I may need those

The temperature never really went up much yesterday. Pretty much meant I was going to have to sucker someone into coming out and playing with me. HMMM At minus 18 everyone had indoor thoughts, except for 2. Of course I knew these two would go, they always want to go. I didn't even have to ask.

One thing that I've learned is that for every 5 degrees it's colder outside I think it takes 10-15 minutes longer to get ready to go. First up was the skis. Yep, it was going to be a ski day today, way to cold to ride a bike. With just under 3 hours to do today there was not a chance in hell I would be on my skates so time to get the classics ready for a few hours of shuffle. I don't know about you but I am not a fan of putting grip wax on when it's this cold, out came the iron. No worries of having to rewax today.

Then came the layers of clothing, Now I know the term winter weight. You can either have it in body fat, which I'm starting to lack or by adding more clothing. Either way I think I was 220 pounds when I was fully dressed and kept waiting for the childhood flash back of having to go to the washroom right after that last layer was put on. Started to load up the backpack with some extra just in case stuff and called the first training partner. Who could it be? The Molly Monster of course. Quick drive to Mom's and picked up her dog. I knew they both would be willing. They were to the point that they starting to annoy me in the truck with all their excitement.

The playground for the day, Awenda Park. The plan, ski all the trails they have, roughly 23 km. When I rolled into the parking lot I was a little surprised to actually see 2 other cars in the parking lot and was even happier to see that the trail had been track set. The dogs launched out of the truck and started up the trail before I even turned the key to off. Yes, it was cold. Freeze your nuts off cold, I didn't waste anytime getting the skis on and getting moving. It's great that the route i was taking starts with a slight uphill which got the heart pumping and the blood flowing. It didn't take long to start warming up, to the point that I got rid of a layer.

Headed towards the lake in a nice pace, music in the ipod cranked, a frozen smile on my face When I got to the trail head for the lake loop it was exactly what I expected, ungroomed. i had heard rumours that they were not clearing it, no worries makes for an adventure.

There were a few tracks from the previous day which did help a little, you really can't get lost in Awenda's trail system. You pretty much know if you're off the track because you start hitting lots of trees.


A half second stop at the lake, why so short? No answer needed.
Finished up the lake loop and back on the trackset. My legs were happy since the last quarter of the loop was a little bumpy, imagine a roller coaster for skis except for the bumps are barely the length of the skis so you a are fighting for some balance as much as forward momentum. Groomer please???

The long climb up the north side of Awenda is nice and steady, it also lets you know that you are getting close to the bluffs. This was the meanest part of the ski. With the wind coming off Georgian Bay and not a lot of trees to slow it down the trackset disappeared under blowing snow, lots of grippy snow which slowed the glide down to more of shuffle walk and my face was feeling a little numb on the right side. Luckily it's only a short distance. The dogs were nice enough to wait for me on the other side.

A quick stop to refuel, not me but the dogs. Nature Valley fruit nut bars. Dogs love them. Ok mine do. Back at it we got into a good steady pace again. It's a big area that we were out on and coming across people especially on days like this was rare. I started counting. First up were two snowshoers. Next up two more skiers, then the 3 pack of skiers. I was surprised for sure. A quick hi, and enjoying the day? comment while still in motion. Finished up the long loop and made my way to the last section. I opted to double back on the Bluff loop before finishing up on the Brule loop which headed back to the truck. I think the dogs sensed that we were almost done.

Out on the Brule loop it opens up, it's on a road. It didn't take long before the dogs looked back at me and seemed to say, meet you back at the car, give us the keys. Molly probably would figure out how to get the heater on also. They kept bolting ahead, looking back with that speed your ass up type look. I did what I could and figured I would be doing my cool down in the parking lot. We passed 3 more snowshoers on the last downhill. They seemed a little surprised to see us out there also.

Finished up with a ten minute walk around the parking lot, the dogs did not. Some heat cranked up on the drive home, some moans were heard, I think they were shared equally from the 3 of us. Food was destroyed very quickly once we were home. The dogs had a hard life afterwards being sprawled out on both couches. I had to push my way onto one.

The training time was accomplished, the mileage was what I hoped for and it beat sitting on the trainer. Think I may do the same thing today, I've heard rumours that there may be two other's that are willing. These two are not as furry. Time for some food and more coffee.