Had a fantastic morning. In fact, the last few days have been splendid: great weather, and even better conditions. Fast and shiny tracks on Thursday. Three inches of fresh snow throughout the day on Christmas Eve. Skiing on top of Elver, through a snow shower, on the day before Christmas, makes for a good moment.
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| December 24, 10:00 am. Looking west high above Madison. |
Elver Park was groomed this morning, and once again the trail was hard and quick. After taking yesterday off I decided to skate the 10 km course, to track my mileage, and hopefully to push the envelope a bit. Today I skied the course twice...about 22 km total...my longest ski of the year. I'm still not where I want to be physically; yet I also know its all about gradual progress. Today I was strong. Strong enough to ski about 13 miles...over 40% of the Birkie. And the best part is that I know I got more in me.
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| December 24: Standing above the Elver Park sledding hill. |
I am so very fortunate to have Elver Park right out my back door. It is a place I have grown to love. A park that is an important part of my life. Expanding it to the winter season is long overdue. The park is over 225 acres and has about 17 km of skiing and hiking trails...most of them cut through a mature woodland forest. The hills of Elver are appropriate training ground for the hills of the Birkie Trail. And not just during the winter months, but the dry-land training I did in Elver before the ski season provides me with the confidence that I can fight to the top of these hills. In both places the hilly terrain is long and persistent, and always challenging.
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