Keystone

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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Spring Break’s not over until the snow melts. And that day is near. Keystone closes their slopes tomorrow. The Nordic Center closed at the end of March. We drove up Thursday afternoon in zero traffic. I first learned how to ski here my senior year of college, 32 years ago. No lessons. I rode to the top of the mountain with my brother Steve. He told me I’d learn on the way down. Same brother who taught me how to play baseball right handed. I’m left handed.

We could not have asked for nicer weather. Ellie and I started with a large game of Jenga, waiting for the lifts to open. Then we took the River Run gondola up with plans to snowboard nothing but greens back down. This was our routine all day. We boarded down the aptly named Schoolmarm trail. We stored our jackets in a locker after our first run, it was that warm. Saw one guy skiing in shorts on Friday and many more on Saturday.

Schoolmarm is 3.5 miles long. We got in three runs for 10.5 miles. I swear to you, running 10 miles is easier. I’m certain if we weren’t such novices, we could have boarded much more. We both improved dramatically by the second run, but boarding with the breaks on is one helluva workout. My legs were too fatigued for a 4th run. By the end, I could barely manage to stand back up after falling. And I fell often. I fell into the yellow plastic snow fence at one point. Saved me from dropping off a small cliff.

I was a little surprised Ellie is better than me at boarding. She has better form. I think I began to shift from heel to toe quicker than her, but she could go so much farther before resting than me. I tried to catch her at rest stops but my thighs would be on fire to the point I was nearly in tears. Snowboarding probably isn’t so tough once you learn good form, but I’m still fairly novice at it. I intended to snowshoe later with Karen but was way too fatigued to even think about it. She had to work most of Friday, and then she also needed to practice new Jazzercise routines for a third class she picked up recently.

Ellie and I lunched Friday on top of Dercom Mountain before our last run. She said the pizza was the best she’s ever eaten. I tried to explain to her the phenomenon of how good food tastes when your body is extremely starved of calories. She didn’t go for it though. Apparently the food is pretty good on that mountaintop.

While Ellie is clearly ahead of me in snowboarding skills, she took her share of spills. I captured one in this pic. Ellie fell so hard and often whenever she attempted to board on her toe edge, her knees are swollen with bruises. We gladly soaked in the hot tub upon our return to the lodge for a good hour. I took in the steam room as well. The Keystone Lodge and Spa is a nice family-oriented property. Not everything was available, some restaurants were closed, being the end of the season. This was true for the slopes too but it’s arguably worth it given the smaller crowds and light traffic. There was certainly enough snow for Ellie and me.

We expected dramatic improvement in our form Saturday but discovered snowboarding is even harder when your legs have been left shredded from the day before. We strategically first boarded down a short slope to warm up but it didn’t help. It took us twice as long to board down the 3.5 mile Schoolmarm trail the second day. Our legs were too weak to work on our toe edge much. The requisite confidence just isn’t there when your legs are like jello. We still had a good second day. Shorter, but just as exhausting as our first day. An older skier ran into me near the bottom, in a slow zone. He couldn’t find it in himself to apologize, instead he focused on trying to blame a slow moving skier downhill from me. That girl at least asked me immediately if I was okay. I was but highly irritated at this guy’s poor behavior, and I let him know it. Because I was paying attention, I saw him coming and positioned myself for the collision. Otherwise it might be a different story.

Ellie and I made our plans for next year. We intend to kick off the season in November or December with a private lesson. Ellie also wants her own snowboard for her birthday – which is in a couple of weeks. She used Brit’s board this year. I think I’m good on gear but like the idea of starting out with a private lesson. I know proper form will pay dividends in terms of further enjoyment of the sport. Even if I always suck, it’s so incredibly fun to join my daughter in such a thrilling activity. I absolutely love Colorado. Life is good.

Wind Down

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running, Snowboard

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Austin Marathon, Eldora, snowboard, winddown

No snowshoe today. Eldora Mountain called a “wind down”. This is their term for shutting down the mountain due to strong winds. They reported gusts from 35 to 80 mph! A real bummer, it wasn’t cold at all. The girls got in about an hour though boarding on a small hill waiting for the call. They boarded a bit after as well since they could walk up the hill. So not a complete bust. Although I didn’t get a chance to snowshoe, I got some good pics of the girls.

