Skiiiiiiing

So Donna chirped me the other day because I had written a new post, but hadn't discussed my recent foray into the world of cross-country skiing. Now for those of you who don't know, just because you are from Vancouver, doesn't mean that you ski. I never skied while living in BC. I had actually never been on skis. Which brings us to 2 weekends ago.

Donna really likes skiing, both cross-country and down-hill. A bunch of nurses and Dr.s and significant others were going cross-country skiing and Donna really wanted to go, so I said I would go too. She seemed really happy about it, so it was worth it.

I got rentals and things no problem, but realized quite quickly that the Norwegians weren't going to be asking me any time soon for a Nordic Athletic symposium. Some people told me that my groin would be sore the next day, and that it would be a great work-out. Turns out both those things were correct. I started out OK, and didn't have my first fall wasn't until we were out of view from the chalet and rental area, which was nice (although I did fall in front of about 30ish people... slightly embarrassing). There were a total of 6 falls, most of which occurred at the bottom of hills because I had no idea how to stop, so when the track began to curve I just fell to prevent myself from screaming head first into the bushes. Sweet plan eh?

The second problem was that I had no idea how I was actually supposed to move. Donna told me that you just walk and slide, so that seemed pretty easy, but I think that in actuality, there is more to it than that. I think that a lesson would have been a good idea, it might have prevented some of the stiffness that afflicted me that next day. Once I actually started to get the hang of things a little bit it was actually pretty enjoyable. I spent so much time trying to keep my balance though, that I was wound-up and focusing to hard to enjoy much of the trip.

Which is a great segway into the third problem of the day. Now, if there is anyone out there who is reading this who has never seen me before, I am a fairly large guy with "thick" thighs and big calves (Large-Asian Calf Syndrome - for those people who are unaware of what this is, I would Google large Asian calves... its pretty interesting). I found out that people who like to cross-country ski are usually much smaller, so when they groom the trails with those nice grooves for your skis, it was a total effort to stay in them. Added to that is the fact that I walk a little duck-footed, and let's just say that the inside of my knees felt like they were on fire.

Anyway, it was no where near the worst thing I have ever done, and Donna had a really good time, so all in all it was worth it.

So there, no more complaining from Donna.