taking an offseason and cross country skiing as the perfect cross training activity
Before I get into this blog, I want to sincerely thank everyone that reached out with support following the last blog entry. And to update those that were concerned, there have been no setbacks with my daughter and her vision has continued to slowly improve so we are both in a much better place. Now about that snow…
Durango Legend Martha Schoppe (Read Why Here) with the DRC First Lady on Junction Creek Road.
Those of us that enjoy the snow received a Valentine’s gift when about a foot of snow fell that morning, giving Durango and the surrounding areas a sense of normalcy we hadn’t had all winter. To take advantage of the fresh white stuff, I cross-country skied four days in a row, and I didn’t run those four days at all. Which is how I like it this time of year. I usually reduce my running to about half of my normal volume from Christmas through Spring Break. This is why:
Trail Running Typically Sucks Anyway During This Time Of YEar
By the time I write this, so much of the Valentine’s Day snow has melted off that the realization is quickly setting in that we’ll need three more of those dumps between now and the end of the season to end up with just an average winter, which is very unlikely. Newbies to Durango that have been running all winter should know that these are very atypical conditions. Up to the Valentine’s Day Dump, this had been the driest of the 13 winters I experienced in town, including the notorious winter of 2018, which was of course followed by the devastating 416 fire. The old-timers I’ve talked to say this has been the least snow in town that they’ve seen since 2002, which of course was the year of the even more devastating Missionary Ridge Fire.
In a normal year, Durango is not a year-round trail running location. In late December and January, you have to post-hole through deep snow. In February that snow turns to ice, and March is full-on mud season. You can either slog through these miserable conditions or go with the flow of our natural seasons and find more enjoyable ways to stay fit this time of year.
It’s Good For You Mentally to Get a Break
We should all remember that every single run is a great privilege. That we have world class trails, have an hour or more to spend running that day, and are healthy enough to run is something most people in the world simply don’t have. However, if you do anything often enough, you will eventually start to take it for granted and you will get less enjoyment from it. It’s like when sometimes you have to go out of town to be reminded of how awesome Durango is. If you never have a break, your running will start to feel only like work, and for most of us, running is how we play, not how we work.
A Break Can Be Good For You Physically As Well
The longest race I run in a typical calendar year is in the fall. Following that training block and race, I always have a few niggles, or what runners call injuries that aren’t so bad that we actually have to stop running. In the aforementioned winter of 2018, I ran through that entire winter and all of the niggles only got worse, not better. The only way I’ve found to get those running-induced niggles to feel better is to back off your running.
This doesn’t mean you should take a break from physical activity (although that’s also okay if you need to). I’m not a doctor, but it’s been my experience that the best way to heal those niggles is to get as much blood flow to them as possible without the impact of running. You can do that through multiple forms of cross training (with my favorite described below). I’ve also discovered through trial and error, that you will have a rough spring getting back in running shape unless you keep at least a baseline level of running. I still try to run at least four days a week in the winter (usually on the River Trail), but typically don’t do any long runs (for me a 10+ miles).
So What is So Great About Cross Country Skiing?
If I had to summarize the four things I love best about trail running, they are as follows: 1) the deep connection you feel to nature when you are several miles from the trailhead; 2) the “runners’ high” or “flow state” you experience typically when running downhill; 3) the deep sense of relaxation bordering on exhaustion following a few hours out on the trail; and 4) doing the majority of the activity at conversation pace so you don’t have to do it alone. Cross Country skiing is one of the only other activities I’ve found that checks these boxes, which is why I think most runners that try it like it.
But be advised you might have to try it a few times before you discover how great it can be. Great skiing requires great snow. Not too soft and sticky, not to hard and icy. Not too deep and not too shallow. There’s a Goldilocks zone that you are never guaranteed to get on any outing, but when you get it you know it. Some places may only have that perfect snow a couple times per year, and if you are lucky enough to ski that spot in those conditions, you know you hit a potentially once-in-a-lifetime jackpot. Even when you don’t have great snow conditions, it’s still a good workout but more important to have a friend along to help you forget about how hard you are working. A coffee stout or canned white russian can also make the hard work more fun.
