Sinners on the mountain

In training, as in life, it isn't always possible to adhere to a plan (no matter how perfect the plan or how steadfast your intentions). Things come up. It happens.

Luckily, maintaining 100% compliance isn't a requirement for success. (If you can train for 4 or 6 or 8 months without ever missing a run, without ever succumbing to the siren song of the deep fryer, without ever swapping the Vitamin Water for a Geary's or two on a sunny Saturday afternoon, then yes, you've very hardcore and maybe also very OCD...and probably not a whole lot of fun to vacation with.)

The key is to not let that 'Woo-hoo-it's-Cinco-de-Mayo!' binge last for three weeks straight.

And hey, if amidst the entertainment you still manage to sneak a workout in, more power to you.

This weekend I headed up to Reggae Fest at Sugarloaf. It's a gluttonous weekend for most - a reminder of those hazy college years when beers were cracked at 1:00 p.m. and heads didn't hit pillows until dawn. This time, though, a few hours of skiing are jammed in there too (while wearing your underwear on the outside of your ski pants, of course, because hey, it's Reggae Fest).

Not being a very accomplished skier (just started learning this winter and would have spent the day alone and weeping on the bunny slope) I instead joined a friend cross country skiing on Saturday. I figured it wasn't likely I'd be getting any running done, so some light skiing would be a good alternative (it's called cross training, people).

I'm clearly Olympics bound (see my flawless form preparing to race down the flat terrain).

And despite all the crowds and riotousness everywhere else, the X-country trails were nearly desolate. After two hours of up hills and down hills and all-out communing with nature we saw only three other people.

One gentleman saw us and turned to his eight(ish)-year-old son and said, "See these nice young ladies out here being productive? Not like those sinners on the mountain."

Give us an hour, man. We'll be there too.

At any rate, it was a relaxing jaunt and a good workout. We finished up with some free Geary's courtesy of Teco, resident outdoorsman and Sugarloaf Outdoors Center employee.

Today, I can't seem to move my legs without a slight grimace. But it's cool. It's a good "I-did-something-productive-(not-like-those-sinners-on-the-mountain)" kind of pain.