Training in March

Training in March is coming along very well.
Even though spring does not seam to show any signs yet, training switched from X-country skiing to to hiking and walking.
Live and work is very busy and if I am not able to train during the day, I am spending a lot of time hiking and walking during the night hours.
I pretty much train every day to get into a routine.  Most of my training is now walking and hiking for several hours with a full backpack. The backpack makes a big difference as this will also strengthen my core and shoulders.
Most of my walks I combine with climbing stairs. We do have  a 40 meter vertical set of stairs going down to the beach  which I will do at least 3-5 times after a multi hour fast walk including all my gear.  The hikes are still in the snow and when the snow gets to soft or to icy I am wearing my snow-shoes. My plan is to do multi- hour walks/hikes for several days in a row and then train for a day or 2 in the gym.
You can see my progress on my MovesCount page or even see how I am doing compared to the other xAlper at http://www.movescount.com/groups/group1115-Red_Bull_X-Alps_Athletes

Penny at the cross country worlds masters in Silverstar

Last week we headed to Silverstar with the whole family. Unreal how much snow these guys have and how much still was coming down in the week we stayed there.
Penny participated in 3 races and had the following results
15 km classic ski, 6th overall and fastest Canadian
1o km classic ski, 8th overall and fastest Canadian
30 km classic ski, 6th overall and fastest Canadian
Way to go Penny we are all so proud of you. Considering Penny raced only a 15 km and a 30 km  in cross country ever before. Some of the worlds best coaches say "if she would now learn how to ski, she will be for sure one of the best skiers in Canada.
We had an excellent time there, we shared a suite with the Tamelin's (3 kids from 6 to 12) and the kids never had a dull moment. We spend time cross country skiing, down hill skiing, skating, toboggan, hot tubbing with rolling in the snow and tubbing. The kids loved tubbing the best.
I had enough time to get work done as we had very good internet connection and i got about 10 hours of cross country skiing in. Most of my skiing was at night and sometimes challenging due the poor visibility with all that snow.  Skiing at night for up to 2 hours with poor visibility defiantly hones your orientations skills.