Back from my skiing trip to Whistler, BC! No alpine skiing, just skate skiing, and some running. We had perfect snow conditions, and the trails were perfectly groomed for skating. I am so impressed with the whole area for nordic skiing! There is a trail system right in Whistler Village, circling a lake and using woods and part of a golf course. Must be at least 60k of trails. Groomed for both classic and skate skiing. I explored this area the first day, and skated for 2.5 hours. The second day I traveled about 20 miles south of Whistler and went to the Calaghan Valley, where the 2010 Olympic nordic, biathlon and ski jumping events took place. What an absolutely beautiful place! So nice to see it available to the community here after the Olympics. They've maintained the area as an incredible nordic ski area, with probably 100k of trails at all skill levels. I skated a "workout" here, warming up for 40 minutes at a low heart rate, then tranisitioning into a 90 minute "tempo" skating session at tempo heart rate, and then finishing with a 50 minute cool down. My body really felt tired, as if I'd just had an incredible workout, but without ANY muscle soreness or any of the after running feelings. I felt that I didn't even need to stretch! Last day (today) was spent back at the town trails at Lost Lake, skating 2 hours and 15 minutes at easy heart rate, immediately followed by one hour of running. The transition to running gear took me 15 minutes, very awkward. The the muscle transition was easy, nothing like switching from bike to run. Running was very slow, very icy roads, and no yak trax! Glad to be home, but I will have to visit this winter playground again for more skating soon! Have a great weekend everyone!
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