"Skiing" Into Snow!

A "word of the day" message from Alice describes the team's mood yesterday as we rollerskied headfirst into a snowstorm and finished the workout feeling tired, but completely exhilarated:

Estivate - (the opposite of hibernate), because that is what I do. "With the onset
of autumn, I am looking forward to awakening from my summer torpor. The colder
the day, the happier and more energized I am."

This comes from the BBC's list of 50 favorite words. I think it describes the mood
of our team rather well.



The planned workout called for 3 x 10 minute threshold intervals up the steep slope on the back side of Petersburg Pass. It was raining pretty hard, but was that going to make the nordic cows stay indoors? No way!
As we drove up the pass to the starting point on the other side, the rain quickly turned to slush-mix . . . it was going to be a difficult interval session for sure! We found out just how difficult once we actually started the intervals. The first 10 minutes was done in the cold rain, which turned to slush during the second interval and all-out, stick-to-the-pavement snow on the third! True Grit powered the Ephs to hammer out that last interval by pushing rollerskis through 1-2 inches of slush and snow on the road! As Coach Bud Fisher remarked, "This was the first time we have ever had a snow plow pass us on a rollerski workout!

This video shows the reality: Gabby hammers out an interval as the snow starts to stick, with Liz driving and Maddy commentating on the situation:




Hannah cools down by running down the trail at the top of Petersburg Pass, as the snow accumulates.

Alice and Kirsten celebrate first snow and the completion of a demanding rollerski!