Skiing #8 Aftermath and Skiing #9

The weather for skiing #9 wasn't ideal. The forecast called for a partial sun, but it snowed all morning. My face froze up from the driving sleet and my but from icy water on the lift. The visibility was bad too. The cloud and snow made the terrain flat and the snow dripping off my sunglasses didn't help.

I meant to duplicate skiing #7, but the weather made sure that I didn't. I didn't go to the Judah side of the mountain at all. I instead skied mostly green and blue slopes on the Village side. I did go on Pony Express off Disney twice at the end though. Overall, it's about the same as #7 with total skiing time of 90 minutes. But replication requires the exact duplicate, so if this one doesn't result in a soft-landing, I'll have to try again. Skiing #8 wasn't an exact duplicate of #6 either; it was much harder. Another reason to try the replication again if there is no soft-landing in coming days.

There was no major dopamine rush after skiing #8 that includes several black runs. Funky fatigue on the next day and then it got progressively worse for 3 days. Then, after 4 days, I was up and running errands.

Being high on dopamine for a day or two and then getting knocked out another day or two days after that would've been fine. But being out of commission for 4 days out of a week is just too much. I can't spend all my life trying to exercise my way out of CFS. I may give the hard/easy skiing combo for soft-landing one more try and then I'll stick to easy skiing from then on.

Moguls, Finally

The old pair of beginner's skis finally met its limit. It flexes so much, I couldn't tackle the moguls well. And controlling them over crusty surface was practically impossible because they are so narrow. I'll have to get a new pair as soon as the price for Vockle Mantra M5 drops.

Skiing #8 was the hardest one so far. I spent most of time on blue and black slopes. I finally went on the face of Disney Express too. It wasn't fun though. I managed the mogully top portion alright, but the lower steep portion was too crusty. I struggled to make turns and my legs turned into jelly by the time I got down. I rated this one at 9 on my 1 to 9 activity rating scale, for the first time in 12 years. In reality though, it still is only about half as what I used to be able to do. It was still 10-to-2 skiing with 2 long rests after all.

Today I have a post-exercise fatigue and am resting comfortably. It is a sleepy kind, not the heavy and sickly kind of CFS. Maybe I'll be high on dopamine for another day and the bottom will fall out on by Saturday. Then I'll go back on the slope next Monday for an easy skiing. If that rescues me from the prolonged crash, I'll have a measure of confidence that an exciting and yet easy trip is a cure for crash.

Speed is Still a Killer

I was doing so well. For 3 days after skiing #7, I was up and running taking care of all ADLs and errands. It seemed that I could walk faster too. So I upped the speed to 93 steps per minute, about as fast as I could walk without straining, rather than throttling to 90, my safe speed. The result? heavy fatigue and ache the next day. And I'm still under the weather 3 days after.

How is it even possible that I can ski intermediate slopes and yet keel over after walking 3% faster for 4 blocks and back? 93 steps per min is still a slow speed, after all. My exercise tolerance must've been reduced from skiing even though I was able to take care of ADLs and errands.

In any event, the "soft landing" seems to have worked. The crash after hard skiing (#6) seems to have been reversed by a soft skiing (#7). I'll try the process again and see if I can repeat the result. The mountains received 2 more feet of snow and the weather will clear up tomorrow. I'll ski the advanced slope, and then go back for a soft one 5 days after.

Skiing #7 Saves the Aftermath of Skiing # 6

A good size of storm was brewing and I wanted to squeeze in one more day of skiing before the week-long bad weather hits. But I woke up with fantastic fatigue and ache. This was only the 5th day after the hard skiing on 1/10 and I obviously was too optimistic. But my car was all charged up over night and my lunch was already packed. Besides, the idea of wallowing in fatigue and ache all day long at home wasn't too inviting and I figured I'd be better off on the road. So I went on. I did perk up, but the nagging fatigue persisted throughout the day. I skied mostly green and blue slopes and came home shortly after lunch.

That may have saved me from the aftermath of skiing #6. I skied half green and half blue on 1/2 (skiing #5) and I survived it without too much drama. So I skied even harder on 1/10 ; I actually went on a black run. Donald Duck off Disney Express is not mogully, but still pretty steep and long. By the time I was half way down, my heart rate was at 3 bits per second. I was on a dopamine high for the next 2 days afterward and then the bottom fell out. The struggle could've lasted for another week. Instead, I'm up and running, 2 days after skiing #7. I hope to ease into the valley of steady state in coming days. 

Is this a case of re-take-off and then soft-landing to cure the crash-landing? Who knows. 

The peaks are now approaching the normal height. All that remains is moguls. And 9-to-3 skiing instead of 10-to-2.  But valleys remain depressed as ever: I still struggle in between the days of skiing. And I still have no idea who to raise the valley floor. I only can hope that the rising peaks will eventually lead to the rising valley floors.