“I can’t believe this is my first winter hike of this season,” stunned by the snow-buried mountain range, I soliloquized.
My mountains complained to me, “Why does it take so long for you to visit us?”
“Yes, it has been too long,” I echoed.

It was winter, and Catskills in winter are always beautiful. Rocky and steep terrains in the Catskills earn them a good reputation, in which a 24-mile long trail is called the Devil’s Path. But, in winter, devils retreat from their playground and yield it to white angels, with whom we humans dance hand-in-hand on the soft and tender snow and our hearts are soon filled up with joy.

望著層層被白雪覆蓋的山巒，我喃喃自語：「不敢相信，這是我入冬以來第一次的雪鞋健行？」
彷彿耳邊聽到山林絮絮地抱怨：「怎麼過怎麼久才來看我們？」
「真的是太久了啊。」我楞楞地回應著。

這就是冬天。冬天的Catskills總是美麗的。雖說她的嚴峻和多岩地勢，讓許多人遲疑不往，其中一條24英哩長的步道，甚至為其賺取「惡魔之路」的名聲。但，當冬天一起，鬼精靈的惡魔們將這遊戲場讓給白天使，人們於是可以和天使手牽手地一起嬉戲，在一片白茫茫中，得到歡欣和喜悅。

I learned how to in-line skate pretty much on my own: I bought a pair of in-line skates and I took them to the riverfront and skated. I was quite nervous the first two runs and almost ripped somebody’s top off when I followed him going downhill. Shortly after that I started to feel quite good on skates since I had no ambition on those 4-wheel things other than driving forward.

As a thunderstorm always comes in when you least expect it, God likes to pick a rough time to show you life is in fact cruel. I participated in one of the Landskaters’ Tuesday-night city skates and that was when my confidence faced one of the most severe challenges. I had a hard time following the skate and many times I was so close to being swept away by the sweeper.


基本上，我是自己學習怎麼溜直排輪的。事情很簡單，買雙直排輪，拎到河邊，就希哩呼嚕開始滑起來。剛開始的時候是蠻緊張的，也差點滑到河裡，還快要把前方帶我滑下坡的人的上衣扯破才甘心。經過兩三次的調適，慢慢地就開始溜得挺順手了，心裡還頗得意，反正我的目的只不過是往前溜罷了，並不想要玩什麼花俏。

不過就像雷陣雨總是在沒帶傘的時候落下，上天總是找最好的時機，告訴我們現實總是殘酷的。一次，我參加費城Landskaters的活動，那是一個星期二晚上，我的自信心面臨極大的考驗。大家在費城馬路上溜得不亦樂乎，我在最後追得是有氣無力，好幾次，似乎最後的押隊者就要跟我說：「這位女施主，回頭是岸啊！」

I have to admit that I haven’t written any essay titled “New Year’s Resolution” probably since elementary school. But maybe like everybody else when I was a kid I never meant seriously to implement those plans laid out in the essay so that I could recycle them the next year when the time came.

Believe it or now, the situation is different now. I am an adult and I mean seriously here to carry out the following plans. I found it useful to write them down here so everybody who reads this article is welcome to be a witness, and what is more important is when the end of 2006 comes, I can compose a progress review and compare and contrast it with the plan. To make a long story short, here are my projects for the new year: Write, Launch, Publish, Lead, and Train.


大概自從小學畢業之後，就再也沒有寫過什麼「新年希望」之類的作文了。那時候，每年也只不過應應老師的要求，寫一些三大條，五要點之類的交差了事，從沒有想過要認真實行。等下一個新年一到，沒有實行的計畫，又可以回收再利用，反正誰記得你一年前究竟答應了些什麼？

今非昔比，現在是大人了，說出口的話可是要認真點了。在接近歲末的這一刻，決定將明年的企畫條列在此，除了邀請有興趣的讀者們作個見證，更重要的是，明年年底，我還可以寫一個歲末回顧，仔細地評量自己的實踐成果。好，閒話不多說，以下就是我的新年企畫：雙語部落格、小Po戶外維基、文章的定期發表、帶領戶外 活動、以及戶外技能訓練。

A lot of projects are carried out everyday, ranging from neglectable teeth brushing in the morning to a large-scale business takeover. In order to achieve success, we plan our projects carefully step-be-step, and implement them cautiously and consistently. In other words, we want to make sure we are always in control.

When we exercise, we want to be in control too. Not only does it maximize the effect of a workout, but also it minimizes the probability of sport-related injuries.

地球不停地在運轉著，每天，從早到晚，每個人都在執行大大小小不同的計畫。小到早上吃些什麼，大到規模浩大的企業收購。為了計畫能夠順利實行，我們小心翼翼地規劃出一個一個的步驟，再謹慎地執行，確定每一個環節都不會出問題。換句話說，我們要確定每一步驟，都絲毫無誤的在我們的掌握之中。

運動也是一樣。確定掌握了所有的步驟，不但讓運動規程發揮最大的功用，同時也大大減低運動傷害的機會。

Mao-mao has become our alarm clock since we changed the feeding routine.

It was early in the morning; the sky was still dark but Mao-mao was active. She kept walking back and forth across our pillows and once a while she licked Jeremy’s head and played with my hair. “Stop pulling my hair,” I yelled, but Mao-mao was a stubborn little brat, or I had spoiled her so bad that she didn’t bother to care for my complaint. I pushed my eyelids separated, “Damn it, it is not even 5 yet.” Jeremy knew that it was time to use something extreme so he threw Mao-mao out of the bed, violently. Oh it would not do any harm; everybody knows a cat has nine lives. She therefore disappeared in the dark, quieter than a ghost.


