Snowboarding

For today's exercise, Calvin and I visited Loveland Ski Area to continue our development of snow-boarding. We found the ski area wind-swept and bitter cold. We hit the slopes by 10 and boarded until 2. We took a 30 minute break to eat chili and warm up.

I was excited to develop my toe-side turns today. I have struggled to develop the toe-side and have spent my 5 days of snow-boarding experienceusing heel-side brakes and turns. I've become proficient at heel-side turns leading with either foot, so I can handle most slopes safely. I also had good success dismounting the lifts today only falling twice. I've never had a day where I didn't fall more often than not.

Calvin is doing well with his boarding. Naturally, he is more daring than I am. He hit some jumps today as well as his head [;-)

My proudest moment was when I completed a 180 degree toe-side turn around a hairpin turn.

The funniest piece of boarding is how when you get tired, you just fall down a lot. The legs give out and you're on the ground. When I watched Cal fall four times for no apparent reason, I figured our day was over.

5 AM - 24 Degrees

Yesterday, Calvin remarked that he was awake at 5 and thought of going for a run. Such a polite young man, he asked if he could get me up to go with him. At his age, I'd have just walked into my dad's room and woken him up. Calvin may be destined to become a great lawyer some day.

So this morning, the alarm went off at 5 and my new weather clock (thanks mom and dad) and reported the outside temperature at 24 degrees. Sure enough, Cal was waiting outside my door. So out we went for about 2.5 miles.

I was recalled to a workout in 1985 when I met up with Peter Graham for a winter-break effort on the track at Santa Fe High. I was bundled in tights, sweatshirts, hat, gloves... Pete showed up in shorts and long-sleeve shirt. He remarked that the temperature at about freezing was not bad compared to Alamosa cold. I swore I wouldn't go there [;-)

But Peter was always someone I admired, so I eventually convinced myself I could run up there. Today, as I stepped into the cold, I just had shorts and a sweatshirt. What I learned from my days in the "land of cool sunshine" is you can stand considerable cold if your chest and ears are warm.

Tomorrow, I'll take a hat.

Schedule of Races

So after spending several days out of town and out of connectivity, it is good to be home and getting the training going. To properly prepare, I need to establish a schedule of races to punctuate the training regimen. These waypoints will both help me gauge my preparation but also give me something to focus upon.

2-16-08: Chilly Creeks Winter Duathalon 10 mile bike, 4 mile run info@racingunderground.com

6-8-08: Garden of the Gods 10 Miler (Triple-Crown)

6-21-08: Mt. Evans Ascent 14.5 Miles

6-29-08/6-30-08: Watch US Olympic Trials, Eugene, Oregon

7-6-08: Summer Round Up 12K (Triple-Crown)

8-17-08: Pikes Peak Marathon (Triple-Crown)

9-12-08: Colorado Relay