Calling it quits

It's over, I bit the bullet and accepted that it's time or will be in the next few days. What's over, xc ski season minus the thrills of this weekend coming there will be not even a remote consideration on hitting the trails. I've been denying it for the last couple weeks with hopes of getting one last time of play in with the rocket skis, I hoped but hope wasn't enough. The iron was on for one last time as that this layer of storage wax was laid on the collection of slippery sticks. Not all them. Those skate skis will get one last go Saturday morning at around 10 am.

One of these years I'd like to focus on xc skiing for a winter. A non training year where I could ski when I wanted and as much as I wanted with out thinking about training blocks and workouts. Maybe even attempt a couple races or even the famous Canadian Ski Marathon which I know already would completely wreck me for a couple weeks following. Something about doing back to back 80km days sounds like absolute hell but with that self inflicted suffering mentality to long races that i seemed to have acquired would be right up my alley. I've thought about it in previous years but knew that even though it was fantastic for getting me fit the recovery time afterwards would set me back. One day.

A trip to the north part of the big backyard yesterday also let me see that skate skiing on the bay will probably be done in the next 2-3 days. A short hike with the dogs at McCrae Lake was the extent of activity for the day yesterday but the return trip past Port Severn showed some open water already. That current affects my area of skiing dramatically, lets just say that I won't be venturing out the ski trail with out hills until next winter but my canoe could see the water in the next couple weeks.

Winter has come to an end, there will be little reminders that it doesn't have to go quietly but spring and full on cycling season has begun. The next few days should lay a strong impact on the snow, gone would be nice but just enough to get through the race. There has been some continued smack talk happening and some are even fabricating things to get others in on the action. I found this out after receiving a random text from a friend staking a challenge, I'm unsure if this person has ever run in snowshoes. A fast runner he may be but when you slap something that resembles Ronald McDonald size shoes to your feet and attempt to run in them on land mine type trails it changes everything. I've done a snowshoe race before, I'm not going to lie, it hurt, a lot. It's going to turn into a very fast paced walk with a few shuffle run steps for this guy.

The count down is on till the first non snow covered mountain bike race of the year.