What a difference a year makes.
On New Year’s Day, I finally put on my fancy orange outfit, shoved my feet into plastic casings, clicked on some skis, and headed up a hill. This would be my first time skiing since I committed a year ago to getting in shape. I was anxious to find out whether all that work in the gym would make a difference on the slopes.
The day’s skiing came with a little unexpected drama: my daughter, a couple of weeks earlier, had her first ski lesson of the season, after which she declared that she would never ski again. That got worked out — we convinced her to give the teacher another try with a different approach — and on Sunday she did great, had a blast, and then just before bed delcared that she would never ski again. But then last night we talked, and she said she’d check my form and help me out next time, so who knows?
Anyway, I finally got out there to see what, if anything, might have changed since last year. And I can say definitively that working out made a major difference. Last year I was winded just carrying my gear up to the starting point and putting on my skis. Even after a few lessons, I was still stiff, and my feet and hips hurt every time. My heart pounded on the way down.
Yesterday I had none of that. I am still not a good skier — my glutes were shaking with fatigue, which I understand is a sign of poor ski posture, sitting back instead of standing up and leaning forward — but I could make it down the mountain and have fun, and today I’m not really sore.
A year of squats, planks, cardio, balance exercises, and stretching has, in fact, changed the way I experience physical challenges. It was nice to get the proof.