Saturday, February 7, 2009

Fun winter vacations and planning for it

I'm traveling, again. I'm spending my birthday weekend with my older son, near Lake Tahoe. It's lovely outside, with fresh snow floating down through the forest. I love this part of California.

In the Tahoe area, there's lots to do, if you're athletically inclined. Skiing and snow boarding, snowshoeing, hiking, mountain biking, ice skating. When it's a little warmer, there's rafting and golf, as well as nature walks. There's probably some tennis courts around somewhere. And there's boating on the lake.

But if you're not athletically inclined, there's practically nothing to do here! I was hoping to get out and do something, but no one makes snow clothes for big people. I have my snow boots, and I have my heavy jeans and some sweaters, and a wool coat. I can be warm, but I'm really too overloaded with clothes to make movement through the snow a fun experience. My knees are not helping either. So I'm exercising in the hotel gym, and I've walked around Squaw Valley Village and Truckee a few times. I'm bored now.

I'm looking forward to the time when I weigh substantially less and I can participate in all these things around here. Everyone looks like they're having fun. I don't even have friends that do these sorts of things. Where does one go to make friends to learn skiing with? I'm giving myself a year to lose enough weight to go skiing. The largest ski outfits that I've found are around a size 20, so I need to drop four sizes. In the meantime, I can do conditioning exercises specifically for winter sports during the whole year.

I've read that skiing, in particular, requires lots of upper leg strength. The best way to gain that is weight lifting and cycling, especially up hills. It also requires core strength and cardiovascular endurance. So, Pilates and some sustained cardio for at least 10 minutes.

I'm saving my pennies, too. Winter sports equipment is pricey!

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