it is more like nap time/free time and chasing after Kai time. Come to think of it, if I just do repeats following Kai running back and forth in our house, do some squats while holding him or maybe run up and down the stairs I might manage not to turn into a cuddly bear this winter... oh, and staying away from that eggnog might help too!
1 comment:
Hi Louise,
This is really rubbing salt into your gym infested wound, our 1st Xmas day in Rossland so far. I awake to another postcard snowy day, notice the fresh 15cms of light Kootenays fluff on the truck. Oh well, not driving anywhere today so let it build up. Call a friend to go for a quick ski tour while Juliette gets some well deserved shuteye. No dice, he's feeling sick. I put on my fat skis at our front door and lay a skin track up our driveway, feeling no evidence of the front steps under my skis. Mmmmmmn deep.
I shuffle up the street to Jim & Michelle's house to see if he is really too sick to go skiing. He begs off but asks if I can take their husky dog, Keisha, with me. No problem, Keisha knows the way home so at least I will be able to send her for help when I eat a tree. My silent partner and I glide through the forest on what is a familiar route to Keisha, gaining elevation quicly once we hit an old road. After 30 minutes of heavy breathing we crest the top of Deer Park Mountain, one of Juliette's favourite pregnancy hikes.
I peel off my skins and stuff them in my jacket, no pack required for this backyard jaunt, then call out to Keisha. 50m below me she pops her head up from what is for her neck deep snow with a look on her face that says "C'mon Dude, let's shred this pow!". I tentatively plow my way down through knee deep fluff, a keen eye out for the telltale bumps that indicate leg-breaker trees under the snow. The cedars are tight and covered in white, the branches ready to dump their weight of snow down my neck at the slightest touch. At times I am walking downhill, fat skis buried and heavy under the surface. I am sweating more on the way down than up.
Then it appears, a lane just wide enough to catch my eye, 100m of deep Kootenay heaven. The most stress relieving 5 turns of my life go by in a flash as I groove in that porpoise dive of powder skiing, Keisha bounding behind me in my track. We spit out onto a well used snowshoe track and pick up speed in this luge run, Keisha now leading the charge on familiar territory. She knows her bed and a nap are nearby. We pop out of the forest onto Jim's street and Keisha burns it for home while I go for another new Rossland experience, street skiing.
With so much snow on the pavement there is no chance of dulling the edges so I let the skis do what they do then glide to a stop at their doorstep. Keisha is already laying down on the doormat as Jim and Michelle greet us, a biscuit for Keisha and a basket for me. They send me on my way home with a bottle of wine and a few gifts for the girls. I continue my street skiing, now skating with fat powder skis, and stop at our snowblowing neighbours to wish them a Merry Christmas. With a few more strides I turn down our driveway, wiggle out 3 more S's, then re-enter the den of twindom. Juliette is on the phone to her sister in England, the girls are asleep, and I pour some barley rehydration. Juliette hustles off to go exploring in daylight on her snowshoes and I await the girls next feeding frenzy.
Life is good.
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