Today is my day off, and what better way to spend it than downhill skiing.
Lots of fresh snow overnight at the ski resort means that it's irresistible to my other half, and we're joined by a friend who also is in the skiing mood.
A short 30 minute drive and we're in the car park, with not a lot of other people. The day is murky, windy and snowing, which has probably put a lot of people off venturing out onto a restricted visability mountain.
But no matter, more snow to fewer people is okay with me.
Now as a runner I figure I've got reasonably fit legs, but when it comes to skiing in deep snow I just seem to tense all the wrong muscles, perhaps being a transferee from snowboarding to skiing has something to do with it. Perhaps the fear factor also helps a bit.
Skiing uses muscles that just don't get used running, up hills or on the flat. So by the lunch break my thighs felt like they'd been stretched and pounded within an inch of their lives, a sit down in the lodge was very welcome.
There is something strange about skiing that gives me a real craving at lunch time. M&M's. After I've downed my sandwich/crisps/banana/whatever then I want peanut M&M's, don't ask me why but these I must have. And the ski resort doesn't sell them. What! I'm in North America and they're not selling M&M's? I don't want an Oh Henry or a Twix, I want peanut M&M's!
Craving satisfied (I remembered to pack some) and it was time to get back out in the driving snow. It didn't take the thighs too long to start protesting again, and they always say that you should stop before the last run of the day. Because it's usually that one that you regret when they're towing you back down on the recovery sled, or finishing off the plaster cast.
So what can I do to strengthen my skiing thigh muscles? Well anything really that mimics the type of actions that you'll be doing on the ski hill. So squats, sitting against a wall pretending that there's a chair under your posterior, stepping etc all help. You need to get the muscles in your thighs stronger and more used to the positions that skiing will put them in for protracted times.
And our friend who skied with us today? Well she hit 60 a couple of weeks ago, that's 18 years older than me. It was her first ski outing of the winter, and boy was she in better shape than me.
The moral of this is: No matter how fit you think you are there is always someone else who's a lot fitter, and if you're wise you'll take a lesson from them, listen to what they do and say, and in another 18 years you too may be in the same position to impart that knowledge to someone less fit than you.
