Noggin Thought

Yesterday was much better all around and it started with Souplantation for lunch. I had none of the same after CrossFit workout pains as on Monday. I could eat there 2-3 times a week and be happy. One of the best parts is that I ate more food for this lunch but still felt much better. I even had some bread. Deal with that Jody Maroni!! If you’ve never had Souplantation ya gotta try it. They’re in 15 of our 50 states so hopefully you have one near you.

Definitely sore today…that’s what happens when you do 150 deadlifts (135 lbs) and 150 push-ups in 15 minutes. But it’s a good sore. It’s an ‘I accomplished something so I should be sore’ kind of sore. Normally I would be CrossFitting again tomorrow but it’s off to Mammoth for another snow-filled weekend excursion. No Ooh this weekend, well she hasn’t gone once this season, but there’s always next season.

Lastly, I have been assured by my friend that his Toyota Camry will not unintentionally accelerate during this trip.

I was in Mammoth this weekend (2/26-2/28). The forecast showed a storm for Friday night. Not sure when it was supposed to happen on Friday night, but we hoped we could make it into town before the storm…we didn’t. Except for one other trip which, sadly, ended before it started due to snow just north of Mojave, CA and me not having the right sized chains, I hadn’t seen this kind of snow on the road before. It was coming down in large, almost centimeter in diameter, flakes. I wasn’t the one driving, so I couldn’t really feel the car sliding that much, but being from sunny southern California it’s not something I’m used to. But the good thing was that we knew the next day would be a great snow day.

Saturday on chair 22 was one of the best snowboarding days I’ve had at Mammoth. Plenty of areas of untouched powder. Lots of good tree runs. And it wasn’t outrageously cold…in the morning. The group decided to eat lunch at Mill Cafe because it “has the best food”. I protested lightly because, while the food is good, you usually have to sit outside to eat. It was snowing at this point. So what happens? We go. We get the food. We sit outside to eat. It was damn cold! Just as I said it would be. After that I decided I didn’t need to continue when I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore. So I headed back to the condo. I can’t complain cause I had great riding and no injuries while another member of our group wasn’t so lucky. He had a good riding day up until the point where he collided with a skier and broke his arm. That’s all of the story that I know. Couldn’t tell you who’s fault it was, but a broken arm is a broken arm and it sucks. He’s okay now but the next 2 months are going to be rough.

Sunday wasn’t nearly as good as Saturday, but the top of the mountain was open. Occasionally when the clouds would clear we had beautiful views of the town of Mammoth Lakes, CA and the eastern sierra mountains. I didn’t take my camera this time so no pictures, but I have one more trip so maybe then. I enjoyed a few runs on the steeps and then watched the second half of the Laker game. The Winter Olympics gold medal hockey game was also on but we didn’t win that so it doesn’t matter. I only acknowledge closers and the Lakers are closers.

One thing that this trip made me remember is shit happens. I’m a fairly cautious snowboarder but at any time some asshole skier could come out of nowhere and try to take me out. So for you new up and coming snowboarders, watch out for skiers. They’re kind of wild and some of them are assholes. Just kidding…about the wild part.

Went to Mammoth again this past weekend (1/29 – 1/31; I know the weekend is only two days, but sometimes mine starts on Friday, so there!). It was a good trip with a different crowd. The first group was younger, maybe a little wilder. They needed alcohol while they were riding. Supposedly it made them more relaxed and less apprehensive about trying difficult maneuvers. The relaxed part I could possible see, because alcohol is a depressant. But the “liquid courage” part I don’t agree with. The only effective way to be more confident about difficult terrain is by starting small and practicing until it’s no longer difficult. Maybe that’s to simple for people to understand. Plus alcohol dehydrates us; something I don’t want at 10000 feet and 30° with very low humidity. This week’s group was mostly veteran riders. They approached any difficult terrain with caution, made the adjustment, and continued on. And as for the newcomers (we had 2), they took their time and made it down the mountain at a decent pace. We had a lot of fun, as expected.

