(Teaching A New Body Old Tricks…)
Late afternoon/evening cross country ski with a friend (after an already lovely lunch and visit with another friend). The ski was kind of last minute decision. And not just up to the Rail Trails but out to the ski area at Apex/Busk.
I was really nervous heading up. Excited, but nervous. Worried about BG tanking, part of me wanting to cancel. ‘What ifs’ piling up in my head- what if BG crashed, what if I couldn’t keep up, etc…
Well, I crashed within the first 10mins. Not my BG, but me, physically. Ski tips crossed on a downhill corner and down I went. But it was kind of a slow motion fall, like maybe I planned it, because I could’ve stayed up if I’d tried a bit harder. But the falling was good. Made the ‘scary’ go away and brought me back to earth, literally.
I fell a few more times but laughed them off (even though my hip and my tailbone aren’t laughing now).
We skied from the Busk parking lot down to the Euphrates Warming Hut (5-6km loop). We stopped there for tea, as some previous skiers had blessed us by starting the woodstove so it was cozy in the little A-frame. Dusk was leaning toward dark when we headed back. I was thankful my friend had brought a headlamp- I couldn’t see very far ahead but it made a circle of light right in front of me, so I just trusted the tracks. (Insert deep, philosophical thoughts here 😉 ).
Dark, quiet forest and a sky full of stars.
I was tired on the way back and asked for help getting a juice box out of my pack. (I discovered later I didn’t need it, BG had been good the whole time, it was just endorphins and adrenaline).
But that’s right, I asked for help. And I am proud of myself for doing that.
Now it’s 7:30pm and I’m just about to have dinner. And it’s ok to be off my schedule once in a while. It was wonderful and empowering to push myself out of my comfort zone again.