Cross country skiing on the horizon...

Friday, January 25, 2013
I hadn’t returned to the park to do the Survival Workout since record setting performance of 101 push-ups the previous Sunday.  The snow and the temperatures had begun to fall and with a foot covering the trails, rocks and logs, I didn’t see much point.  I was getting sick of the trainer though, and really needed to get one in.

I arrived to find that the memo alerting the park’s snow removal crew to clean my parking spot had not been followed.  I drove over to the ‘Horse Trailers Only’ parking lot, which was nicely plowed…and empty…as it would be until, oh, May.  I don’t like to break the park rules on this, but there really is no place to park on the lower part of the North Chagrin Reservation near my Survival Workout trail when the snow is on the ground unless you have a four-wheel vehicle, which the Honda is most definitely not.

I was disappointed in my first effort since the record breaker.  I squeezed out 86 push-ups, though I was at a much steeper angle than usual since I had to find a fence railing that wasn’t plowed in.  I noticed my heart rate was much higher as I maneuvered down the trail, which was extremely difficult to navigate since few people had been on it.  I tried to stay in the tracks of a cross country skier to gain some traction and it got me to thinking how I really needed to break out the skies I’d been given a year ago by a co-worker and give the sport a try.  I have used the indoor cross country ski simulators built by Nordic Track and know what an amazing workout cross country skiing can be.  Opportunities are limited here, but it would be one more choice on frigid, winter days.  I’ve seen the grooves left by skiers’ off-trail in places only I seem to go, so I know they’re highly mobile.  I know there’s a learning curve and maybe I’ve just not wanted to invest the time…I’ve always got some excuse…but if we get snow again this year (the big melt is coming in the next couple of days) I’ll give it a try for sure.

I had to dig through the snow to find my rocks and logs and once I’d lifted them overhead, had the unpleasant experience of snow falling off of them and down the front and back of my shirt.  That’ll wake you up in the morning.  I couldn’t do any lower body work as I continue to nurse a sore right calf, but managed 13 upper body exercises and felt pretty good by the end of an hour.

I downed another large smoothie for dinner after moving a little more snow.  I think the weekend is going to be filled with time on a trainer since a busy schedule will keep me away from the park.  I’m looking forward to the melt though and another chance to get out on UB Express.

Survival Workout:  60 minutes

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.
Calories burned:  600