Hockey

After skiing for five days in a row, and because the weather is pretty nasty outside, I decided I would go play hockey. It is kind of a ritual for me now to go play once a year to remind myself that it is a pretty fun sport.

It is a lot different from mountain biking. I thought for sure, since I ride so much and am in such good shape, hockey would be no problem. But sprinting from one end of the ice to the other still makes me have to take a little breather. My feet were hurting most of the time, and I have blisters on my heels now, most likely where calluses used to be.

I was a little worried at first that I would have forgotten how to skate and handle a puck. It came right back though. It just like riding a bike (although that phrase has a different meaning now).

Anyway, it was fun to play again and I hope that there is intramural hockey wherever I go to grad school, but after all this skiing and hockey, I am very excited to get back on the bike for the long cold rides of January.

First time skiing

I went out XC skiing for the first time ever today. It was a lot of fun, but challenging.

I ended up falling about 7 times, one of which was a pretty nice face plant into the snow. I will say that falling on skis is a lot less painful then crashing off a mountain bike. It is a lot harder to get up though.

I haven't ridden much since Iceman because school has been quite busy. (That's just my very good excuse- I actually have enjoyed the time off.) I am excited to get back into it, though. Now that school won't be busy again for a while, I don't have an excuse, but I don't think I will need one.

I have gone on a couple bike rides this week with very cold temps and wind chills. Frozen water bottles and frozen sweat on my glasses seem to be quite common now. Can't wait to start doing it everyday...

XC Skiing

Yesterday I bought some cross country skis. They still have to come in, but I am very excited to give new sport a try, since I haven't done any sport but cycling since high school when I played hockey.

And now I have decided not to ride inside once this winter. Either ride or ski.