The author and the First Mutt at the Vallecito Nordic Area (also home to the world’s best half marathon).
A Potential Fountain of Youth
Most people in the club know me as the guy at the group runs with the most gray hair. However, this past weekend on some groomed trails in the Pagosa area, the First Lady and I were the youngest people we saw. I look at it as learning from my elders. The old-timers out there on skis are probably some of the fittest people in the world at their age. When people discover it, they discover a lifelong hobby. Cross country skiing is a great cardio workout, with almost no impact on your joints. Not surprisingly, my watch actually tells me that I’m fitter in the offseason when running half as much, but skiing at least twice a week.
Skate or Classic?
Skate skiing requires use of a wide path that is regularly groomed. Within a one hour drive of Durango the Vallecito Nordic Area is the only groomed area fully open to dogs. Since cross country skiing is the favorite sport of the First Mutt, I’m currently just on classic skis. On classic skis, you can still use the groomed areas, but can go on pretty much any seasonally closed Forest Service Road as well. This includes Junction Creek, La Plata Canyon, Lime Creek, Missionary Ridge, Echo Basin, etc. Classic skis also work well on areas groomed specifically for fat bikes and snowmobiles where the groomed path is often either too narrow or too rough for skate skis. During the epic winter of 2023, I was able to ski 30 different locations within a two-hour drive of Durango, probably six of those locations were groomed specifically for skiing. Lastly, classic skiing is easier for newbies to the sport, and doesn’t require lessons. All of this said, if a canine companion and diversity of locations are not important to you, skate skiing would be a great option as well.
If You still want to run year-round, know the Leave-no-trace ethics of running this time of year
Let’s start with winter trails. First, never run on groomed surfaces. Many hours of volunteer time went into making that groomed surface specifically for skiers. A few years ago I observed a couple running on the groomed trails while skiing in the Chicken Creek nordic area, despite signs clearly asking people to only use the trails with skis or snowshoes. Please don’t do this. With regards to ungroomed trails, it takes a lot of work on classic skis to break trail after a good snow. A good rule of thumb is to just never run on top of what are clearly ski tracks. If the snow is so deep that you can’t run without running on top of the ski tracks that were set by that skier for the benefit of their return trip or other skiers, then you are mooching off of their work and making their experience worse as the post-holing of that track makes it less smooth and more difficult to ski.
With regards to mud, a couple of years ago Durango Parks and Recreation staff asked me if I could put an end to Hognar, the annual tradition of running to summit Hogsback as many times as possible during Snow Down, due to the trail damage that was done. I said it was not a Running Club event (which it’s not) so I couldn’t stop it, but would try my best to spread the word to stay off the trails when muddy. One year later, it’s my understanding that there were renewed complaints to the land managers requesting that the trail be closed because so many runners either didn’t hear or ignored the message I tried to spread. Luckily this year conditions were unseasonably dry. (For the record, I typically do participate in and love Hognar, but only when the mud is frozen before the sun hits it.)
Our partner Durango Trails has a simple saying, if you leave a track, go back. This message is either ignored or misunderstood as every spring almost every trail in Durango is covered in deep shoe prints. This is most apparent in a location like Twin Buttes where the lower trails are open during mud season, but the upper trails are closed for the annual wildlife closure. When the upper trails are reopened each spring, the conditions on the lower trails are always terrible. Then you reach the upper trails and the conditions are all of a sudden fantastic because no one was allowed on these trails when they were muddy. I think a reframing of our mindset as runners is necessary. Right now I think most people stay off the trails when they determine that the conditions are bad enough that they would make their own experience miserable. Instead what we all should be thinking before every trail run is if our run makes others’ experience worse. No one wants to see your shoe prints on a trail. Be honest with yourself on whether or not you are in fact leaving a track, and if so, turn back.
