Cross-Country Cross-Training

Jeans - the preferred clothing for enjoying snow

Remember the Victor-y Ride post where I said it felt like Spring in Montana? The roads were clear of snow, the wind was calm, the temperatures were in the 40s. Yeah, that was short-lived. Last week we received a glorious dumping of snow, but in the past few days we've succumbed to an arctic blast that has made winter a little less enjoyable and little more, well, wintery. Trying to start my car in -30 degree wind chills isn't exactly how I prefer to begin my day. Nor does my car, based on the pathetic wheezing noises it makes when I turn the key. And when the wind chill is below 0, which it has been for two days straight, the kids at school can't go outside for recess. That means nearly 400 kids (and teachers) cooped up indoors for 8 hours straight. This is kind of how I envision the apocalypse.

Caught Dylan having a good time - hah!

While Missoula looks great in white, it hasn't allowed for much outdoor training. Spin classes can only hold my attention for so long, so I've channeled my energy into cross-country skiing. Since my first wretched attempt to cross-country ski up an icy road on treadless skis, it has become my favorite winter activity. I love the full-body workout, the rhythm, the gliding motion and the quiet whooshing sound across the snow. Dylan is a born-and-raised alpine skier, but I've managed to bring him to the dark side and at least tolerate cross-country skiing. I even convinced him to sign up for the 32k Broken Binding Ski Race at the end of the month. This is my idea of fun and his idea of torture, but the training together has been a blast. This led me to wonder if anyone has ever cross-country skied...cross-country. Which led me to this website. Yes, a couple roller-skiied across America in 2012 to raise money to fight hunger. And here I thought biking cross-country was cool - silly me.