自從改變貓貓的餵食時段之後，貓貓就成為我和節米最忠實可靠的鬧鐘。

那天早上，天色未亮，但是貓貓有些野。在枕頭之間走來走去的，一下舔舔節米的頭，一下玩玩我的頭髮。直到我終於受不了了，大喊道「貓貓，別拉我的頭髮」。貓貓卻恍如未聞，平常真的把她寵壞了，她真以為她是這屋子的女王哩。嘖，現在也不過五點而已，逼得節米祭出秘技，大手一揮，將貓貓摔出老遠。愛貓人士可別說我們殘忍，貓可是很厲害的，這對她來說可算不了什麼。貓貓有些賭氣地走了，身影悄悄地隱沒在黑暗深處。

Picture source: NATO website

I didn’t realize how much I relied on my alpine ski gear until my first encounter with telemark skis.

Technology is a wonderful thing: Those bindings keep my feet laying flat on my alpine skis at all times. As long as I make sure my shins put pressure on the tongues of my boots and I swing my hips, a smooth run from the top to the bottom is guaranteed. Sometimes I lean too much forward, and sometimes my shoulder is not perpendicular to the fall line, my gear just quietly compensates the imperfect body position without bothering me with a signal of “not to worry.”

I was never worried though I need to worry because if I had brought my gear to intense conditions, such as steeper terrains or moguls, I would have consumed up the forgivingness of my beloved ski equipment. Fortunately before any tragedy could happen, I had my first contact with telemark skis.

從來不知道什麼叫累，我總認為「不為也，非不能也」。

週末連續兩天的滑雪課程，每天在雪上練習約六個小時。除了初學乍練以外，這滑雪通常讓人維持著，懸空坐著國王的新椅子的姿勢，大大考驗股四頭肌。

週一醒來，全身酸痛，除了大腿肌肉僵硬以外，屁股邊、腿上摔著的地方，也此起彼落的哀聲大作。我想，這正常，每次新學種運動，總是這樣的，等肌肉習慣了之後就好了。很自然地取消當天應做的訓練項目，跑步以及游泳。也把和攀岩繩伴的約會順延到第二天。

上週末參加一個telemark skiing的訓練課程，終於在第二天的最後幾次嘗試裡頭，品嚐到了「就是這麼樣做就對了」的感覺，彷彿向乘著雪板在山林間遨遊的夢想，又接近了一小步。

為什麼學telemark？為的是一個野孩子到外頭冒險的夢。想踩著雪往上爬，也想拿點速度往下坡的方向穿梭前進。

身為戶外活動的領隊，除了事前對行程的安排做妥善的規劃，如何挑選同隊有福同享、有難同當的伙伴，也是相當重要的。

試想，一個三天兩夜的backpacking之旅，代表有超過60個小時，你隨時都看到同隊同伴燦爛的笑臉，或是煩惱的哭臉；吃也在一起，睡搞不好也睡在同一個帳棚。大概除了個人方便的時候，才可以享受一角三五分鐘的清靜時光。同隊的伙伴能不慎選嗎？

〈訓練腹部的肌肉〉 忘記從哪一本書讀到過，所謂fitness包括三部分：endurance、strength、和flexibility。一般來說，設計自己的訓練課程的時候，最好三者兼顧，有事半功倍、減少運動傷害的好處；換句話說，基本上也就是兼顧有氧運動、重訓和伸展運動。 在重訓方面，個人覺得又以腹部和下背部的肌肉訓練最為重要，以我從事的運動來舉例：譬如說划獨木舟，划槳的時候，就是靠腹部和下背部，旋轉帶動肩膀和手臂划槳的。而跑步避免運動傷害很重要的一點，就是抬頭挺胸，身體打直，也因此腹部和下背部肌肉的支撐效果不容忽視。 我訓練這兩部分肌肉所做的運動，以腹部來說，我會平躺在地上，雙腿伸直併攏，一起抬高約二十到三十度，感覺到腹部有在使力支撐，等到累了再放下，休息約三十秒，再重複一次，總共做三次。 至於下背部，我會將做重訓的adjustable bench調成將近九十度，人站在bench上，雙足固定在bench底部和背部交接的地方，下腹部大約抵在bench背部的頂端附近，雙手交叉抱在胸前，彎下身子，以下背部的力量將上半身舉起直到全身打直，慢慢地，做十次，休息30到40秒，再做十次，總共做三個十次。如果強度不夠，雙手可以加持啞鈴。 在雜誌上看到一些訓練腹部肌肉的運動，感覺上像是仰臥起坐的變形，可供參考： （建議訓練量是每個單項做兩個十次） 一、 平躺，膝蓋彎曲。雙足固定卡在重物之下（或請人幫忙按住雙足）。雙手交叉抱在胸前，下巴內縮。以腹部的力量將上半身撐起，直到上半身和地面成九十度，維持約一秒，躺下。 二、 和一的不同，這個運動加入旋轉的動作。十指交叉放在頭後面，以手肘尖端的方向作引導，撐起上半身時，以右手手肘瞄準左膝的方向帶動身體的旋轉，下一次則是左手手肘瞄準右膝的方向。 三、 平躺，雙足併攏，雙手往後延伸，抓住一個固定物。將雙膝舉起貼到胸前，再慢慢將雙膝往天花板的方向抬高，直到不能繼續抬高為止，放下。 〈好玩的馬拉松〉 本期的雜誌除了列出2006年美國境內的馬拉松比賽，還做了一篇專題報導，列出他們選出的幾個有趣的馬拉松。 其中一個引起我注意，打算2007去跑的馬拉松，是在佛州的Walt Disney World Marathon，為什麼呢？因為完成獎牌是一隻米老鼠。搞不好是所有馬拉松完成獎牌中，最可愛的一個吧。