A Little Cross (country ski) Training

Since it's been a few years without any sizable snow accumulation in the Hudson Valley, I've basically put cross country skiing on the back burner despite how enjoyable I find it to be. But as I packed the car to visit my sister-in-law and her family in Maryland for Presidents' Day weekend, I opted for the skis over the bike. Based on the recent epic dump of snow they've received, I'm confident I made the right decision.

For each of the past two days, I've logged in 90 minutes of cross country skiing at a moderate aerobic pace. My family's house sits within a small suburban development in Montgomery County that backs up against a large public park filled with hiking and biking trails now bisected with snowmobile and ski paths.

This exercise in the crisp, clean air has been refreshing and the almost total lack of fellow human traffic has made my multiple falls mercifully less embarrassing than otherwise would be the case. If the pace of global warming slows enough for reasonable snow accumulation to again return to the Hudson Valley, I may actually buy a new pair of skis and learn how to do this the right way. The parallels to cycling are obvious and the benefits during the base training period are clear.