It's been one hell of a cold Winter in Iowa this year. Except for about 3 hours on the bike trainer in the unheated garage every week, I haven't been able to ride like I wanted this year.
We've been forced to try other sports instead, like bowling, and if we were going to bowl, we had to have a Big Lebowski movie party, right? There really was just no way around it. And if we were going to have a Big Lebowski viewing party, we had to make White Russians. We looked online and found a few options to the traditional drink. My favorite? The Anna Kournikova: It's like a white Russian, but with skim milk - a skinny, low-fat White Russian. People are oh so very witty on the internet these days.
The best thing about this Winter, is the snow and the Cross Country skiing. We've been able to ski almost every weekend and it has been amazing. I just started skiing a couple of years ago and because the snow has been so sparse the last couple of years, I never got a chance to work on it and get better. This year I finally got that chance and I suddenly understand all of the things my brother was trying to teach me the first time I skied. I glide so much better, I lift my feet in corners and I can even double pole now. Yea me! Next year, my goal is to conquer skate skiing. I've tried a couple of times now. John has tried to help me at it by suggesting I use my ice skating skills I acquired as a kid. I had to remind him that I grew up in Arizona and didn't have the means to acquire any such skills.
Although the skiing has been great, it has taken away from the running I normally do in the Winter. We have a 25K part trail race that I'm not sure I'll be ready for on March 15th. The best thing about this Winter, is that John and I have planned a trip to Tucson in about 10 days. So, next Friday, I plan to be getting back up to speed on my trail running in this park outside of Santa Fe. It's called Tent Rocks and I can't wait to explore it.
