Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Did a longer ride south of town. Absent the wind, it would have felt quite mild. But the wind wasn't bad, and it was still quite pleasant.

Then I headed up for some skiing and running. Given the conditions today and expected mild temps for the next few days before any chances for snow, it seems likely this could do it for skiing for me this season. Overall, it was the thinnest snow cover I can remember compared to any previous season. Hopefully the moisture picks up, whether by rain or snow. Otherwise, it's going to be like the B-52 song--a dry county.

The Cowgirl soccer team was playing today, and they had their season opener on Friday. I don't follow them, but it's still nice to see that some of these sports are underway, with some actual fans in the stands, and some semblance of normality (even if, in the case of soccer, this is a Fall sport that got moved to the Spring this season.)

Temps up in the 50s; luckily for the ski trails there were thin clouds offering some filtering of the sun for part of the day. Looks like it's getting near the end though, at least for me. Did almost exactly the same thing as yesterday, with some biking before skiing and running after; by the time I got back to the parking lot there were only 3 vehicles left--not much for a Saturday, but reflecting that it is late in the season.

Ski conditions today transitioned to spring, with lots of glazing where the sun could hit the trails. Not too bad though, and no death ruts. Biked before and ran after. Really nice day to be out. Of course, they're nearly all nice out--but some more so than others. Tulips are poking out of the ground in select favored areas in my yard.

A chance of snow turned out to be a few flakes, and nothing more. Sunny skies off to the north, and quite dark skies to the south and west, and we got the in between, which mostly resulted in drab gray. Skied with Tyler and then did a quick run before getting home for early dinner and Cowboy basketball.

A try day, where I tried to do all three things (biking, skiing, running). Or it that a tri day instead? Probably more the latter, since I succeeded. Nice out.

Ski intervals on a gorgeous day. Trails had slight amounts of glazing in select spots, making for faster skiing. Compared to last Friday when my skis were getting progressively slower as the session wore on, the effort felt much easier today.

The highlight was looking ahead on one recovery piece and where the trail crested a small rise just ahead, seeing a very tiny deer standing at the top of the rise, perfectly framed by the trees to either side. It was the size of one of those tiny red deer in Europe, or maybe even smaller.

And it turned out to be a dog--ha!

Wonderfully sunny day to open up March, and great ski conditions, too. Yesterday's wind blasts had disappeared.

I went biking and then skiing. While I was skiing down at the bottom of Summit Loop, I looked off to the north and the blue sky was framing a sunlit prominent rocky knob--the knob at the extreme west end of a course I set some years back in the Brown's Landing area. It made me think back to that; I thought it was an interesting course through an area in some ways a good bit different from all our other areas. It was also physically tough in places with some steep slopes and rocks. It would be much tougher today, because of all the subsequent fallen pine trees, with some areas being almost impassible.

My favorite memory from that race was when one of the participants--who shall go unnamed--came up to me after the race to complain about how he had run off the map and how poor the mapping had been there off the map. I could only agree that, yes, the mapping in the un-mapped area had not been very good.

C • it helps... 3