Skiing everyday is tough!

I am back at Ski School for 13 days and I have been having a ball. I have the pleasure of skiing with my favorite Familes. These guys are awesome. The twins Jake & Luke (mini Shaun White's) are 10 and A-bomb (Alex) is 12. When I started with these guys they were 4yrs old... now that makes me feel old.

Anyway I am trying to fit in as much swimming, biking & running as possible, but my body doesn't always want to do what it's told, much less my mind. I now have a new appreciation for when I used to teach Ski School full time. I have no idea how anyone can work out after skiing, my legs feel like a pile of mush... and 'hello', how did I ever resist the daily brownies, chocolate chip cookies and the hot chocolate... Oh yeah, that's right... I didn't! Argh the temptation is killing me it's EVERYWHERE, and I want it all. So I guess I have been facing a few challenges.

I have been training in the mornings & or afternoons. Today 6:30am I ran 5 miles. It took me 30 minutes before I actually felt like I had warmed up! I remember last Tuesday trying to spin and only after 50 minutes did I finally started to hit the wattage I was supposed to in my intervals. Swimming this arvo was similar after a mile I felt good. Then it was straight into a strength class of which I thoroughly enjoyed, but the squats and lunges may come back to haunt me on the hill tomorrow.

One thing I must say is that this year has been the best ever skiing with the boys. Keza (friend, fellow Instructor & apparently has the appearance of a Lima) is amazing to work with, in fact this week isn't really work, it's just a whole bunch of fun. These kids are so near and dear to my heart. They can be so kind to each other and there is many a moment that they make your heart melt with the thoughtful things they say. These brothers are incredibly supportive of each other, it is inspiring. They congratulate each other when someone masters a new trick or simply tries something new. We could all take a page out of their book. I know I will.

Last Snowshoe Race of the Winter

Sunday March 7th was Beaver Creeks last snowshoe race of the season. It could not have been an more beautiful day, and it was really warm. This race started at the top of Strawberry Park, 10,000ft and had a great turn out. The race started with climbing uphill and then some single track stuff and then gradually downhill from mile 2-3 and then steeper downhill from mile 3-4. At mile 4 you ended up running from the lowest point of elevation to the highest. It is always nice if you are aware of things like this (I was).

All week I had been in a really good mood. I was feeling relaxed and happy and proud of some of the workouts I had done. I was feeling strong. This race turned out to be my best yet. I finished in 1hr 14mins and came 10th overall. I am starting to finish very closely to the girls I always call the 'fast girls'. I dare say I am becoming one!

A special thanks goes to Patrick Pinnell who took my photo at the finish, he is one cool dude. He always has a huge grin on his face and had a great 5K on the day.
Jennie Thorne also killed it and beat her goal time (under 1:20) finishing in 1:18. Yeah Jennie!
It was a fun year of snowshoeing and I must say I surprised myself and look forward to playing in the snow again next year.

My Big Brother

Well it's been a while... and I am over being sad that my big brother has been and gone, it was great fun having him visit.

There is something about skiing with my brother that takes you back to being 8 years old and wanting to hit every jump (or maybe it's just me), I love skiing with my brother, and he's really good too.

So apart from skiing which honestly, I had kind of lost the love for, I convinced Shane to run, swim, hike, sled and strength train with me. He is a natural athlete, so it wasn't hard, although the running @ 8100ft was!

Thankfully he brought some snow with him, I was petrified that he would never visit again if the snow was crap. He assures me that he will - yeah. And on another note it was particularly important to me that Shane fell in love with Zeke, and vice versa. Funny as it may sound, I think Zeke was able to tell that Shane and I are litter mates, so he never barked at him like he did Tommy, when he came down the stairs in the morning!



Shane thanks for staying and we are already planning your next visit!