Winter Narrative

I have always been a fan of winter.  In fact it has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember.  Growing up in the middle of nowhere we had an abundance of snow days.  For me there was nothing better than a snow day.  I would wake up early (I had to be on the bus about 6:50 A.M.) and listen to the radio just praying that my school would be called and I would get to stay home.  On those days we would be snowed in and there would be drifts everywhere and my siblings and I would go outside and stay there for as long as we could stand and then we would come in the house and dry our clothes out and get warm.  I have fond memories of my mom making homemade chili and cinnamon rolls and all sorts of other goodies during those times.  As I got older and we got less snow I began to snowboard.  I was never one to take the big jumps or slide the rails but I could make it down the mountain in one piece.  I loved it!  During college I was too poor to snowboard to often and I didn't have a car so I spent a lot of time walking too and from classes.  I even enjoyed this.  I am weird I know but I loved getting all bundled up in my coat, hat, scarf, and gloves and I felt that my winder clothes were cuter than my summer ones.  I still do sometimes, but the point is loved winter.  During my second year of graduate school my good friend introduced me to snowshoeing.  My first experience was not the most positive one.  My snowshoes were cheap rentals and they made me walk pigeon toed and plus we were on a groomed run which was a little lame.  I ended up taking off my snowshoes and strapping them on my backpack which worked out better for me.  Once I graduated and had a real job I bought myself a pair of nice snowshoes with the hope that they would improve the quality of my life.  I was right.  I spent a great deal of time that year with Calleen and my snowshoes out in the wilderness.  It was awesome.  At that time I was working three jobs and I was in great need of self care and snowshoeing was just was I needed.  We had several adventures and luckily for me I was never injured.

The next year the winter wasn't quite as awesome.  There was little snow and therefore little snowshoeing.  Not awesome.  Then last year Calleen, our good friend Tessa and I planned a yurt trip to take place New Years Eve.  Traditionally, I like to donate blood on New Years.  In the past awesome things have happened like I became a celebrity and got a free shirt so this motivated me to continue to donate and bring in the new year right.  So several hours before our yurt trip I went to the Red Cross and graciously gave them my blood.  Once this was finished I packed my gear, strapped on my pack and headed out with Calleen and Tessa on our winter adventure.  I was in really good shape at the time but my legs were not working, they felt a lot like lead.  I was feeling very discouraged and a lot like a fat loser as Calleen and Tessa got farther and farther ahead of me.  It was embarrassing.

Luckily Tessa was in PA school and is the smartest person I know and she told me that I had no blood and it was causing my extremities not to function properly.  I don't know if I have mentioned this before but my ultimate goal in life is to be a bad ass and I felt that donating blood then backpacking several miles would help me achieve this goal.  I felt deflated but a little better knowing that I did not completely suck at life I just had crappy judgment.  The 3 miles to the yurt felt like 30 but I made it.  I have never been so happy to reach my destination.

Luckily I have not had too many other embarrassing mishaps while participating in winter sports, unless you count the time when I went snowboarding with Calleen.  Wait no, that was her mishap and she will have to be the one that tells about that but it was a good one.  Anyway winter has been good to me. 
But recently I discovered some other activities besides building snow caves, snowshoeing, and snowboarding.

That's right wearing spandex.  It's my favorite thing.  Backpacking and mountain biking are alright too but spandex, how I love thee!

Tightness on my bod

Aerodynamic hotness

Wicking, drying, fast

Now that I am dealing with the whole drama of the Exercise Induced Compartment Syndrome I have been told that the treadmill is bad for me.  I work until it gets dark and this leaves few cardio options at the gym plus I am too wussy to run during blizzards or ride my bike on ice.  Also it is too cold for me to run around in my unitard.  Just kidding I wish I had a unitard.  The point of all of by babbling is that although in the past winter has been good for me, recently my body has not been good to me and it is feeling really excited for the days that I can once again go outside when it is light without the fear that I will slip on the ice and break my hip, get exercise induced asthma, get hypothermia leaving my house on my bike, and wear my sexy spandex!