Cross-country skiing is a new sport for me; because I live and work in Minnesota, it was only a matter of time before I caught the Nordic fever.
I got myself some skis; my husband, Rich, built me a waxing bench; and now I go out on the trails as much as I can. But I've also caught the "race" bug, which was actually for me — an extremely NON-competitive type — about finding a way to motivate myself in the winter. It's hard to get moving when it's dark and cold, but with a goal I go out no matter what. That's why I'll be doing the Birkie on Feb. 21 — it will be 50k for 50 years!
Skate skiing is technique heavy, and my technique has improved when I take music along. I don't wear headphones, but rather, I hear in my head a variety of waltzes. Strauss' Blue Danube helps for long, graceful and fully committed strides.
After the ski season, I'll head to England for the Fellsman, a 61-mile, 11,000-foot ultra race that takes place across two days, April 25 and 26.
For whatever reason, I am strong when it's time to go uphill. I was able to crush a few "fourteeners" (mountains reaching more than 14,000 feet) in Colorado last summer. I walk rhythmically, strong and with deliberation.
So the next step (pun intended) seemed to be to give it a try over a longer period of time — and to not just walk, but to run some of it, too. During our extended autumn, I trained on Afton and William O'Brien hills on some very long runs. So I now can legitimately call myself a "trail runner."
One of the things I notice in my long distance backpacking and trail running is that slow music gets me up the inclines. Intuition tells me it needs to be fast, energetic and heart-pumping, but I found myself naturally turning towards long phrases, melodies that might accompany a long shot of a vista, pieces that beg contemplation and to be more internal. If the endurance test of fell running is more than 50 percent psychological, this makes sense!
Here's a sample playlist for trail-running endurance:
Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending
Mahler, Songs of a Wayfarer
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5: Largo
Beethoven, Emperor: Adagio
There's also this really cool piece by Nickel Creek, "Out of the Woods" sung by The King's Singers. That got me up every fourteener this past summer in Colorado.
What music do you listen to or think of as you exercise? Share your training music in the comments below.
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