Dec. 24, 2010
Happy Christmas Eve to Everyone. For all those in the Soldotna area this christmas, there will be a ski clinic at the Tsalteshi trails behind Skyview high School on Sunday Dec. 26th from 12-3:30.
12:00-1:15 Classic ski clinic
1:30-2:45 Skate ski clinic
3:00 - 3:30 Wax clinic
Come and enjoy warm drink and goodies.
Merry Christmas!
Brent
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Final Day of the mini tour!
Dec. 19, 2010
So we had a hunting start 15k classic race today to finish off the three day mini-tour and I am glad to be done. I had a really rough time sleeping last night and was a little stressed this morning because of it. It took me about 13k to get my body to wake up and finally ski well, but by then I already had ten racers go by. Its a bit of a bummer, but those days are there. I ended up 24th for the weekend, which is not quite what i was hoping for, but the overall weekend of racing was a solid one for me. My body was responding a lot better to the training and was allowing me to get into some race gears. Its now time for some needed rest and relaxation. Perhaps some good Christmas cookies to warm the soul. I have US Nationals here in two weeks and I am looking forward to the battles. Merry Christmas everyone.
BK
So we had a hunting start 15k classic race today to finish off the three day mini-tour and I am glad to be done. I had a really rough time sleeping last night and was a little stressed this morning because of it. It took me about 13k to get my body to wake up and finally ski well, but by then I already had ten racers go by. Its a bit of a bummer, but those days are there. I ended up 24th for the weekend, which is not quite what i was hoping for, but the overall weekend of racing was a solid one for me. My body was responding a lot better to the training and was allowing me to get into some race gears. Its now time for some needed rest and relaxation. Perhaps some good Christmas cookies to warm the soul. I have US Nationals here in two weeks and I am looking forward to the battles. Merry Christmas everyone.
BK
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Holy Freaking Skate Race!!!
Dec. 18, 2010
Talk about a high intensity 10k race. The distance course skis a lot like Kinkaid in Anchorage in that it has good uphills followed by rest sections. This is great for those with speed and capacity to recover fast. The second half of the course is the tougher half in that the rest is fairly minimal and work is high. We had rock hard grooming and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Knowing that i really didn't have much to loose and the fact that the conditions were suited well for me, I decided to go out quite hard. I did. I was recovering well after the climbs and maintaining speed well. At 4k i was the leader for the lap so far and still skiing well. I later found out that after all skiers went by, I was tied for the lead with Lars Flora. I went into the second lap still feeling good and I hammered up the long drag out of the stadium. I was starting to feel the lactate buildup, but the rest sections were just enough to get me up the next climbs. The last 2.5k were the tough k's for me. I had caught the racers that had started 1 minute and 30 seconds in front of me, but at the point I caught them, I had lactic acid building up to my eyeballs. I could not for the life of me find the speed to get around them. The last kilometer felt like forever, but I was able to finish the last 400m fairly strong. Lars had about 20 seconds on me with 2k to go and I knew that he could finish strong, but the question was how strong. In the end, the race was extremely tight. Many racers went out with the same game plan to simply go really hard and see what happens. I finished 35 seconds behind Lars (the eventual winner) and although that is generally fairly close, I was 13 places back. I finished 14th (6th american). I was 5 seconds from top ten and 28 seconds from top 3. It was so freaking fun to throw down and feel fast again. Im excited that the body is stepping up each weekend and performing a little better. Nationals is going to be fun, especially that it is at sea level. Tomorrow is going to be awesome with a tight field going out at irregular intervals based on overall time back. Should be a great time!!
BK
Talk about a high intensity 10k race. The distance course skis a lot like Kinkaid in Anchorage in that it has good uphills followed by rest sections. This is great for those with speed and capacity to recover fast. The second half of the course is the tougher half in that the rest is fairly minimal and work is high. We had rock hard grooming and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Knowing that i really didn't have much to loose and the fact that the conditions were suited well for me, I decided to go out quite hard. I did. I was recovering well after the climbs and maintaining speed well. At 4k i was the leader for the lap so far and still skiing well. I later found out that after all skiers went by, I was tied for the lead with Lars Flora. I went into the second lap still feeling good and I hammered up the long drag out of the stadium. I was starting to feel the lactate buildup, but the rest sections were just enough to get me up the next climbs. The last 2.5k were the tough k's for me. I had caught the racers that had started 1 minute and 30 seconds in front of me, but at the point I caught them, I had lactic acid building up to my eyeballs. I could not for the life of me find the speed to get around them. The last kilometer felt like forever, but I was able to finish the last 400m fairly strong. Lars had about 20 seconds on me with 2k to go and I knew that he could finish strong, but the question was how strong. In the end, the race was extremely tight. Many racers went out with the same game plan to simply go really hard and see what happens. I finished 35 seconds behind Lars (the eventual winner) and although that is generally fairly close, I was 13 places back. I finished 14th (6th american). I was 5 seconds from top ten and 28 seconds from top 3. It was so freaking fun to throw down and feel fast again. Im excited that the body is stepping up each weekend and performing a little better. Nationals is going to be fun, especially that it is at sea level. Tomorrow is going to be awesome with a tight field going out at irregular intervals based on overall time back. Should be a great time!!
