Have you ever had a totally perfect training cycle? One where you didn’t have to postpone any long runs for weather or a bad cold (or an awesome tailgater, for that matter)? Or didn’t have to spend a week in the pool with a sore IT band? Or didn’t have to swim with a pull buoy because of a twisted ankle, or with a kickboard after tweaking your shoulder picking up a suitcase? Or didn’t make it to the pool at all because it was randomly closed for maintenance the very week you were supposed to swim your hardest sets, or because your toddler got sick?
Photo credit: Whitetail Resort.
I ask because I realized that the reason I’ve been so cranky about the postponement of my ski patrol training thanks to a warm-weather-induced late start to the season is because THIS WASN’T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO. I was supposed to be on the snow by mid-December! But then the weather got all warm, and Whitetail couldn’t make snow! And I don’t WANT to wait anymore, because I had to wait LAST season after I got hurt , and it’s not fair!
All that whining and pouting makes it seem like I haven’t been through this before. I’ve taken month-long hiatuses in the middle of marathon training to accommodate a sore hip. I’ve amended my training schedules for open-water swims to suit my travel and work conflicts. I’ve done speed workouts on the treadmill when it’s simply un-runnable outside. In short, I’ve accepted the fact that life isn’t perfect, which means my training won’t be perfect, either—and I’ve found a way to get it done, anyway.
We're smiling because there's snow, actual snow, falling on us at Seven Springs!
So last weekend, rather than sit home and pout about our home mountain not being open, Steve, our favorite ski-patrol buddy and I decided to drive a bit farther west to play on a different mountain that *was* open. Obviously, I didn’t do any training at Seven Springs, located about an hour and a half past Whitetail in Pennsylvania. But I’ve got to believe that getting two additional days under my skis certainly doesn’t hurt my training. And, you know … it didn’t suck, either.
We woke at a B&B near Seven Springs ski resort to find our car, and the world, covered with white stuff. Score!
Have you recently worked around a glitch in a training cycle? Tell me how you managed to get it done by posting a comment below!
Amy Reinink 
Awesome! And Seven Springs is not bad at all. I not only learned to snowboard there (if you can call it that), my favorite trail race (Laurel Highlands 70M) goes right over the top.
There were flurries on my winter hike Sunday and I totally thought of you and cheered for snow.
“Have you ever had a totally perfect training cycle?”
No.