Run-Ski-Run

No, it wasn't all on the same day.

My wife and I never got out running last Friday night because of the weather.  Just as we were about to start our run, a hard rain started to fall.  It turned out to be a good idea to not run in the rain, because the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in 30 minutes once the rain hit.  My wife was somewhat relieved not to run anyway.  She was hurting from the previous four days at CrossFit.

So, I ran by myself Saturday afternoon.  It was my first real run in quite a while, even though it was short - 3 miles.  According to my training logs, my last run that long or longer was on 9/28/2013 - over 5 months ago.  I was slow, but the run went fine.

Sunday, we enjoyed a bluebird day of skiing.  The mountain was in variable shape after the rain Friday night had frozen at higher elevations, leaving a lot of the mountain coated with a nasty crust.  We (my wife and my daughter and I) started out on the North Lynx chair, which serves south-facing terrain, and we had some nice runs on the soft snow.  We skied for a while with one of my instructor buddies, who was playing on tele gear.  Later, another friend joined us and he even took my daughter into a tree run that I rarely ski.  It turned out to be firm and slick in the trees due to the lack of sunshine getting through the trees to the snow.  We decided that trees might not be the best terrain choice for the remainder of the day, which disappointed my daughter.

After our time on North Lynx, we grabbed some lunch and then headed for the summit.  Ripcord had been groomed Friday night, and either the crust had been broken up by the groomers or by subsequent skiers.  Still, the terrain was variable and it didn't take long to decide we really didn't want to return to the summit.  I headed with some other instructors to Castlerock, while my wife and daughter opted for some easier terrain for the rest of the afternoon.  We did two runs in Castlerock and found variable conditions.  Anything that had received a decent dose of sun was soft and forgiving.  Anything in the shade was frozen and treacherous.  On Castlerock Run, it was clear that spring is on its way.  There were a number of bare spots, and we opted to finish the run on Cotillion, rather than the more melted out Lower Castlerock Run.

We returned to the base and hopped on Super Bravo, wondering what to do next.  I admitted that I was ready to call it a day and have a beer in the pub.  Everyone else agreed and we did an easy run back to the locker room to change out of our ski boots.  Because I can't ski the next two weekends, I emptied my locker and took all of my gear home.  I expect to ski the weekend of 4/26-4/27, but just in case we get hit by some extremely warm weather between now and then, I didn't want to risk having my gear in the locker room all summer.

Monday, I had a doctor's appointment, so I worked from home for the day.  After work and the appointment, I went out for a short run.  I ran on muddy dirt roads, and it was nice to run in shorts for the first time this season.  I was slower than Saturday, but the run was hillier and I was slowed down by a lazy dog who I'd taken along for the run.

The next three days, I'll be at CrossFit.