BK
Friday, December 17, 2010
Sprint day!!
Dec. 17, 2010
So there are definitely some positives and negatives from the day for me. To begin i will briefly describe the course. From the start you shoot straight up a long drag uphill for about a minute. The course then drops about halfway down and takes a right throwing you right into the second and fairly short steep uphill (about 10 seconds max). From there you drop into a high speed downhill to culminates in a really tight left hand 180. A short 80 meter drag over the flats brings you to the final downhill that ends in a high speed finish. The finish stretch is shorter than what we typically see, but legal.
My prelim qualifier went fairly well for me. The long first drag went a lot faster than i thought it would and I found myself with power to spare over the top. The second short uphill could have gone smoother as I struggled through the transition, but i came over the top and down the hill with speed. I made it through the high speed 180 with no problems and finished strong. I was happy to finish in twelfth (5th american) overall.
The quarterfinal heat was a little less than stellar. We found out that we had three APU skiers (Mark, Reese) in the same heat supplemented by Garrott Kuzzy (former 9th in World Cup), Canadian national champ Graeme Killick and top Canadian sprinter Phil Widmer. I am still fairly new to sprinting in my career and have little experience in heats. I get better each time I roll through them, but I end up having more to learn every time.
Out of the start I was sitting well behind the leader Phil Widmer, but soon realized the pace had come down quite noticeably, a tactic used by many sprinters to control the pace and save energy. I felt great and was chomping at the bit to try and get around, but the course was not quite wide enough for three. Reese had gotten out well and was skiing next to Widmer in front. For me, the way i get though heats is to ski all out from start to finish to kill some of the speed out of the sprinters in the finish. I was trapped. We got over the climb and I went into the downhill in third. My second mistake came when i took the right turn into the uphill wide and allowed Killick to ski inside of my line which allowed him to pinch me out on the hill. I went from third to last really quick, but we were all still together. I found my way back to the mid field through the drag past the 180 turn and went into the final downhill in fourth-ish. The high speed finish is not my strong suit, and was my eventual demise. I was feeling strong and fast in the finish, but even though i was less than a ski length back from the winner, I finished 6th in my heat. We had the tightest heat of the day. Nobody knew what place they finished until a few minutes later. Oh well, I still have some things to learn, but overall the heat went well and im excited to know my body is finally feeling strong again.
So there are definitely some positives and negatives from the day for me. To begin i will briefly describe the course. From the start you shoot straight up a long drag uphill for about a minute. The course then drops about halfway down and takes a right throwing you right into the second and fairly short steep uphill (about 10 seconds max). From there you drop into a high speed downhill to culminates in a really tight left hand 180. A short 80 meter drag over the flats brings you to the final downhill that ends in a high speed finish. The finish stretch is shorter than what we typically see, but legal.
My prelim qualifier went fairly well for me. The long first drag went a lot faster than i thought it would and I found myself with power to spare over the top. The second short uphill could have gone smoother as I struggled through the transition, but i came over the top and down the hill with speed. I made it through the high speed 180 with no problems and finished strong. I was happy to finish in twelfth (5th american) overall.
The quarterfinal heat was a little less than stellar. We found out that we had three APU skiers (Mark, Reese) in the same heat supplemented by Garrott Kuzzy (former 9th in World Cup), Canadian national champ Graeme Killick and top Canadian sprinter Phil Widmer. I am still fairly new to sprinting in my career and have little experience in heats. I get better each time I roll through them, but I end up having more to learn every time.
Out of the start I was sitting well behind the leader Phil Widmer, but soon realized the pace had come down quite noticeably, a tactic used by many sprinters to control the pace and save energy. I felt great and was chomping at the bit to try and get around, but the course was not quite wide enough for three. Reese had gotten out well and was skiing next to Widmer in front. For me, the way i get though heats is to ski all out from start to finish to kill some of the speed out of the sprinters in the finish. I was trapped. We got over the climb and I went into the downhill in third. My second mistake came when i took the right turn into the uphill wide and allowed Killick to ski inside of my line which allowed him to pinch me out on the hill. I went from third to last really quick, but we were all still together. I found my way back to the mid field through the drag past the 180 turn and went into the final downhill in fourth-ish. The high speed finish is not my strong suit, and was my eventual demise. I was feeling strong and fast in the finish, but even though i was less than a ski length back from the winner, I finished 6th in my heat. We had the tightest heat of the day. Nobody knew what place they finished until a few minutes later. Oh well, I still have some things to learn, but overall the heat went well and im excited to know my body is finally feeling strong again.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Rossland, BC
Dec. 16, 2010
So we made it to Rossland, BC on Monday night and arrived to lots of snow and warm temperatures. Rossland is a beautiful alpine type resort with lots of cross country skiing trails to compliment it. We have had a lot of routine around here, a lot of it geared towards preparing us for US Nationals here in a couple weeks. We have a lot of training the past few weeks with some tough races thrown in. We are all feeling a bit tired, but excited to get the first mini-tour of the season under way. We have three days of racing ahead of us with the mini tour. We are starting with a skate sprint day where the top thirty get alloted bonus time towards the overall. We continue on Saturday with a 10k Skate race (individual start). The last day is a 15k classic race in pursuit format. So the first two days of time is added up plus whatever bonus time one might have received. A racer will then go out exactly the amount of time he/her is behind the overall leader. The first person across the finish line will then be the overall winner.
