So I had my first cross-country skiing attempt yesterday. Fun. Painful and humiliating. Lots of falling. But fun!

One thing I discovered was that the entire aim of the sport is to maximize efficiency. I'm oddly drawn to that aspect--the less energy you spend, per unit distance traveled, the better you are. There's a nerdy quality to that that's hard to not like.

And this led to my other observation. As I got more and more weary, I started trying to achieve the right kind of form, within the limits of my remaining muscle control. And I think that my greatest "flow" moments occurred when I was flat out exhausted. I totally gave up on thinking and just started to get the glide going.

So, after a day, I'm pretty sore, but fascinated by the possibilities of the new physical experience. No idea where they leads, but it's a good experience to tuck away.