Skiing – Lemon to Lemonade

My brother is an avid skier.  He loves the sport and has always wanted to introduce me to it.  I am always up to try something new.  Especially if it involves moving, working up a sweat and is fun.  Over a year ago he invited me to do a day trip with him and he would show me the ropes of skiing.  He also recommended that I take a beginners lesson at the resort to get the basics down.  I went to the local ski shop to get my rental equipment.  The staff there did their best but couldn’t get a ski boot to fit comfortably around my calf.  We tried boots that tend to run large in that area and also tried men’s boots.  My brother thought that the lodge might have something for me, so we forged ahead on our ski date.

Well sorry to say that the rental equipment at the lodge was the same story.  Thank goodness the staff there was also very kind about trying and never gave me any reason to feel bad about it.  Since we made the long drive to the mountain, I told my brother to go ahead and ski.

At first I was so sad that I wasn’t skiing.  I sat in the lodge watching everyone coming and going from the lifts and ski runs.  I think I felt sorry for myself about a total of 5 mins.  Then I realized that I wore some great hiking boots and I had brought my iPod that had a great play list of cardio music. So, I headed off to the lodge road and took off for a cardio walk in the snow.

Kirkwood Ski Lifts

The skys were clouding up and sure enough the most delicate, soft snowflakes started to fall.  There was no wind so they fell straight down. The streets I trucked along on were lined with amazing gigantic ski homes.  It was during the week and there were no cars on the road.  My music kept me going a quick pace.  The snow fall started to pick up pace with my music.  Soon I had a layer of snow on my head, arms and tops of my boots.  I suddenly realized that I was keep pace to a beat that I normally do at the gym BUT I was at 9,000 ft elevation.  WOW, I wasn’t running out of breath.  I broke a heavy sweat and after a full 30 mins I spun around to walk back to my starting point.  I walked a total of an hour.  The slippery road/snow/slush added to the workout by challenging my balance (equals core workout).

I finished my walk in time to explore the lodge and then meet up with my brother for lunch.  Like me, he was proud that I choose to take a bad situation and turned it into a fun experience.  On top of that I had a great workout.

A year later we tried again to get me into a ski boot and I am about a 1/2 inch away from the bindings to close comfortably.  We went on a day trip anyway.  I did my cardio walk (no snow that time) and then spent the afternoon in the lodge working on my job search.  It’s amazing how easy it is to just choose to turn something around – take lemons and make delicious lemonade.