Nordic Skiing at Eldora

Last weekend I went with a friend to Eldora to cross country ski. This marks my third time skiing ever. The first time I went was in eighth grade at a school retreat in Northern Wisconsin. I was young and too afraid to make a fool of myself in front of my classmates to really give it a shot. Then high school and college athletics took over my life and I was too fearful of injuries to step away from the training plans my coaches provided, even though I think I would have loved the change of pace. Many, many years passed before my second time skiing, which was just a few weekends ago with Meg, Dave and Ben in Wisconsin. It was a gorgeous warm winter day and we were really just out to explore and have fun--two of us on snowshoes and the other two on skis.  We were cutting our own trail, which was slow going and difficult (read: I fell a lot). This time, in the mountains, was another experience altogether. The trails were groomed, the course was hilly and it reminded me of trail running, but with the fun advantage of gliding down the hills on skis. And I loved it. So much. Like, I haven't stopped thinking about going again since.

This will not come as a surprise to most veteran runners, but I do not love winter running. I will usually have a handful of really awesome runs in the fresh snow, but the rest are rather unpleasant. Running on icy, hard snow constantly worrying about falling is not my idea of fun. Colorado winters have been a welcomed change from winter training in Wisconsin, but still, there are days when I dread running outside. (And I do not do treadmills--I pull out what my college teammates call the Alumni Card, here. I've spent too many days running for hours on treadmills; at this point, I'd rather stab myself with a fork than run on one.) I think skiing could the perfect way to break up the winter slump I usually find myself in. It isn't something I can step out my front door and do because we really don't have consistent snow down in the metro area, but I can shoot up to Eldora on the weekends for a quick morning ski. And Ben and I already have a Chariot for Isaac, so when I am more confident in my skills maybe I'll bring him along when we're home during the week. (Yikes! Scary to think about at this point.)

Here are the beautiful trails of Eldora. The day we were there, snow was falling and wind was blowing like mad. The shelter of the trees helped, but the wide open areas were probably dangerous to be in. My friend and I split up shortly after we arrived. She was on skate skis and just learning, so we both took the day to improve our skills.

Yay, skiing!