I am currently working on a team intro video for APU so that for those of you not familiar with the team can put names to the faces. It should be up shortly, so keep a watchful eye out. I will post results from tomorrow as soon as they are available. Hope all is well with everybody.
So we made it to Rossland, BC on Monday night and arrived to lots of snow and warm temperatures. Rossland is a beautiful alpine type resort with lots of cross country skiing trails to compliment it. We have had a lot of routine around here, a lot of it geared towards preparing us for US Nationals here in a couple weeks. We have a lot of training the past few weeks with some tough races thrown in. We are all feeling a bit tired, but excited to get the first mini-tour of the season under way. We have three days of racing ahead of us with the mini tour. We are starting with a skate sprint day where the top thirty get alloted bonus time towards the overall. We continue on Saturday with a 10k Skate race (individual start). The last day is a 15k classic race in pursuit format. So the first two days of time is added up plus whatever bonus time one might have received. A racer will then go out exactly the amount of time he/her is behind the overall leader. The first person across the finish line will then be the overall winner.
I am currently working on a team intro video for APU so that for those of you not familiar with the team can put names to the faces. It should be up shortly, so keep a watchful eye out. I will post results from tomorrow as soon as they are available. Hope all is well with everybody.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sovereign Classic Sprint
Dec. 11, 2010
Classic Sprint day.
I was running a bit shy of bounce this morning, but I managed to qualify in 19th. We had a couple of good climbs on the course and during the prelim I found myself skiing more frantic and choppy. The quarterfinal heat felt much better. I was skiing much smoother and relaxed. Bart made a good sprint move and cut me off over a climb. I was frustrated, but thats racing. I made my way back up the next long climb and was back in the race through the downhill. at the bottom of the downhill, we make a hard swooping left turn. The guy skiing just to my inside swung a bit wider than he should have and that forced me off my line and I caught my tip on the side of the course. I didnt fall but came to an almost dead stop. At that point I had no chance of catching up as there was only 300m left and I had a good 25m to make up. I still managed to stay out of the caboose spot, but overall a slightly less than par day for me. APU as a whole though still performed great with 3 of 6 women in the final and 2 men in the B final. Heres my latest pathetic attempt at video making. Enjoy.
Classic Sprint day.
I was running a bit shy of bounce this morning, but I managed to qualify in 19th. We had a couple of good climbs on the course and during the prelim I found myself skiing more frantic and choppy. The quarterfinal heat felt much better. I was skiing much smoother and relaxed. Bart made a good sprint move and cut me off over a climb. I was frustrated, but thats racing. I made my way back up the next long climb and was back in the race through the downhill. at the bottom of the downhill, we make a hard swooping left turn. The guy skiing just to my inside swung a bit wider than he should have and that forced me off my line and I caught my tip on the side of the course. I didnt fall but came to an almost dead stop. At that point I had no chance of catching up as there was only 300m left and I had a good 25m to make up. I still managed to stay out of the caboose spot, but overall a slightly less than par day for me. APU as a whole though still performed great with 3 of 6 women in the final and 2 men in the B final. Heres my latest pathetic attempt at video making. Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Another day, Another 2.5 hours of ski work
Dec. 8, 2010
Training: easy recovery ski. Total time 1.5hr
After a very successful L3 workout yesterday, the relaxing day of an easy ski and some long overdue ski work was nice. Our sunshine left for the time being, giving us roughly 4 inches of fresh snow overnight. I was hoping for one of those nice powder days, but as Silverstar is, the trails were freshly groomed and set for some pristine skiing. Because it was an easy day, I also decided to take the ski lift back up the hill!
Believe me, I actually do need all these skis. They all have a different conditions that they are good in.
Here we have our ski tech Casey working hard and making sure we have the best skis possible for race day.
Training: easy recovery ski. Total time 1.5hr
After a very successful L3 workout yesterday, the relaxing day of an easy ski and some long overdue ski work was nice. Our sunshine left for the time being, giving us roughly 4 inches of fresh snow overnight. I was hoping for one of those nice powder days, but as Silverstar is, the trails were freshly groomed and set for some pristine skiing. Because it was an easy day, I also decided to take the ski lift back up the hill!
Believe me, I actually do need all these skis. They all have a different conditions that they are good in.
