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February 23, 2006
I Don't Mean to Disappear
Sometimes it just happens. I get a little bogged down, you know, all snow drift-like, and can't climb out. Then, I feel as if I've missed so much that it would be so hard to play catch up on it all. So, I'm just not going to try. Only a few recapping moments from the last week or so:
1) Skiing in the coldest weather EVER. Well, I'm sure there's colder weather out there in the Antarctic or Arctic, or something. But it was friggin' cold. The high for the day was -11 degrees. That's Fahrenheit, folks. The low was -38 degrees, also Fahrenheit. And that was just at my elevation. I feel bad for the poor shmucks up there at 8000 feet or so where they couldn't even go outside long enough to get more wood for the stove. Good God, people, it's cold out! So we did the smartest thing one could do and went and skiied in that stuff. I never knew what cold was like until I felt that cold. Granted, I have been a little cold lately. A few 50 mile weeks are, finally, taking the little edge of baby fat off that you accumulate when you don't run more than 30 miles a week for 6 months. Maybe I should have waited to the spring thaw to do that, but, oh well. Anyhow, it was cold. I'm glad I did it, just to say I did it. The skiing was beautiful, in some new powder. 'Nuff said.
2) Skiing in KNEE DEEP powder. This was this afternoon. Some freak snowstorm hit just up at the higher elevations, and we willingly jumped into it. The powder up there was so deep, seriously, KNEE DEEP! What up with that? It was amazing, and super difficult to move in. Even the fattest, floatiest backcountry skis can't keep a person on top of that stuff. Without skis on, I fear how deep I would have sunk, just into new powder. I think we skiied about 5 miles. It took most of the day, slogging through the pretty powder.
3) Sickness! I don't know what happened, but we all got so sick from some soup I made. I know, I take full responsibility for our illnesses, but I just don't know what happened! I made Many Bean Soup. It's got some veggies, mostly beans, hence the name. It's vegan. I've made the exact same soup before, without repercussion. I made it and then the next day we reheated it and put it in a thermos to take skiing. Boy, was it warm and tasty when the weather was cold out there, we savored every bite out of that thermos. Luckily, we made it out of the backcountry and into the vicinity of a toilet before the duress began. I tell you, it was awful, fighting over the single toilet in a one-bathroom house. Eww, eww, eww! I think my stomach is back to normal now, but it's taken several days.
4) Running with a pained stomach. I had to take one day off from running because of the Many Bean Soup Incident, I couldn't get 30 feet from a toilet that day. The next 2 days afterwords, I ran with a pained stomach. I knew I was safe, as there was nothing in my stomach that I would have to urgently evacuate, but boy did it hurt to run. Think of some awful greasy food that incites painful gut rot, that's how it felt. But I made it through 2 days of running that way, and my mileage didn't suffer as a result.
5) Running in general. I take this last week as a testament of my committment to running. I ran when the temperature, according to a very official government thermometer, was -22 degrees. I ran when I thought my stomach might knot its empty self into a tangled mess. I ran after a full day of skiing. Well, okay, I know there a lot more hard core people out there who run through all kinds of messes, but, hey, we all gotta have bridges to cross and mountains to summit, right? Those were mine for the week.
6) Movie Marathon. Have you ever bought a ticket to a movie theater, watched a movie, and then stayed to watch a few more? This is what I call a Movie Marathon. Now I know this is not for the moral ones at heart. But, hey, we supported the movie industry by eating and drinking our weights in popcorn and soda during the marathon. Thank goodness for stadium seating, otherwise I'd be tired from sitting all day! Note: This is another way to entertain oneself when the temperature can't even creep close to 0 outside.
Posted by Meghan at February 23, 2006 11:37 PM
Comments
I love the movie marathon idea. The moral people can do the same but just go out and buy another ticket each time...but that's easier when tickets cost $4.00 (where I used to live) vs. the 10+ dollars elsewhere.
Wow, that's cold. I guess not everyone is having a warm winter. Nice job hanging in there with the running!
Posted by: Alison at February 24, 2006 7:29 AM
Running has to be one of the sports most closely associated with Survival. I guess that's because it could be a primitive metaphor for running to get food, running away from danger, or maybe running to a refuge before dark or even running to gain freedom. I suppose as long as it does not become destructive, it might even be fun. I remember running in very cold temperatures downtown Parc de Montreal with the sweat icling in big lumps on the long hair poking out my wool hat. And the pain of a warm shower taken too early when the water hit the skin on body parts still well below room temperature. Ouch. It hurts just thinking about it. Yet the feeling of surviving it all, is great. However, "Living" (as an alternative to Surviving) metaphors feel also wonderful these days. Cheers corrado.
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at February 24, 2006 8:46 AM
Wow, that is really cold!
I hope that your stomach has recovered from Many Bean Soup. It sounds like you needed to have more than one bathroom to deal with it!
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at February 25, 2006 5:51 PM