Every Single Day

Days 57 & 58.

I did 40 minutes of yoga and core strength on Friday morning. Steve stretched for about 45 minutes, resting up for today's big race.

We left bright and early this morning for Snow Mountain Ranch, where Steve competed in the 42K Snow Mountain Stampede, classic division. He had a strong day and finished the race in about 3:15. While Steve was racing, I skied around the open trails with Milo in our new ski pulk, criss-crossing the race course and cheering for Steve when I saw him. The sled was easier to tow than I anticipated, and I had a good 90-minute workout while Milo napped. The weather was spectacular, and it was a very fun day for all of us.

Day 56.

My eyes finally stopped oozing and my nose finally stopped running, so I made it to climbing tonight. Unfortunately, I climbed like crap, but Steve and Dawn had good nights on the walls. At least I am feeling better.

Steve pulled a hip flexor, so please send him any quick-healing vibes you have to spare - he has an XC race coming up on Saturday.

Day 55.

Yesterday morning, I rode the bike for 40 minutes. Steve finally made it up to Eldora for the Nighthawk Race Series finale, and finished 14th out of about 40 racers in the 10K skate-skiing event. He's mostly been skiing classic this year, so he was pretty pleased with his race.

Day 54.

I did an hour of pretty gentle yoga this morning.  I was planning to swim tonight, but the pink-eye my son generously shared with me, plus the cold I picked up over the weekend, combined to leave me feeling pretty crummy by the end of the day. So I bailed on swimming and was glad to have done the morning workout.

Steve ran about 5 miles at lunch. He said he felt slow, but it was great to be outside on such a beautiful day.

Day 53.

We had a mellow recovery day today. I did about 40 minutes of stretching, core exercises, and light upper body weights, and Steve stretched "vigorously" for a half-hour. Between the travel, the skiing, and the pink-eye, we needed the easy day. Better than nothing . . . .

Days 49, 50, 51, and 52.

We have a lot of catching up to do! Thursday morning, I did 30 minutes of stretching and core conditioning early in the morning. Steve didn't have time to do a workout before we left for the airport, but we did about 30 minutes of walking before our flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul (which was followed by a 4-hour drive to northern Wisconsin).

Friday, Steve and I did our annual pre-Birkie warm-up ski on the Telemark Resort trails, along with Steve's dad. After we picked up our race bibs and checked out the Expo, we skied for about 45 minutes. It's always a lot of fun to ski at such a low altitude - I have so much more energy!

Saturday was Birkie Day. Usually, Steve skis the full 50K Birkebeiner, but for a variety of logistical reasons, he agreed to do the 23K Kortelopet race with the rest of us wimps. 23 kilometers is plenty of skiing for me, in any event, and we had a great day. The snow was perfect, our skis were expertly waxed by Steve and his dad, and the weather was cold and mostly clear, with intermittent sunshine. We finished the race in about 2.5 hours. Steve and Peter probably could have finished in closer to 2 hours, but they waited for me periodically and we finished together. Milo met us at the finish and crossed the line on Steve's shoulders. He had a great time! I was exhausted afterwards, but pleased with my race.

Sunday morning, we skied for about 40 minutes around the lake by our cabin in Delta. It was really beautiful out there, and nice to ski on flat terrain for a change.

Days 47 & 48.

Yesterday was a nice, routine-y workout day. I rode the bike for almost an hour in the morning, and Steve worked out at lunch. Today was a bit more chaotic, as Milo woke up unpleasantly early this morning, and we were running around most of the evening preparing for our trip to Wisconsin tomorrow. Steve rode his bike for 22 minutes, while I was finishing Milo's bedtime, and then stretched for another 40 minutes while I rode my own bike. We are certainly getting good use out of our bike trainer this winter (and our old rear wheels, too).

We're flying out tomorrow late-morning, and will report back on the weekend's exercise Sunday or Monday.

By the way - I keep forgetting to give kudos to Sara-Jane, who has been exercising every single day, including many travel days. Way to go, Mom!

Day 46.

I love it when my plans work out, especially when they are subject to the whims of a toddler. Milo and I did some nice walking to and from the playground earlier in the day. Then, in the afternoon, we ran together the 4 miles from home to the haircut place. That is, I ran, and Milo lounged in his stroller and gnawed contentedly on a bagel. Tough life, kiddo! Anyway, the weather was great and I felt really good running, even though it has been weeks since I've been out for a run.

Steve is coming down with a cold, so he took it really easy. He did about 35 minutes of stretching and core exercises, while Milo ran circles around him and "helped."

Day 45.

It was a gorgeous day today, but I didn't have a chance to exercise outside. We did get out for a walk to and from the playground, but that didn't really count. Instead, I used Milo's naptime to ride the bike in the basement for just over an hour, then did abs and stretches for another 20 minutes. I'm hoping to get outside for a run at some point tomorrow, probably en route to Milo's haircut appointment.

Steve did get outside - he had a great day of backcountry skiing. He reports great weather, great snow, and a lot of fun discovering some new (to him) routes off of Berthoud Pass.

Days 43 & 44.

Steve was able to do a good weights workout at the gym over his lunch hour on Friday. I had planned to work out in the early morning, but Milo woke up at 4:00. That's too early even for me, and the morning became one of survival, rather than fitness. I didn't have another chance to exercise until after 10pm, at which point I was too tired to do anything more than the bare-minimum 30 minutes of core exercises, down in the basement.

Today was much better! Milo cooperated beautifully with our skiing plans, playing on his own skis while Steve waxed ours, and then napping for almost 2 hours while Steve and I did a big loop at Eldora. The snow was great and we had a blast. Milo woke up happy and spent the whole ride home saying "Yay, ski!" and "snowballs!"