Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Quite windy for much of the day (interstate signs warned of 60+ mph gusts), and pleasant out. Snow was fast and skiing was fun, with a good crowd of people out doing pretty much everything this afternoon. But mostly skiing.

I ran afterwards and legs felt good. One more day, and 2018 gets put to rest.

Ski intervals, 6 x 4 min. Temps in the lower 20s and winds about double that or more.

Ostensibly a degree warmer today than yesterday, but even if so, it was still only a subdued high of 11F, headed for -10F overnight. Which would be stunningly perfect for a rogaine, if anyone still did that sort of thing.

Hands started out skiing feeling much colder than yesterday, but once I got the bacon frying, they were fine the rest of the time out. Skied shorter and ran longer again, for the same reasons as yesterday. Unlike yesterday, after the first half hour the air becalmed and stayed still the rest of the time. Change in climate due tomorrow, so it won't last.

There were some scary looking carnivorous crows perched in trees along one section of the meadow, and you could tell they were looking for some laggard skier to attack and consume. When I saw them, I picked up the pace by several notches. At one point, I even had a bit of a rooster tail of snow from my skis; you don't want to mess around when it comes to carnivorous crows in winter. I also gesticulated with my ski poles to indicate that there was a much slower skier behind me, just out of sight. That seemed to work.

Overcast all day with some very light snow, first cold day we've had this December--the high was around 10F--and the coldest day we've had this winter so far.

There had been 1"- 2" of new snow at Happy Jack, which would have made for tricky waxing for those who were waxing. The new snow was sharp and cold, but where the snow was thin enough or had blown off the trail, the old snow was very fast and slippery. Maybe the master waxers would have waxed on ski for the new snow and one ski for the old. Or maybe they would have had some fun with klister and spread around a rainbow of goos and let the skier just deal with it.

By the time I was skiing, I imagine it was in the single digits and there was some breeze with some nice bite to it when you were skiing into it.

The smart choice to me was to ski shorter and run longer and so that was the option I took. The light was about as flat as Kansas is reputed to be, thanks to the overcast conditions and some amount of ice fog forming up. Hoar frost and snow covered all the trees. And, to complete the winter scene, at the appropriate moment an AF helicopter came flying by. For some reason ELO songs filled my head, especially "Starlight", which was odd considering there was not a single star out tonight.

A couple of days like this and when it gets mild again, it will feel far too warm.

It was a sufficiently normal winter day to call it a normal winter day for a change. Temps topped out at 22F in town and surely less than that up in the trees where the crows like to hang out at Happy Jack. Light snow fell all day long. Skiing was very good. We could still use one more big storm to bury the last few rock tips, but snow is deep enough for a good set of classic tracks, for those who prefer their things classic.

I'm still skiing on last year's glide wax. Wonder if I could get through the whole season without re-waxing? Ha--probably not, but as long as it's working, I'll spend more time skiing and less time waxing. And really, it hardly matters how fast I go; I'm not racing.

Parking lot was crowded, which I like to see. The more people who show up and recreate in the forest, the more value people will place on the forest. And the more people will advocate and get fired up should something threaten all that.

Overcast for the first half of the day, then sunny and mild for the rest. Excellent ski conditions--snow was fast today--and a little new snow overnight. Lots of people were out at Happy Jack, doing almost everything you can imagine except for golf.

Snowed lightly much of the day, heavier up top. Not sure of the accumulation--just that a meter stick would have been overkill. Temps in the upper 20s when I started and in the lower 20s by the time I wound things up.

Pretty fine skiing, and judging by the number of vehicles in the parking lot, other people were thinking the same.

Can you say White Christmas?