A Great Day of X-Country Skiing
Cross country skiing is very quickly becoming one of my favorite activities. We spent another terrific day with the boys enjoying the great outdoors and the Canadian winter, and on top of that I got a great workout. Who could ask for more?
The day started early as we prepared for the longish drive up to Hardwood Hills. We arrived at 9:30am with plenty of time to settle in, get the boys equipped with rental skis, and get Owen to his 10am class. Monica then went off on her own and I took Malcolm to his lesson, which is parent assisted. We had a great time playing games like basketball and soccer with skis on, singing songs, drinking hot chocolate, and then practicing going up and down little hills. At first Malks was a bit scared and I had to straddle him and keep him up while we went down hills. After a couple of tries he let me ski beside him, holding just one hand while we glided down. At the very end he did the smallest of hills all by himself and I was so proud of him! He was very pleased with himself and couldn't wait to tell Monica his "secret", making me promise that I wouldn't tell her first. Owen also had a great time, and his skiing is getting so good, as I would find out later on. I haven't been bringing the camera, but really have to change that since they are so cute on their skis!
After lunch it was my turn to go off on my own and I decided to try the 12km "Sochi" trail this time. All the trails are named after the host cities of recent Winter Olympics. Last week I did the "Nagano" trail (8k), the week before that it was "Torino" (5k). Again, I brought along the Garmin for the ride and it was definitely a good workout since my heart rate was almost immediately in the 150s, finishing with an average HR of 159bpm. The total was 12.21km, which I completed in 1:11:37 for an average pace of 5:51/km. Not bad for a newbie! Most important of all it was a total blast.
Garmin don't lie.
Here's the satellite image of the winding trail:
View Larger Map
Afterwards I met up with the gang and Owen was really excited to go with me on the "Nagano" trail, so Monica went off with Malks and I hit the trails again. It was slow going here and there, but Owen has really learned a lot in two lessons. His technique has gotten so good that he even got more than one compliment from adult skiers who passed us on the trail. In the end Owen was quite bushed so we cut off the last loop of the trail and ended up doing 7.3k in about 1hr 50min. Amazing for a 7 year old!
I'm too tired after all that activity to think about what I will do next now that I've accomplished the 100 push up challenge, but I have to find a way to keep doing push ups. It's amazing how many muscles are required to do proper push ups, especially when one gets up into high numbers and sets. I must get back on the chin ups since that is also a great compound exercise, and my abs have been neglected for too long. On top of that I have to start doing some leg strengthening as well, though the skiing is definitely a step in the right direction as far as getting all of the muscles working. It really is an amazing sport and I would totally recommend all runners to try it out if you haven't already.
The day started early as we prepared for the longish drive up to Hardwood Hills. We arrived at 9:30am with plenty of time to settle in, get the boys equipped with rental skis, and get Owen to his 10am class. Monica then went off on her own and I took Malcolm to his lesson, which is parent assisted. We had a great time playing games like basketball and soccer with skis on, singing songs, drinking hot chocolate, and then practicing going up and down little hills. At first Malks was a bit scared and I had to straddle him and keep him up while we went down hills. After a couple of tries he let me ski beside him, holding just one hand while we glided down. At the very end he did the smallest of hills all by himself and I was so proud of him! He was very pleased with himself and couldn't wait to tell Monica his "secret", making me promise that I wouldn't tell her first. Owen also had a great time, and his skiing is getting so good, as I would find out later on. I haven't been bringing the camera, but really have to change that since they are so cute on their skis!
After lunch it was my turn to go off on my own and I decided to try the 12km "Sochi" trail this time. All the trails are named after the host cities of recent Winter Olympics. Last week I did the "Nagano" trail (8k), the week before that it was "Torino" (5k). Again, I brought along the Garmin for the ride and it was definitely a good workout since my heart rate was almost immediately in the 150s, finishing with an average HR of 159bpm. The total was 12.21km, which I completed in 1:11:37 for an average pace of 5:51/km. Not bad for a newbie! Most important of all it was a total blast.
Garmin don't lie.
Here's the satellite image of the winding trail:
View Larger Map
Afterwards I met up with the gang and Owen was really excited to go with me on the "Nagano" trail, so Monica went off with Malks and I hit the trails again. It was slow going here and there, but Owen has really learned a lot in two lessons. His technique has gotten so good that he even got more than one compliment from adult skiers who passed us on the trail. In the end Owen was quite bushed so we cut off the last loop of the trail and ended up doing 7.3k in about 1hr 50min. Amazing for a 7 year old!
I'm too tired after all that activity to think about what I will do next now that I've accomplished the 100 push up challenge, but I have to find a way to keep doing push ups. It's amazing how many muscles are required to do proper push ups, especially when one gets up into high numbers and sets. I must get back on the chin ups since that is also a great compound exercise, and my abs have been neglected for too long. On top of that I have to start doing some leg strengthening as well, though the skiing is definitely a step in the right direction as far as getting all of the muscles working. It really is an amazing sport and I would totally recommend all runners to try it out if you haven't already.
Labels: cross country skiing
posted by Vava at
8:37 PM
2 Comments:
Way to go with the family ski adventure. That is awesome stuff and some winding trail, indeed. Love the garmie image.
OMGosh that's one winding trail alright!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home