Playing in the Snow

Day 3 into the New Year and I've quickly discovered my lung capacity is no where near where it should be. We celebrated New Year's Eve with a show shoe run to Dog Mountain from the Mount Seymour parking lot and each uphill had my lungs wheezing. Yet, the snow was awesome, the fresh air exhilarating and the downhills inspired me with the intangible spirit of Wahoo!

January 1st was bit lazier with a nice flat 50 minute run to the anchor and back along Spanish Banks. Otis's sliced paw is still healing so I opted to stay close to home so he didn't have to stay on his own for too long. Not to mention the sad but true fact that my legs were a bit sore from the snow shoe run the day before. I've definitely got my work cut out for me if I'm to tackle the KK this summer.

January 2nd we headed up to Cypress for some skate skiing. The Nordic trails were completely socked in with fog and only the lower trails were open and track set. The last couple of years, we've exchanged our skis for surfboards over the holiday season so this was the first time skiing in a long while. Despite suboptimal ski conditions and my waning fitness level, I quickly rediscovered my love for skate skiing.

Part of my plan over the winter is to snow shoe run or skate ski at least once a week. It's such a blessing to have the mountains only 40 minutes from home - I must enjoy more often! Having only trained for road marathons and triathlons before, I'm not entirely sure how to go about planning for a 30 mile trail race but I'm sure any mileage I can get in the hills is going to do me good. Here are a few events in the hills I plan to enter to keep me motivated throughout the winter and spring:

• Seymour Yeti Race Feb 2nd
• Grouse Yeti Race Feb 16th
• Cypress Yeti Race Mar 8th
• Burnaby Mountain Fat Ass Run April 5th
• Iron Knee May 31st