Round and round...

Deep e deep dow do dee do do ~ Hamster Dance

Tues: 00:55, 6.00 miles, Treadmill surges
Wed: 1:37, 12 miles, Treadmill/Track tempo
Thurs: 1:00ish, Not terribly far, Skate skiing

Words can not really describe how nice it was to get out of the hamster maze yesterday. The temps here have been incredibly low of late and yesterday, they finally started to break from their single-digit (or lower) rut and climbed into the mid teens. It wouldn't have mattered as I was bound and determined to get outside for some fun in the sun but seeing 12° when I pulled on the skate boots at the base of Eldora lifted my spirits for sure. More on that in a moment.

I have been stuck in the gym but have been making good use of my time and spinning some solid efforts. On Tuesday, I warmed up for 30 minutes then did 10, 1x1 surges at an increasing pace. Felt a bit woozy to start after less-than-ideal nutrition for the day and a massage but a gel picked me up and I was able to finish the full workout with gusto. Then I did a circuit of upper body weights and called it an evening.

Wednesday featured the addition of wind to the frigid temps as well as client meetings in Denver so it was back to the gym for a tempo workout. I tried to mix things up a bit to fight off the boredom associated with running on the 'mill and track and ended up having a great run. Started on the treadmill with 30 minutes at a 10-minute pace, then went into my tempo slowly with 2 miles at 8:00, and 1 mile at 7:30. Then I moved to the track for 35 minutes at 7:00 then cooled down for 10 minutes at 10:00 on the treadmill for a total of 1:37 and 12 miles. Felt great but I was definitely getting pretty sick of running in circles by the end.

So that brings us back to Thursday. This was the first time I have skated since college (about 18 years) and I was definitely rusty. The wind was howling at the Rock but the nordic center there is hidden in the trees so once one gets going it isn't that big of a deal. I fell pretty much immediately (whoa those skis are skinny!), got up, fell again and broke the grip on my pole. Hmmm. Not an auspicious start but I was committed so I went in and got some rental poles and got back after it.

"Graceful" is not the adjective one would use to describe my form but in the next hour or so, I managed to quickly improve to the point where I was able to glide some uphill and didn't eat it any more, which was nice. Just worked on staying upright, getting used to standing up on toothpicks and trying to not look like a total kook. Two out of three ain't bad, I suppose. Had a lot of fun and am excited to get my pole fixed so I can get back after it.

Looking back at the past few weeks, I definitely have had some days that were better than others. All were productive, however and, though occasionally suffering, really have enjoyed myself. Some days feel a bit more like suffering than others but really, post run or ski, I feel way better about well... everything. That's why I do it and why I encourage others to just go spend a little time getting the old heart pumping. It soothes what ails ya.

~stubert.