Hop, lunge, squat, sit: Get in shape to ski!

This time of year in the northeast there is a new opening day announcement almost every morning. The big mountains opened in time to burn off Thanksgiving turkey while the smaller places are hoping to provide post-Christmas ham activity. So with only a few weeks before hitting the slopes it is time to whip ourselves into shape. This year, since my VCR is dead I can’t draw inspiration from my Jane Fonda fitness tape, so I wondered what encouragement I could find on the internet. A YouTube video by health and fitness coach Amelia Burton gave me lots to think about. I mean, should I really engage in an exercise that can improve my leg strength while being “one of the worst exercises for your knees, for your back, your lower back…” and on she goes? I was tempted to do the squats because she calls them “incredibly good” even though “bad squats are really dangerous!” She’s describing an exercise that doesn’t even involve lifting my feet off the ground and yet she cautions it may require that I confer with my personal trainer, fitness instructor, chiropractor, or physical therapist. Never mind those experts—I’m thinking if I engage in this activity someone should place an emergency call to my shrink! I may resign myself to just hitting the slopes with limp legs and risk falling a few times. How much more can it hurt? I just love Amelia’s description of her favorite exercise—it’s the one wherein you do not move, and yet, you should do it until your “legs are screaming.” Her lilting British accent hides a masochistic soul!! Bunny hops, traveling lunges, squats and wall sits. A fitness routine that includes these elements will see me down the mountain a few weeks hence with fashion flair, flawless technique and energy to spare. I need to get hopping, squatting, lunging, and sitting—so that I can hurl myself down a mountain with minimal risk of injury.

Moving Van Full of Skis

Moving forces you to prioritize. Un-pack the fajita maker first or find the wine glasses? Store the Christmas decorations or just put them up? (Only 75 days to Christmas and those boxes are on top of the Halloween ghouls anyway.) And who knew one could accumulate so much ski stuff? In my corner of the world it is a seasonal sport, but the equipment, clothes, accoutrements and doo-dads took up more than their 4 months share of the year in the moving van.

Starting with the skis… I mean one pair of feet; one pair of skis, right? And yet, I am sure I unpacked 8 of them. Ok, that included the strap on wooden child’s skis my sons scooted around on, but still, I am not counting all the ski Christmas ornaments or hat pegs. And I put the patio chair made from ski tips in a whole other category. The skis I transported from one home to the next were perfectly good, usable snow skis (mostly) that I just can’t part with. But only one pair has been under my Langes in the last 3 or 4 seasons.

There are the straight skis I bought at a bargain price just before the season in which I let myself be talked into “shaped skis” by my octogenarian skiing guru dad. They are practically brand new and I am quite sure I will clamp them to my boots at least one more time. The old blue Hart skis with the Marker swivel heel bindings were my first metal core planks and there is just no good reason to let them go. The fourth pair are my rock skis. You know, the ones that date from the season before your current skis and are intended to be used before snow covers the entire hill the first time out or when your last run boasts a melting “fountain mountain” and patches of green grass. Then there are the super long, super stiff pair, and the really short flexy pair—one for racing and the other for “bumps.” I am told that with age my knees will forbid the practice of either one and when that time comes I will ditch the skis—but until then? I mean I just can’t predict when I am going to make it to the Senior Olympic finals but I want to have the right pair of skis when I do! Most carefully transported were the current favorite pair of Rossi’s. Curved just enough to turn me down the hill with little more than a shift in weight, long enough to let me carve all the way through on a “hard packed” surface and short enough to allow me play time in the evenly spaced manufactured mogul field or carefully manicured glades. These are the skis that will stay zipped in their bag ready at a moment’s notice for a chance to have a mountain top experience. I suppose I could have left all the others in the house I vacated since this pair is the only one that actually gets snow time. The 8th pair too will come along anytime I relocate. Old, maple boards, sanded smooth and rounded on top, flat on the bottom. Rich, brown color with abstract wood grain curls and leather straps that held the cold wet boots of pioneer skiers. These hang on the wall as decoration and inspiration. It is a crazy sport made so easy with today’s equipment. With all this history and all these skis, there is just no excuse to stay inside when it snows—even if the new house does need work.

From Running to Skijoring

Life got complicated and blogging took a back burner. There were no posts during the height of the 2010-11 ski season--and not a lot of skiing either--but the blog has never been far from my guilty conscience.

As I make my way back from a "time out" I have begun to run again. In the past I enjoyed running on trails through the woods with an energetic canine companion but now find myself living in a traditional neighborhood with sidewalks and traffic and the need to keep my dog, Pica, on a leash. So, I did a web search for a product that might let me run hands free without turning her four paws loose to chase cars and found that many runners advise using a dog skijoring set up for running. So, what the heck is skijoring??

Funny you should ask... According to that amazing, free, online communal information pool, Wikipedia,

Skijoring ('skē-jȯr-iŋ) is a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog (or dogs) or a motor vehicle. It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring meaning ski driving.

What fun!! I can't WAIT for the first snow! It turns out that for many years my boys unknowingly practiced "sleighjoring." They barreled down a slight incline at a speed much greater than gravity alone would have pulled them due to the fact that the family's faithful dog was tethered to their sled while I stood a quarter mile away screaming his name with a dog biscuit in my mitten. Certainly not an ASPCA approved activity but SO much fun for the sleighjoring youngsters!

Skijoring equipment is minimal--a harness for the dog, belt for the skier's waist and tether to join the two. The sport is growing quickly and there are competitive and recreational events in such categories as sprints, long distance, backwoods, and...pulka, where a sled glides along between dog and skier and may carry supplies or a child.

A web search for the term skijoring yields many results. One, Skijor Now , appears to be a good source for equipment as well as information on active clubs and supplies and contains links to other websites of interest.

Of course for me, this skijoring encounter was a digression from my quest for a dog-person comfortable running tether. In addition to this winter equipment, the "stuntrunner" tether was created for dogs with runners in mind and provides a hands free option that does not require snow. I'll order the stuntrunner for now, and outfit my dog for skijoring in a few months. By then I will have run myself back into shape. I may skip the recreational leagues and go straight the world championship level with my prancing poodle.

Peace, Love, and Skis!

Sharing the Rail Trail--with snowshoes and memories

Anyone living in coastal Connecticut knows that there is an incredible winter going on there! January recorded the most snowfall in the state ever and everyone knows that February usually brings even more snow than the first month of the year. So local skiing, downhill and Nordic, is alive and well in the Nutmeg state.
Today I decided to take advantage of the local snow to do some cross-county skiing on the Monroe section of the Housatonic Valley Rail-Trail. My brother had reported to me that the ski tracks on the Putnam Rail Trail in Westchester County were often obliterated by snowshoe-ers, but I was happy to find that Connecticut snowshoe-ers are more considerate of the skiers who share the trail. The Monroe trail makes a straight line through the woods as so many rail trails do, with a bonus detour along the way to a trail that circles the swimming pond at Wolff Park. The pond is long frozen over and some have taken a short-cut straight across the ice rather than the loop around it.
Cross country skiing is not ski-walking. Though skiers may not approach the speeds of downhillers, there is a thrill to be had as one silently glides through woods and meadows. The constant motion required means there are rarely cold fingers or toes out on the Nordic trails. To take full advantage of the underfoot scales on recreation wax-less skis or the sticky wax on performance skis, skiers should remember this tip: never let their knees get ahead of their feet. By driving forward with the knee a skier will maintain contact with the snow, be in good position for a powerful friction "kick" and enjoy an extended glide.
My skiing today included some nostalgic moments. This is the same trail that years ago I walked or skied weekly with the family dog during the hour that my sons spent in a nearby studio learning to play the piano. They are now accomplished musicians and I live in a different town (with a different dog)and this recreation path is a little out of the way for regular visits. But it was definitely worth the drive on a sunny Sunday to get some invigorating exercise and a trip down a trail full of memories.