Winter is my time for cross training. Of course, there really aren’t many riding opportunities in the Keweenaw in the middle of winter. That’s ok, though, because there is a LOT more to do. Variety is the spice of life, hey?

Biking

I will probably continue to bike as my primary exercise until the snow flies in December or January. Although, with the wet days (wet and cold don’t mix well), I don’t ride, so my exercise has been waning, lately. After the snow flies, I’ll probably haul the mountain bike up to Calumet to ride the snowy roads with a friend. I’d like to do this once a week, but once or twice a month may be more realistic in the heat, er, cold of winter. I might go to a spinning class or two, as well. Our local social riding group does a series of spin classes in November and December.

Skiing

This is what makes Houghton incredibly special. Not only is there downhill skiing, telemarking, snowboarding, and God only knows what else going on, we have some of the best cross country ski trails, period. The grooming is top notch and we have miles of trails for skating and classic skiing. So, that is what I do. My primary form of exercise is skate skiing.

Snowshoeing

This is a great social sport. It’s also great strength training for your legs. It also warms you up pretty easily, although 7 below zero usually finds a way to chill you. The reason I bring that up is because zero and below usually means no-go for the skate skis, so the snowshoes come out.

Kamikaze Sledding

Tubing in the backwoods – before you know it, you’re out there for three hours bumping into trees as you slide down giant hills. Awesome.

Weight Training

I’m actually going to start weight training probably next week. I’m waiting to get over this cold. No need to spread it. I assess my cycling weaknesses and address those with my winter weight training. For example, I had a huge knot around my right shoulder blade that no one could work out. It was from mountain biking. So, I figured that strengthening my back would alleviate that issue for the next summer. I was right. I concentrated on strengthening my arms and back (whole back) and I haven’t had any back issues this year. This year, I’m going to add legs into the mix.

16 oz Curls

Ok, when you’ve got a most excellent brewery in town with $2.50 pints, how could you *not* include this into your exercise regime?

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Today’s Menu

Breakfast
2 slices chocolate zucchini bread with butter – ~15 points

Lunch
Milkshake – 16 points

Dinner
Salad
• Lettuce, tomato, cucumber – 0 points
• 4 Morningstar Chik nuggets – 4 points
• 14 g croutons – 1 point
• ½ oz cheese – 3 points
• 3 tbsp homemade ranch – 2 points

Total POINTS: 41

Note: Um, yeah. I have chocolate zucchini bread in my fridge and I love butter on it. It’s really the only thing I put real butter on. I also wanted the milkshake. Being sick is very bad because I sit on my butt all day and I crave bad-for-you foods. When I exercise, I crave healthy foods. I better get well, soon.

The good news is that, even though I’m taking in a lot of calories, I’m taking in a considerably lesser amount because I have to post it all to the world. Ali, I think this was a great idea.