Here we have our ski tech Casey working hard and making sure we have the best skis possible for race day.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Another day in paradise
Dec. 4, 2010
Training: day off
I made the best of a threshold workout the other day, but it was time for a bit of rest. I took the day to make a killer pot of chili that I let simmer all day and brew in the wonderful flavors. It was really busy down in the village center. Silverstar is a popular destination!!! Although I have to say that I have conflicting feelings right now. We are about a half hour from the nearest REAL town and because we are into saving money, we cant take the vans out of Silverstar. Its like being trapped in your happy place. I need some reality from time to time though or I might just turn into some fairyland creature......which could be cool I guess.
A shot from inside the Fantasy Village:
Training: day off
I made the best of a threshold workout the other day, but it was time for a bit of rest. I took the day to make a killer pot of chili that I let simmer all day and brew in the wonderful flavors. It was really busy down in the village center. Silverstar is a popular destination!!! Although I have to say that I have conflicting feelings right now. We are about a half hour from the nearest REAL town and because we are into saving money, we cant take the vans out of Silverstar. Its like being trapped in your happy place. I need some reality from time to time though or I might just turn into some fairyland creature......which could be cool I guess.
A shot from inside the Fantasy Village:
I hope to get some good pictures from the top of the mountain tomorrow. Yes... we can ski to the very top of the alpine run on nordic trails.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Silverstar Rocks!
Dec. 2, 2010
Training: Dec 1 - L2 skate, PM Strength and run: Total time: 4hr
Dec 2 - L2 classic ski, PM L1 skate : Total time: 3hr
So the past few days havent been entirely busy, but man have we been training. With 120km of groomed trails its hard to keep from putting your skis on and exploring. I've been wanting to take some pictures, but i keep forgetting to bring my iphone with me. I took a short video clip this evening and for sure i need practice, but i want to start expanding this blog.
I will post more here soon. Have a great day!
Training: Dec 1 - L2 skate, PM Strength and run: Total time: 4hr
Dec 2 - L2 classic ski, PM L1 skate : Total time: 3hr
So the past few days havent been entirely busy, but man have we been training. With 120km of groomed trails its hard to keep from putting your skis on and exploring. I've been wanting to take some pictures, but i keep forgetting to bring my iphone with me. I took a short video clip this evening and for sure i need practice, but i want to start expanding this blog.
I will post more here soon. Have a great day!
Monday, November 29, 2010
On the Road Again
Nov. 29, 2010
Training: Leg spasms in the van
They aren't kidding in those commercials folks... The Comfort Inn is pretty comfortable. We made it to Spokane, WA tonight after a struggle with a non-latching door on a minivan and a very coordinated effort of holding it shut and driving down the freeway. Never a dull moment on this team.
Our internet crashed a couple days ago and so I didn't get a chance to write over the past couple days. The 10k classic race was I'm afraid to say less than Par for me. From the start I felt it hard to get the body in gear and felt simply sluggish the whole race. I guess that could be expected after 3 races already, but even though distance races in West Yellowstone generally don't go that well for me, I still get frustrated. The positive side was that on Sunday I was able to go out for an over-distance ski and really push myself for a while to burn some of that frustration off. Supplemented by a most beautiful day and the opportunity to get out on the great outer loop trails, I felt much better in the evening.
Im excited to get up to Silverstar and ski some World Cup courses for a while. Silverstar is the equivalent of a real life candyland with lots of colors and far from real civilization. I great place to go nuts and have very few know about it. I will post pictures when i get there to prove this fantasy land exists.
Training: Leg spasms in the van
They aren't kidding in those commercials folks... The Comfort Inn is pretty comfortable. We made it to Spokane, WA tonight after a struggle with a non-latching door on a minivan and a very coordinated effort of holding it shut and driving down the freeway. Never a dull moment on this team.
Our internet crashed a couple days ago and so I didn't get a chance to write over the past couple days. The 10k classic race was I'm afraid to say less than Par for me. From the start I felt it hard to get the body in gear and felt simply sluggish the whole race. I guess that could be expected after 3 races already, but even though distance races in West Yellowstone generally don't go that well for me, I still get frustrated. The positive side was that on Sunday I was able to go out for an over-distance ski and really push myself for a while to burn some of that frustration off. Supplemented by a most beautiful day and the opportunity to get out on the great outer loop trails, I felt much better in the evening.
Im excited to get up to Silverstar and ski some World Cup courses for a while. Silverstar is the equivalent of a real life candyland with lots of colors and far from real civilization. I great place to go nuts and have very few know about it. I will post pictures when i get there to prove this fantasy land exists.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Not bad for the first 15k
Nov. 26, 2010
Training: Race day 2 - 15k skate. Total time: 2.5hr
To start out, I want to say that West Yellowstone courses are both difficult and easy at the same time. Terrain-wise one would say that the courses are relatively flat with no really tough hills, but the kicker is that we are at 7000ft and on flat courses like this, you are working the entire time. There are not a lot of places on the course where you can tuck and recover. So compared to some bigger courses such as Canmore, AB, this course is pretty mellow, but the constant work can drive you into the ground pretty quick.
