After last night's debacle trying to ski on the freshly groomed SR 65, I made sure to get up there before work. I was surprised by how hard it felt until I realized (1) I haven't waxed my skis in about 6 weeks, (2) the temperature was around 5 degrees, which, when combined with the fact that there was fresh, ungroomed snow, made the conditions sticky, and (3) I hadn't been out on the skate skis for about 3 weeks. Once I got into a rhythm it felt a little better, but I was still sucking wind all the way up. As I was nearing my turnaround point for the day (Affleck Park), I saw another skate skier flying down the hill toward me. I pulled to the side so he could go by but he stopped to let me know that there were a bunch of moose up the hill and around the corner. That was enough to persuade me to turn around there. The return trip felt much better. Funny how gravity can do that.
Injury report: I didn't feel any back pain or even tightness while skiing. The fact that it felt so hard may be enough for me to justify spending more time on the skis and less time pounding the pavement, at least while skiing conditions are good. I'm starting to think that my body just doesn't like running fast the way it used to. It seems like it does just fine when I'm running purely for enjoyment, but that the second I switch to training mode my back starts to rebel. I guess I'll find out more as my marathon training progresses.
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