The agonizing process of learning how to cross-country ski as an adult comes down to grit, determination and - well- continuing to continue. Setting a goal, and doing the thing, over and over - despite the deep discomfort is sometimes, the only way forward.
With that, let's get to it.
ambassadörks
Nicole: Continue to Continue
In 2016, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Peru. It was a trip filled with hiking, seemingly mostly uphill, at high altitude. In the middle of one of our days of hiking, after an impromptu sheep herding session with some locals, we came upon a sign that read:
“CONTINUE TO CONTINUE”
We laughed at it (but also scowled at it), as it was the perfect motto for our trip: to see and do more, you had to continue. What was the “continue”? Mostly, climbing up, up, up while our lungs burned. The end result? Landscapes so beautiful that they are difficult to describe: mountains, jungle, lakes, wild animals.
Over the years this sign has lived in my head and I realized it applies to so many things in life, including Nordic skiing. I decided to learn how to skate ski in 2021 (such a COVID thing to do) and promptly got my butt kicked.
Hard.
I had been a runner for years and knew that skate skiing would be tough, but I thought being a runner and my years of figure skating and hockey might give me a leg up. They did, but it wasn’t much.
Every day that I came home my husband would ask me how skiing was and I would reply with some form of “So hard, so terrible, I don’t know if I can do this.”
I thought about giving up many times, but for some reason I always went back for one more painful time on the trails. I wanted to continue despite the “continue” being more difficult than I anticipated.
As collegiate Nordic skiers raced past me on the trails, my one solace was that someone had told me, a few months after I started, that the Nordic center where I was learning to ski was “really tough” by Nordic center standards (now known as the really tough Nordic center, RTNC). That made me feel just a bit better and pushed me to continue. I wanted to continue.
I skied at a more forgiving (read: flatter) Nordic center a few days the first season. That gave me a little boost to continue - I wasn’t hopeless! I could ski for more than a few minutes without having to stop! I even made a tiny bit of progress at the RTNC.
That was enough to get me to return in 2022.
I dared myself to try a tougher trail at the RTNC and I did it! (With a lot of stopping, bending over, and gasping for air.) But I continued to push myself so that I could continue, even into 2023.
In 2024 I made it up a long trail at the RTNC without stopping. First time for everything!
Then I made it up the long trail and around a loop without stopping.
Then I made it through a ski session only stopping twice.
I continued.
Then once.
I continued.
Then I made it through an entire ski session without stopping. Continuing had worked. The sense of accomplishment when I hadn’t stopped was amazing, I reached a goal I had set for myself. It didn’t matter that I was (and still am) as slow as molasses out there. That’s another goal for another day.
In February and March of 2024 I was able to get out on the trails more frequently. I was killing it on Strava (in competition with only myself, of course). The results of the continuing were finally positive and, most importantly, I was enjoying being a Nordic skier. I loved it, craved it even. It still kicked my butt, I still bent over gasping for air more than I would like to admit, but my body was doing more than it could before.
After some injuries and rehab throughout 2024, I have started 2025 back on the trails feeling like it is 2021 again. I will continue to continue because I know, from years past, what I can do. Even if I don’t get there this year, there is joy in trying.
There is joy in continuing.
Nicole Stob started nordic skiing in 2021 after many years of saying, "I should really try nordic skiing." Now, she's hooked! Nicole loves being active and being outdoors as the fresh air energizes and renews her like nothing else can. When not wielding her PhD in Nutrition at UCBoulder, Nicole can be found snowboarding, skiing, and running. Her favorite candies are Nerds and Milka chocolate.
the closer What We're Thinking About.
That cross-country skiing is LITERALLY that hard for all adult beginners. We found ourselves in Nicole's words, as the first time we made it around a 2k flat loop without stopping was - and still is - the single hardest thing we've ever done in our lives. But, just beyond that sweaty, spittle-covered chin and nausea-induced effort lies the ability to keep pushing and to find yourself falling in love with Nordic skiing. You just have to "continue to continue."