I have a history on not fairing to well on the distance courses here due to the constant working and I think its more body type than actual fitness that plays a role in results up here. I don't use that as an excuse, but in terms of courses, I tend to do much better with those with big climbs and more undulation. Muscle composition and weight play a big role at altitude. All in all though, this was one of my better distance races here in West and I'm fairly psyched.
I had a race plan for myself today and I almost followed it. I really have to temper myself and try to ski even splits for the laps otherwise my body tends to tank. I wore my heart-rate monitor to keep better control and stayed relaxed and well within myself for the first lap. My plan was to allow a moderate increase in heartrate each lap and be able to ski well the last lap and avoid the "barely making it to the finish" technique which seems to happen to me here. The trouble with my plan is that i'm too competitive and the racer starting 30 secs behind me caught me going into the second lap. I ditched the plan and latched onto him. We skied well through the second lap even though it was harder than I was intending to go. The third lap was more of a struggle as the 175lbs of Brent was screaming for more oxygen. Tough luck buddy. Halfway through the third lap, I ran into some trouble trying to pass two skiers (on different lap #s) and tripped myself up a bit which allowed the racer i was holding onto to get away from me. When i collected myself, I worked hard to try and make up the lost time and I went for broke going up the long steep hill about 1.5k from the finish. I was done and barely was able to stay on my skies through the last bit of the race. Everything was blurry and wobbly. I managed a half-ass "speed increase" through the finish and was crushed as I crossed the line.
The result was a solid one for me here, 15th and 1:25 out of first. It was a sure improvement from last years depressing 27th place. Tomorrow is a 10k classic and a technique i'm a bit more comfortable with. I look forward to another day of pain!!!!
Training: Race day 2 - 15k skate. Total time: 2.5hr
To start out, I want to say that West Yellowstone courses are both difficult and easy at the same time. Terrain-wise one would say that the courses are relatively flat with no really tough hills, but the kicker is that we are at 7000ft and on flat courses like this, you are working the entire time. There are not a lot of places on the course where you can tuck and recover. So compared to some bigger courses such as Canmore, AB, this course is pretty mellow, but the constant work can drive you into the ground pretty quick.
I have a history on not fairing to well on the distance courses here due to the constant working and I think its more body type than actual fitness that plays a role in results up here. I don't use that as an excuse, but in terms of courses, I tend to do much better with those with big climbs and more undulation. Muscle composition and weight play a big role at altitude. All in all though, this was one of my better distance races here in West and I'm fairly psyched.
I had a race plan for myself today and I almost followed it. I really have to temper myself and try to ski even splits for the laps otherwise my body tends to tank. I wore my heart-rate monitor to keep better control and stayed relaxed and well within myself for the first lap. My plan was to allow a moderate increase in heartrate each lap and be able to ski well the last lap and avoid the "barely making it to the finish" technique which seems to happen to me here. The trouble with my plan is that i'm too competitive and the racer starting 30 secs behind me caught me going into the second lap. I ditched the plan and latched onto him. We skied well through the second lap even though it was harder than I was intending to go. The third lap was more of a struggle as the 175lbs of Brent was screaming for more oxygen. Tough luck buddy. Halfway through the third lap, I ran into some trouble trying to pass two skiers (on different lap #s) and tripped myself up a bit which allowed the racer i was holding onto to get away from me. When i collected myself, I worked hard to try and make up the lost time and I went for broke going up the long steep hill about 1.5k from the finish. I was done and barely was able to stay on my skies through the last bit of the race. Everything was blurry and wobbly. I managed a half-ass "speed increase" through the finish and was crushed as I crossed the line.
The result was a solid one for me here, 15th and 1:25 out of first. It was a sure improvement from last years depressing 27th place. Tomorrow is a 10k classic and a technique i'm a bit more comfortable with. I look forward to another day of pain!!!!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Solid starts in a chilly double sprint 4th and 5th places
Nov. 25, 2010
Training: Race day!!! Classic and skate sprint qualifiers. Total time: 2.5hr
Wow!!! What a start! The weather was definitely on the chilly side and I definitely brought a solid bag of extra warm clothes to stay warm. The way this works is that there are two sprint qualifiers set an hour apart. Skiers go out of the start at 15 second intervals on a point to point course. We started with a classic prelim and an hour later a skate prelim. Both these courses were long and just barely FIS legal in length, but awesome to ski. The courses were really tough with a steep climb at the end of both of them.
I could barely drink my coffee this morning because my nerves were making my hand shake a bit, but I was more excited than anything i think. At the race venue, my legs were feeling heavier the closer it got to race start, but I did a usual warm-up and tried to screw my head on straight. When I finally took off from the starting gate, my skis felt fast and my nerves faded as quickly as the start wand flicked back. Apart from the cold, I was comfortable in my stride and rhythm and although the best line would have me get out of the tracks a few times, i stayed in so as to keep things moving smoothly. I rocketed down the last fast downhill and prepared for the final long 200m steep climb. As I came into the bottom of the climb my ski clipped one of the flags guiding the way and tripped myself up a bit, but hardly a 1 or 2 second loss. I felt strong as I crossed the line and was pleased with the effort. My lungs were searing from the cold, and the post-race cough started quickly. I headed back to the start area some 800m away and prepared for the skate race by putting on abnormal amounts of clothing.
