Think snow ... and agility workouts

If you read this blog regularly, you're familiar with my efforts to cross-train to avoid overtraining injuries from running. During the week, this mostly means swimming and some cycling on the stationary bike.

Every other weekend, Steve and I partake in an activity that blows biking and swimming out of the water.

We volunteer at Whitetail Mountain Resort as Mountain Safety Team members, which we've determined to be the best deal in the history of deals. We help open and close the mountain, offer assistance to people who fall or otherwise need help and do what we can to make ski patrollers' jobs easier. We also investigate and document crashes for the resort.

But, as our fellow safety teamer, Dave, put it when we first started: "Mostly, we just sort of ski around." In exchange, we get a season pass, making this the best job either Steve or I have ever had.

This weekend, we had a surprise from an old friend: moguls, which hadn't made an appearance at Whitetail two weeks ago but are now out in force on Exhibition, an expert run right under the lift (hence the name).

Like anything that kicks my ass, I love moguls and I hate them. It's a Tina-Ike relationship in which I'm always, always Tina. For a run or two, the bumps will be so sweet, lulling me into complacency with an easy line or forgiving snow. Then, the temperature will drop, causing the snow to harden, or I'll ski down a different portion of the run, and bam! I'm getting beat up again.

Suffice it to say that at the end of the day today, watching me ski the bumps was less like watching someone ski and more like watching someone try to ride a mechanical bull at a bar while very, very drunk. I didn't so much stumble as I got bucked off.

But I've resolved to get back on the bull. My plan is to work on my agility. My quads are plenty strong, but my legs don't move so quickly or smoothly.

I haven't found a good ski-specific agility workout, but I'll post it here as soon as I do. In the meantime, any suggestions? Post 'em below if so.