Skiing with the Boys

First, I did some more push ups last night. It was the Week 5 Day 3 section of the plan, and I did OK, all things considered. I must admit that doing the push ups, even though I haven't accomplished the 100 consecutive thing just yet, has been gratifying and has kept me sane while I wait for the foot to let me run again. I will also have to get back on the chin ups workouts too since those were going well before getting sick derailed me for a while. Anyway, the sets went 20-20-24-24-20-20-22 and then I maxed out at 72 for a total of 222 push ups. It was hard, but it was also late into the evening and I was getting things ready for our planned cross-country skiing trip...

That happened today. We left at 7:45am with my Mom joining us in the caravan. Owen and Malcolm are both signed up for lessons that go every Saturday morning for eight weeks, and today was the first day. Hardwood Hills is a bit of a drive away (1.5 hours in total), but it is totally worth it. The trails are awesome!

We had a great time! Owen loved his 2-hour lesson and at the end had the rosiest cheeks I've ever seen. I assisted Malcolm in his lesson and he had a lot of fun, even if he didn't actually learn a heck of a lot. While the boys and I were occupied with lessons, Monica and my Mom went off on their own and put in a solid hour and a half of skiing.

After lunch it was my turn and I was really looking forward to a good (impact free) workout. I picked an 8km trail and was off. The Garmin showed that I am an awfully slow skier, but the heart rate jumped right up to the 150s so I knew I was giving my heart a decent workout for the first time since November. The 8k took me almost 50 minutes to complete and I was totally overheated by the end of this one.

Since Monica and Owen were still not back from their run, and my Mom was hanging out with Malks, I decided to get rid of one layer and hit the trails again hoping to catch up with M&O. This time I picked the shortest trail (5k) and was trying to go faster. The Garmin once again indicated that I am slow as molasses, but the heart rate proved that it indeed was a workout. I completed the 5k route in about 32 minutes and was drenched with sweat. Within about two minutes of finishing, while standing outside with the rest of the family (who had congregated outside by now) I was totally frozen and decided to head in and call it a day. All told it was a great experience and I look forward to the next 7 Saturdays! It was also great to pull the Garmin out of storage and make sure it was still working OK...

The foot feels OK after the skiing, at least better than I thought it would, but I'm sure that I'll feel all sorts of aches and pains in places that I haven't felt before. It's all good though since I think it will only be the good kind of pain.

Garmin don't lie #1 and #2.