Transitioning to skate after a hard sprint effort in the cold is by no means easy and I was having troubles. My legs were tired and I couldnt seem to find a comfortable feeling with it by the time I was to leave to start gate. I felt pretty clumsy out of the gate and with the cold snow the skating was not as fast as I would like. The first half of the course was a struggle for me to find rhythm, but with about 800m to go I found a sweet spot and was able to pick up speed and roll over the last downhill with a lot of speed. I came into the steep climb with a bit of energy and felt as though i wasn't loading with lactate as much as i should have. I wasn't nearly as winded after the skate race which was probably due to me struggling through the first half.
We waited for results for quite a few hours and everyones nerves were on end to see where they stacked up for the season opener. Mark and I were elated to find we rocked the classic and skate races. Mark was third in the classic and 12th in the skate. I was 4th in the classic and 5th in the skate. The combined times puts mark in third and myself in fourth overall. I will definitely take those results for the first of the season, but we have two hard distance races over the next two days.
Training: Race day!!! Classic and skate sprint qualifiers. Total time: 2.5hr
Wow!!! What a start! The weather was definitely on the chilly side and I definitely brought a solid bag of extra warm clothes to stay warm. The way this works is that there are two sprint qualifiers set an hour apart. Skiers go out of the start at 15 second intervals on a point to point course. We started with a classic prelim and an hour later a skate prelim. Both these courses were long and just barely FIS legal in length, but awesome to ski. The courses were really tough with a steep climb at the end of both of them.
I could barely drink my coffee this morning because my nerves were making my hand shake a bit, but I was more excited than anything i think. At the race venue, my legs were feeling heavier the closer it got to race start, but I did a usual warm-up and tried to screw my head on straight. When I finally took off from the starting gate, my skis felt fast and my nerves faded as quickly as the start wand flicked back. Apart from the cold, I was comfortable in my stride and rhythm and although the best line would have me get out of the tracks a few times, i stayed in so as to keep things moving smoothly. I rocketed down the last fast downhill and prepared for the final long 200m steep climb. As I came into the bottom of the climb my ski clipped one of the flags guiding the way and tripped myself up a bit, but hardly a 1 or 2 second loss. I felt strong as I crossed the line and was pleased with the effort. My lungs were searing from the cold, and the post-race cough started quickly. I headed back to the start area some 800m away and prepared for the skate race by putting on abnormal amounts of clothing.
Transitioning to skate after a hard sprint effort in the cold is by no means easy and I was having troubles. My legs were tired and I couldnt seem to find a comfortable feeling with it by the time I was to leave to start gate. I felt pretty clumsy out of the gate and with the cold snow the skating was not as fast as I would like. The first half of the course was a struggle for me to find rhythm, but with about 800m to go I found a sweet spot and was able to pick up speed and roll over the last downhill with a lot of speed. I came into the steep climb with a bit of energy and felt as though i wasn't loading with lactate as much as i should have. I wasn't nearly as winded after the skate race which was probably due to me struggling through the first half.
We waited for results for quite a few hours and everyones nerves were on end to see where they stacked up for the season opener. Mark and I were elated to find we rocked the classic and skate races. Mark was third in the classic and 12th in the skate. I was 4th in the classic and 5th in the skate. The combined times puts mark in third and myself in fourth overall. I will definitely take those results for the first of the season, but we have two hard distance races over the next two days.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Big fluffy white stuff
Nov. 24, 2010
Training: Nov. 22 - Easy classic ski - Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 23 - Classic ski with race prep - Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 24 - Easy classic ski - Total time: 1.25hr
So the past couple of days have been a comical array of snow storms, digging out vans, and CO2 detectors going off. Thankfully the storm has passed, but not without consequence. As soon as the storm passed over, the temperature dropped considerably. We skied today at temperatures around -10 degrees and although the cold was biting with the wind, the grooming was immaculate. A good last few days of training have fired me up and I am ready to race. Our races scheduled for today have been postponed until tomorrow due to road closures and temperatures. We will have four races in three days. Awesome!!!!
Our early thanksgiving was awesome and everything came together very well. Mark and I were pumped to do the turkeys this year. Although we had trouble trying to find something big enough to brine the turkeys with, we improvised.
GARBAGE CAN TURKEYS!!!!!!
I like being a man and this is why.... Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body wash all in one!
AND ONLY $1.79
And just to give you an idea of how much snow we have gotten in the past few days...Heres our cabin.
Training: Nov. 22 - Easy classic ski - Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 23 - Classic ski with race prep - Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 24 - Easy classic ski - Total time: 1.25hr
So the past couple of days have been a comical array of snow storms, digging out vans, and CO2 detectors going off. Thankfully the storm has passed, but not without consequence. As soon as the storm passed over, the temperature dropped considerably. We skied today at temperatures around -10 degrees and although the cold was biting with the wind, the grooming was immaculate. A good last few days of training have fired me up and I am ready to race. Our races scheduled for today have been postponed until tomorrow due to road closures and temperatures. We will have four races in three days. Awesome!!!!
