By the time Thursday rolled around I was starting to feel better, and a good thing to! I was signed up for my first cross country ski lesson at Canada Olympic Park (COP) that night. It was absolutely beautiful out Thursday. I really wanted to run – the sky was blue, the trees were covered in frost but in the sun it felt nice and warm out. I didn’t want to push my luck in getting over this cold by doing too much too soon though so I settled on a walk to the grocery store instead.
Anyhow, back to the cross country skiing! I’ve signed up for a set of three lessons throughout February. Learning to cross country ski has been on my list of things to do since moving back to Canada in 2006. I’ve finally decided that 2010 is the year to get out there and try. From all of Laurel’s accounts it is a lot of fun and a great workout. COP is close to home and with more than 2 km of groomed XC trails it seemed like a great place to go for weeknight lessons. Angie is super excited that I’m giving it a try, so long as I keep all muscles, bones and ligaments intact.
The set up was so different from my downhill lesson! That one was full of 25 kids and 5 adults with three instructors. For our XC lesson there were seven of us with two instructors. We split into two groups and my instructor figured we should just strap on the skis, go and see how it went. We practiced snow ploughing, gliding through tracks (like in the picture above), double poling and different techniques for getting up a hill. Then we figured we would tackle the same downhill slope that we practiced on during the downhill lesson… I had issues skiing down that hill the first time, but on XC skis it is a whole new experience! You build a lot of speed on those skinny XC skis and I wound up having to bail twice! I landed on my right hip both times…and now ow! It hurts!
I’m definitely excited to keep trying XC skiing. It adds a whole new cross training dimension to my workouts and it is nice to break up the swim/bike/run a bit! Plus it helps me to appreciate the winter wonderland here in Calgary just a little bit more.
9 comments:
How fun! What a workout too!
Excellent way to spend the day!! Good for you Leana.
Did you watch the Classic Competition from Canmore yesterday? Olympic xcountry skiers, Amazing!!!
You may zip by me one day out in the mountains on your skis as I snowshoe along side your trail!
What great exercise and glad you are enjoying it!
Sounds like fun! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love XC skiing! It really is so different from downhill but it is a great way to see nature!
I may try running over lunch one day...but sometimes its hard to change...run...then change back and get back to work. Plus lately its been TOO cold to run even at lunch time.
Fun times! It looks so beautiful.
Oh - have fun!! I grew up cross country skiing in Minnesota - and its one of the things I truly miss (living in So Cal). And YES - I would always crash going down hill....snowplowing is a must :) Also - when in doubt (or its too icy/steep/your nerves are shot) - there's always the reliable butt scoot. :)
have fun and enjoy!!! Happy skiing! Hope the hip feels better asap!!
LOL... yes, please... don't hurt yourself :-)
Glad to hear that your XC ski experience went a lot better than mine last year!
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