Perhaps just as well I didn’t snowshoe. I ran seven miles later in the day and could barely pick up my legs. I wasn’t fully recovered from Saturday’s twenty miles. I’m feeling good to have finally gotten in a big run. The ice is melted well enough now north of Hwy 52. The trail was still mostly ice south of 52. I would tell you it slowed me down but I still averaged a nine minute pace – that’s good for me. Of course, I’m hoping to run the Austin Marathon in an eight minute pace, but those will be more favorable race conditions.

Countdown is exactly four weeks. I’m five pounds over where my race weight was in the Denver Marathon. Winter comfort. I tried abstaining from cheese and ice cream as a New Year’s resolution but gave up. Totally unrealistic. I’m also abstaining from alcohol and have maintained that resolution. Beer and Dairy together was biting off more than I could chew. I thought the dietary resolutions would help me with weight control knowing my mileage would drop over the winter. The lower altitude might compensate for the extra pounds.

Tennessee Mountain Cabin

11 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running, Snowboard, Snowshoe

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Eldora Nordic Center, LoBo Trail, snowboard, Tennessee Mountain Cabin

I wasn’t the only one out running on the ice this week. I shared some “are you effin’ kidding me” looks with a few others on the LoBo trail. The week before, I couldn’t get over the snow. My runs were necessarily short given the exhausting conditions. I donned snowshoes one day and ended up with a blister that I’m still feeling. It was a poor week for running. I commended myself for simply getting out at all and figured it couldn’t get any worse. I was wrong. It wasn’t safe to walk down to the coffee shop this week, let alone run. We began with a foot of snow and below freezing temps. Then, in half a day, the mercury rose by 50°. Only in Colorado can that happen. The flash-melted snow refroze as ice later that same night, so perfectly you could ice skate down the sidewalk.

Running was unthinkable and I lost a couple of days. I know how unwise running was because I tried the day after the big snow-to-ice conversion. Got in four miles. Not sure how to describe my form. I kept my stride as short as possible without actually standing still. My effort was extremely taxing on my quads and groin. There were countless out-of-control moments where I thought I was going to die. It was not enjoyable and I spent the next two days indoors looking out the window like Sally and her little brother in the beginning to The Cat in the Hat. Conditions were reasonably better Saturday and I skated for twelve death-defying miles, with a similar super short, groin-stressing stride.

This is not ideal considering I’m training for a marathon. I have five weeks to step up my distance. With Ellie’s snowboarding lessons every Sunday, my only chance for the requisite twenty mile training runs is Saturday. Fortunately I ran some twenty milers back in December. I don’t need to run massive miles every weekend, I’d settle for two such runs before February. January has three more weekends in it. This is why Colorado runners plan their marathons for the fall, after a long summer of optimal conditioning. I’ve run two Austin Marathons in February and three Denver Marathons in the fall. Despite the altitude difference, I’ve yet to run as fast in Austin as I do in Denver. It’s difficult to train sufficiently for winter marathons. I’m happy with my snowshoe training though.

I snowshoed the same Lonestar Loop today that I did last Sunday, but this time I found the spur to the Tennessee Mountain Cabin. This added nearly a mile for a five mile, two hour effort. Trekking counter-clockwise, the right hand turn to the cabin is at 2.3 miles, at the second intersection with the Rising Sun ski trail, a full mile after passing the high point sign. That first 1.3 miles present a 700 foot climb. The cabin housed some lodgers but they showed me inside. Nine of them slept comfortably overnight, kept warm by a wood burning stove.

The girls had an awesome day with their snowboard lessons. Zero wind today made the 20° feel warm. This photo captures the only sun I ever saw today. The clouds were black with snow, which fell heavy throughout the day. This completes two of the girls’ six Sunday course. Julianna, their instructor, praised their coordination and balance as they steadily progress up the mountain. The girls are having fun while I get in some high-altitude hill training. Maybe not your conventional marathon workout, but works for me.