Our early thanksgiving was awesome and everything came together very well. Mark and I were pumped to do the turkeys this year. Although we had trouble trying to find something big enough to brine the turkeys with, we improvised.
GARBAGE CAN TURKEYS!!!!!!
I like being a man and this is why.... Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body wash all in one!
And just to give you an idea of how much snow we have gotten in the past few days...Heres our cabin.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Time to ski!
Nov. 21, 2010
Training: Nov. 19 - AM L2 skate ski with speeds. Total time: 2hr
PM L1 easy skate ski. Total time: 50 mins
Nov. 20 - Travel day. Shake down run. Total time: 20 mins
Nov. 21 - AM - Threshold L3 skate. Total time: 1.75hr
PM - Easy classic ski. Total time : 1hr
I had a great last day in Steamboat before heading off to West Yellowstone. Mark and I had a solid workout with speeds in the morning under the beautiful Colorado sunshine and came back in the evening to ski with the Steamboat junior team. These kids have some great coaching because I was impressed with the technique of these young racers. I was even more impressed when Mark and I showed up later that evening to see the latest Harry Potter installment and found a few of the juniors there still in there tights from practice. For those interested, the movie is great and worth going to see.
We finally made it to West Yellowstone yesterday and holy crap was there a lot of snow. After a long 11 hour drive from Steamboat, we arrived to a good 20 inches or more with heavy snowfall still coming down. Mark and I went for a short jog to shake out the legs and although we were in a van for 11 hours, we had plenty of space to stretch out and our legs and the drive was more or less pleasant. The team had arrived a couple hours prior and all of our skis were already out on the deck and sorted. We have a freakin' awesome team.
I thought with all the snow we would be skiing in a sugary mess of softness, but the grooming crew did a great job and the skiing was phenomenal! It was a little soft here and there, but the trails held up well for the workout and I couldnt help but feel excited. This was my first day on my race skis this season and they are significantly better than my training skis.
There is still few days until racing starts and I am feeling pretty good. I must say though that the finish of the sprint course is going to leave quite a few skiers feeling like they are summiting Mt. Everest. The finish climb is long and steep.... and mean steep! Its going to be a fun day with two sprints an hour apart, but the looming chilly weather calling for a high of 1 degree could dampen the mood a bit. The best part is that I have some wicked fast Atomics for cold weather. Here here for good skis.
Training: Nov. 19 - AM L2 skate ski with speeds. Total time: 2hr
PM L1 easy skate ski. Total time: 50 mins
Nov. 20 - Travel day. Shake down run. Total time: 20 mins
Nov. 21 - AM - Threshold L3 skate. Total time: 1.75hr
PM - Easy classic ski. Total time : 1hr
I had a great last day in Steamboat before heading off to West Yellowstone. Mark and I had a solid workout with speeds in the morning under the beautiful Colorado sunshine and came back in the evening to ski with the Steamboat junior team. These kids have some great coaching because I was impressed with the technique of these young racers. I was even more impressed when Mark and I showed up later that evening to see the latest Harry Potter installment and found a few of the juniors there still in there tights from practice. For those interested, the movie is great and worth going to see.
We finally made it to West Yellowstone yesterday and holy crap was there a lot of snow. After a long 11 hour drive from Steamboat, we arrived to a good 20 inches or more with heavy snowfall still coming down. Mark and I went for a short jog to shake out the legs and although we were in a van for 11 hours, we had plenty of space to stretch out and our legs and the drive was more or less pleasant. The team had arrived a couple hours prior and all of our skis were already out on the deck and sorted. We have a freakin' awesome team.
I thought with all the snow we would be skiing in a sugary mess of softness, but the grooming crew did a great job and the skiing was phenomenal! It was a little soft here and there, but the trails held up well for the workout and I couldnt help but feel excited. This was my first day on my race skis this season and they are significantly better than my training skis.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Nothing but sunshine
Nov. 18, 2010
Training: AM - distance classic ski. Total time: 2hr
PM - easy jog. Total time: 30mins
I woke up to the sun in my face and a few chirping birds. An excellent morning!! I was about to burst into song, but I realized that I would probably wake the house. I settled for a wonderful cup of coffee which washed down some warm cinnamon bread that I made last night. A wonderful morning indeed!!!
After lounging around a bit this morning (Mark and I relishing the fact we aren't stressed on time due to work), we headed out for the touring center for a ski. I took my time getting my boots on in the parking lot, because even though the temp was 19 degrees, the sun felt much warmer and was very pleasant. After the day off, i was excited to get on my skis again and was comforted that since arriving at altitude, my body finally felt loose and relaxed while skiing. The body is adapting and is feeling less stressed.
Training: AM - distance classic ski. Total time: 2hr
PM - easy jog. Total time: 30mins
I woke up to the sun in my face and a few chirping birds. An excellent morning!! I was about to burst into song, but I realized that I would probably wake the house. I settled for a wonderful cup of coffee which washed down some warm cinnamon bread that I made last night. A wonderful morning indeed!!!
