Deep Breath

Burnaby track 47 degree bankings, San Diego track 18 degrees, ADT Event Center 45 degrees banks, Los Angeles 35 degrees Celsius, Whitehorse MINUS 40 degrees! But home is always the warmest place, especially over the holidays. But in between the turkey stuffing and Christmas cookies, you gotta get your hours in. Did I mention it’s 40 below? So juggling the hours around all the “degrees” I’ve encountered lately is becoming a bit of an education in itself. So let’s examine the options for getting base miles in up here. The cross country skiing is always a popular option…oh yeah it’s forty below. I didn’t know skis could freeze to the ground. I was out skate skiing with some buddies and I could diagonal stride with no grip wax (anyone who does the winter XC knows what I’m talking about). Needless to say, it was hard enough to keep me warm in the frigid air.

So what else can I do; you can only spend so long outside in 40 below. The gym, you can always go to the gym. It prevents injury and everyone knows the pursuit crowd could use a little beach muscle…ha, ha. Or maybe the rollers. Everybody loves the winter rollers, right?. At least movies are getting longer and longer. The Lord of the Rings extended edition is good for almost 16 hours of rolling on the drums. But in the Yukon you know there has to be another outdoor option. I mean, that’s what we do up here. If you can’t get out…umm…well you don’t get out.

Pull out the kick sled. For those of you who aren’t familiar with kick sleds, they’re like a dog sled without the dogs. Before you say the cold has frostbitten my brain, it is real, and its tough if you give her. The best part about it is, as you are cursing along through the woods in the cold silence of the northern boreal forest, doing something authentically northern, with white all around you, dressed in your finest wool everythings, you realize you are getting your hours, your body feels good, and you have time to breathe. And that air tastes good. As readers of my earlier thoughts know, there is no better taste in the world. And so I breathe…breathe it in, and I am training but I am resting. I breathe, and now the 2005 season is here…I breathe…and now I am ready. For a new season, for new training and ready to prepare for the any new races I will race in 2005; which will be all of them.