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Posts Tagged ‘snowboarding’

Ski Weekend as Ironman Training

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Last weekend Sam and I headed up north with some friends to Bretton Woods for a ski trip.

One of my favorite things about heading up to northern New Hampshire is the scenery. Driving through Crawford Notch with huge mountains on either side so high that you have to crane your neck just to see a slice of sky is so inspiring. We even saw some ice climbers out on Sunday morning off to conquer some frozen water falls. SICK!

Bretton Woods is right in the shadow of Mount Washington and is right at the end of the killer 90 mile/4 mountain pass bike ride that I’ve done the last two springs with my team’s training weekend. Just driving that route and thinking about doing it again makes me smile.

But back to snowboarding….

Given that I average (at best) one trip up to the mountain per year, I definitely wouldn’t call myself an “expert” but I’m definitely good enough to have a blast ripping up the mountain. Doing that just sometimes involves getting a butt full of snow…

We even each got a roll of mentos and decided to film our own “freshmaker” commercial while jumping over this fallen tree. Pretty cheesy. Pretty hilarious.

I’ll try and post a fully edited version with music later this week.

There is also a second video of us ducking under the other side of the tree and popping out the other side. I think I caught a branch or something and took a digger, but still came up smiling with the roll of mentos in my teeth. GOLDEN! Once I find out where that video is, I’ll try to share that too.

Last post, I joked about logging both days in Training Peaks. NOT joking about it anymore. After two days of snowboarding pretty challenging (for me) runs, my entire legs are torn up and I love it!

This whole ironman training thing can be pretty fun if you let it…

Tags: bretton woods, freshmaker, mentos commercial, mount washington, offseason training, snowboarding | Posted in Life, Training Log | 4 Comments »

Snowboarding and muscle memory

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Because Seasonal Affective Disorder is just for people that are afraid to go out and have fun in the cold, I decided to break my +8 year hiatus from snowboarding and take a trip up to New Hampshire to hit the slopes. A guy can only take so many swim/bike/run workouts before he needs to break it up and try something different.

It had been at least eight years since the last time I went snowboarding, some time when back in high school, so I was just a little nervous about actually remembering now to snowboard and not go flying off into the woods. Scratch that. I really didn’t have much faith in my ability to remember how to snowboard at all.

After heading up the lift to the top of the mountain and a sketchy dismount from the chair lift, I sucked it up, took a deep breath and pointed my board down hill and hoped for the best. The first half of the run was a little rough, but I was surprised how quickly I remembered how to turn and especially how to stop! By the second run I was back in the game, a WHOLE lot more comfortable, and was actually really impressed about how quickly I got back into a nice carving rhythm. Muscle memory is an amazing thing and I was completely surprised about how quickly my confidence on the slopes came back. I was still a little cautious around other skiiers so that I didn’t take anyone out, but I was actually able to relax and have fun with it.

I took a short video from the hill. It is a little sketchy in some parts, but I figured you might enjoying my fall on my butt about half way through. In my defense, it was only my second run, and this other guy came flying dangerously close behind me while on a patch of ice. I decided bailing and landing on my butt was the best option.

http://www.vimeo.com/3124722

The only real fall that I managed all day was while I was passing Sam on a flat section, rubbing it in her face, then immediately biting it hard. Thankfully I hopped up pretty quickly and I managed not to get injured, so it was a pretty sweet day.

Here is the view of Lake Winnipesaukee from the top of the mountain. This is where I’ll be racing my “A” race. The Timberman 70.3 in August. Thankfully this scene should be a lot more green and blue by then instead of gray and white.