This time we chose to cook on Saturday night which would normally save money. But then the downside of veterans is they still drink alcohol, just not so much on the slopes…these are the ones I know. Veterans do their drinking back in the condo after riding. So the food (and drink) total was upwards of $160 for 7 people. It easily could’ve (should’ve) been half of that. Out of the 7 people only 3 drank the alcohol, so the other 4 contributed for nothing. I thought about this when the email went out with the totals. I could have been an ass and mentioned that I didn’t drink any of the alcohol, but I didn’t, it’s just money. Maybe next time I’ll state up front that I’m not drinking so that I’m excluded from that bill. We’ll see.

I find now that I don’t have the same need to ride all day that I did before. It’s easier to ride all day now because of CrossFit, but I find myself stopping a little early and relaxing. I think before I wanted to get the most of my purchase, now I want the best of my purchase. I guess I’m getting older.

I learned (maybe realized) some things today. But let’s start with last night.

Trying to write a blog post in a room full of people is not a good idea. I’ll set the scene: Role Models is showing on the TV, quite loudly. One person is watching cricket on his computer (without headphones) and commenting on it. And everyone else is having disjointed conversations that occasionally refer to cricket or the movie, but are mostly about nothing. I was barely able to collect the thoughts that I did have and compose an entry. So I’m proud of myself for overcoming the obstacles that were around me, but annoyed at myself for being in the presence of the obstacles at all. Net result: 0. I could have (should have) written the entry upstairs away from all of the social activity.

On to today. I had forgotten the little things that are necessary to make snowboarding ultimately enjoyable. Probably because it’s been about 10 months since I last strapped in. These little things are why yesterday was just a cold day and today was a good day, and it reminded me of why I look forward to these “somewhat draining weekends…whenever I get the opportunity.”

Yesterday was cold. I think it was colder than today. That’s interesting because my friends felt that today was the colder of the two. Let’s examine this. Day 1, my fingers and toes were numb too many times on the mountain. Day 2, I wore an extra layer (for some reason I chose not to on Day 1; why would I do that?) and made sure not to lace my boots up too tight. Result: very few instances of numb fingers and toes which allowed me to take a picture here and there. Yesterday my technique was “a little off on the steep runs”. This, I’m sure now, was an equipment problem. Day 1, my bindings were set at -12° and 12°. Day 2, I changed them to -18° and 18°. I didn’t even realize that a 12° total change would make such a difference. Result: riding was almost effortless. I could do whatever I tried without a struggle. I even did a few jumps today. Last and most important: breakfast. Day 1, “granola and other empty carbs”, not a good way to fuel my system for a day of activity. Day 2, leftovers from dinner on Day 1. This wasn’t the best of meals (chicken fried steak with gravy, vegetables, and potatoes) but it was still more balanced (and tastier) than the Day 1 breakfast. Result: energy for every run and a clear mind to focus on my riding and listen to my music.

Compared to last night this entry was written under much better conditions. I’m sitting in my comfortable chair. I have my studio headphones on, listening to the sounds of Om Radio (available on the Om Records website). Very nice music to kick back to. Ooh is here. I can’t really hear her with these headphones on but I can see her. I look over at her every now and then. She’s fun to watch…all this contributes to better thought composition.

Last night I was only optimistic about today because all I could focus on was what I wanted to change. Today I was able to enjoy it. And now that I have the little things under control again I think it will remain that way.

I told you I took one:

Bonus: I’m trying this out so here are these.

I’m in Mammoth Lakes, CA right now. It’s the end of a very cold day of snowboarding, and I’m tired. We had a 6 hour drive up last night. I got maybe 6 hours of sleep. Definitely not a good breakfast (granola and other empty carbs). Then 5-6 hours of snowboarding. I did have a nice lunch somewhere in there which helped. So I guess it’s been a long 2 days. I have one more day of boarding tomorrow before we do the second 6 hour drive back to LA. It’s a long, somewhat draining weekend and I look forward to it whenever I get the opportunity. Every 2 or 3 weekends would be just fine.

This is the first time I’ve snowboarded since starting CrossFit in June of 2009. I don’t think I got winded at all today, but my technique was a little off on the steep runs…easily correctable. I think I just need to adjust my bindings. Tomorrow I may do a few runs from the top; maybe take a picture or two, we’ll see. Now a little reading, and then sleep time.

For now I have this: