Crosstraining Weekend!

I haven't run since last Wednesday - and I don't even feel bad about that.  As a matter of fact, I'm sitting on my sofa feeling stronger than ever.  Let me back up - last Thursday, Valentine's Day, I had a nice, 5-mile run planned.  I bagged it.  I didn't want to bag it, but I did.  I felt achy.  An all-over, not-the-flu kind of achiness.  I decided to listen to my body and just concentrate on getting packed up for our annual ski trip to Whistler.  We ended up leaving the house a bit later than our planned 2:30 departure because our son had a "mandatory" after-school meeting to attend.  What kind of a teacher schedules a "mandatory" meeting on a holiday weekend?  The inability to read a calendar and respect other's vacation time always amazes me.  None-the-less, we were able to leave the house at 3:15 - just in time to hit rush-hour traffic in Seattle.  Despite the traffic, we made good time.  We had no wait at the border crossing and were north of Vancouver in no time.  Now, the real driving was to begin.  

Route 99 north of Vancouver is the only road to Whistler (unless you approach from the East and circle around to the north of Whistler).  This road has to be one of the most scenic routes in the world.   It is a sinuous bed of pavement squeezed between the rocky, mossy, lush mountains on one side and the fjord-like Howe Sound on the other.   Simply glorious!  Except at night - which is when we encountered it.  After dark, route 99 becomes a behemoth.  Not only does it twist and turn but the Canadians have been frantically working to widen this roadway to four-lanes in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics - to be held in Whistler - for several years now.  They are working on it day and night.  They are literally blasting away the mountains on the east side while building up roadbed on the west.  The route is littered with construction sites, huge road divots, a total lack of painted lines, work equipment entering and leaving the road, and rocks and boulders that have fallen on the pavement.   Add to this the risk of an hours-long back-up caused by...... and you get the picture.  Needless to say, we were relieved and tired by the time we arrived in Whistler at 10pm.   

Whistler!  What can I say?  We went there the first time four years ago.  Stayed right in the village.  Loved it from the moment I set eyes on it.  It is set right in the middle of some of the most beautiful mountains in the world (yes, the world) and it is completely car-free.  That's right, you can walk right out your door, and be in the middle of a pedestrian-friendly village.  You can ski, eat, drink, and shop without ever grabbing your car keys.  If you have small children they can walk safely without having to hang onto your hand the entire time.  People of all ages can feel totally independent there. 

The first time we came to Whistler we were not downhill skiers.  However, with the bravado of the totally innocent we strapped on our rentals and took the gondola to the top.  It took us hours to get back down.  We decided perhaps a lesson was in order.  We've been attempting to ski without terror ever since. 

Fast-forward four years and we are solid, middle-of-the road skiers (except our son who is skiing circles around my husband and me.)  Skiing, like distance running, was an exercise in persistence.  We just made up our minds to do it and we did.  We did it even when it was more work than pleasure, knowing that if we kept at it we would find the joy in it.  Well, I can honestly say that we had a joyful four days of skiing.  We challenged ourselves and were pleased with our success.  The achiness that I felt on Thursday continued another day or two after we arrived and  I was getting a bit worried until I woke up feeling fine on Saturday.  I had increased my mileage fast after Christmas vacation and I now know that that was the problem.  Not running on Thursday was the right move.  I now feel stronger than ever because  we not only skied hard, but we carried around all those extra pounds of gear for hours on end (I'm planning on weighing myself with all my ski gear on - my boots, my skies, coat, camera, phone, even my ski map.  I'll report on that number later.)  I feel that we really got a great workout and I'm even more anxious to see how it affects my running.  The drive home was a joy too.  We hit route 99 during daylight hours and were thereby able to enjoy the scenery and treat the curves, roadway boulders, and such as mere obstacles on a giant slalom course.  Like our skiing, we kept a reasonable pace and just enjoyed the challenge.  

Here's to joyful crosstraining!!

Oh Sunny Day!

Glorious run in the sun today!  The blue sky was amazing.  Went six miles and loved every step.  Wore shorts to have as much skin/sun contact as possible.  Put me in a wonderful state-of-mind!  Oh sunny day (go ahead, hum along!) 

I haven't written for awhile and the reason was the grey.  You see, living in the Pacific Northwest does have its benefits - cool weather that's perfect for running, low summertime humidity, stunningly beautiful mountains, year-round green, a flush of blooms in the spring.....I could go on and on.  One of the major drawbacks of this area however (for me at least) is the grey.  We can go weeks without seeing blue in the sky.  The clouds hang low and the water drips from them.  The sky changes throughout the day from a deep, dark grey, to a lighter, brighter shade of grey, easing into a medium grey, and then back to the ominous grey.  As a matter of fact, I remember writing to a friend the winter after we moved here and saying that I now understood why there were two ways to spell, "grey" - it was so people here in the PNW could vary their weather reports.... light grey changing to dark gray and then back to heavy, deep grey.  Don't even get me started on the many terms for rain here.  Anyway, the grey is the reason for the writing lapse.  I find it hard to find my happy place when the clouds are hanging over my head.  Running is extremely important to me during these times.  It is my therapy, and it allows me to soak up any ambient light out there.  This is another reason why I'm a daylight runner.  I don't like running in the dark (i.e. before work) because it doesn't help as much during the grey season here.  I am proud to say that I kept my miles up during the weeks of grey that we just endured.  I ran in medium grey, light grey, and ominous, dark gray - and every shade of gray in between.  Someday I'll describe to you all the different types of "rain" that I ran in too.  But, that's for another day, for today it's blue sky day!!  I may just have to go out and run again!!