After lounging around a bit this morning (Mark and I relishing the fact we aren't stressed on time due to work), we headed out for the touring center for a ski. I took my time getting my boots on in the parking lot, because even though the temp was 19 degrees, the sun felt much warmer and was very pleasant. After the day off, i was excited to get on my skis again and was comforted that since arriving at altitude, my body finally felt loose and relaxed while skiing. The body is adapting and is feeling less stressed.
Over the past few days, Mark and I have been running into a few of the nordic combined guys. The other day while Mark and I were struggling with the kick wax, multi olympian Todd Lodwick smiled and laughed each time he went by and saw us struggling with the wax. Todd had told me a couple years back when I was racing my first world cup that he would rather huck himself off a 120m jump than classic ski and and during my ski the other day I might have just agreed. Today we ran into and chatted with Olympic silver medalist Johnny Spillane. With a bit of injury this summer, he was starting his build up back into training. He said that he is only allowed to ski for 30 minutes for the time being, which to me would be torture, but Johnny seemed calm and collected knowing full well that he will be back on the scene the second half of the winter. I have a lot of respect for our nordic combined guys and I look forward to watching them this season.
We have a couple more days of nothing but sunshine in the forecast and I'm loving every minute of it. 6 days until the season start.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
What a day!
Nov. 17, 2010
Training: Nov. 16 - easy classic ski. Total time: 2hr.
Nov. 17 - off day
Mark and I had a fairly comical morning yesterday that entailed a mentally frustrating workout and a dead car battery. We woke to a good 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground and were excited to go out and plug around on our classic skis. When we arrived at the touring center, they had gotten one pass with the snow machine and we were quick to get on the snow. I had some kick on with a temp range of 0-(-2) and realized quickly that kicking was out of the question. I needed something warmer and Mark seemed to experience something similar. The wet snow underneath was clashing with the dryer fresh snow. Not having anything warmer with us, we bought a tube of V70, a gooey wax that was only 4 bucks. after laughing a bit trying to get the yellow goo to spread on our skis, I was hopeful to get awesome kick. I did!!!!.... for two or maybe three strides before the ice buildup underneath my skis almost forced a meeting with my face and the snow. Ok... I guess we are covering. I pulled out my violet wax (colder harder wax) and applied a cover layer. A few strides later and the skis were off again. Perhaps I just needed another coat to cover the goo a bit better. Another layer and a few strides later, the same thing. I went colder with the cover layer and still had no luck.
The wet snow underneath combined with the dry snow on top makes for an almost impossible attempt to find descent kick. We had an approx. 4k out and back loop groomed and the first loop took us a solid 40 minutes or so with the numerous wax adjustments. By the end of the first lap, Mark and I were on the verge of throwing our skis in the woods and starting a new profession. Instead, we took a putty scraper and took everything off. I thought that i would rather have no kick than deal with icing up. I threw on a few layers of violet and although i still had mild icing with the residue of the V70, i could at least ski a full lap without having to stop and curse at the snow. The snow had beat me by the end of the workout and I vowed revenge another day.
The workout was done and I was mentally and physically exhausted. So much for the L1-2 ski. I got some dry clothes on and was encouraged by the thought of a good breakfast, but my small amount of hopefulness was dashed by the car refusing to start. The back hatch hadn't closed all the way after we waxed our skis and the battery had died. LAME!!!!! We found a guy inside to help us out and give us a jump and we were thankfully on our way home. There was only one thing to do at a time such as this, where the spirits were broken and the day turning for the worst.........
Dont worry.. I didnt eat ALL of them. My day was much brighter afterwards. I have an off day today and so it will be a bread making day and a grilled pizza for dinner evening!
Training: Nov. 16 - easy classic ski. Total time: 2hr.
Nov. 17 - off day
Mark and I had a fairly comical morning yesterday that entailed a mentally frustrating workout and a dead car battery. We woke to a good 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground and were excited to go out and plug around on our classic skis. When we arrived at the touring center, they had gotten one pass with the snow machine and we were quick to get on the snow. I had some kick on with a temp range of 0-(-2) and realized quickly that kicking was out of the question. I needed something warmer and Mark seemed to experience something similar. The wet snow underneath was clashing with the dryer fresh snow. Not having anything warmer with us, we bought a tube of V70, a gooey wax that was only 4 bucks. after laughing a bit trying to get the yellow goo to spread on our skis, I was hopeful to get awesome kick. I did!!!!.... for two or maybe three strides before the ice buildup underneath my skis almost forced a meeting with my face and the snow. Ok... I guess we are covering. I pulled out my violet wax (colder harder wax) and applied a cover layer. A few strides later and the skis were off again. Perhaps I just needed another coat to cover the goo a bit better. Another layer and a few strides later, the same thing. I went colder with the cover layer and still had no luck.
The wet snow underneath combined with the dry snow on top makes for an almost impossible attempt to find descent kick. We had an approx. 4k out and back loop groomed and the first loop took us a solid 40 minutes or so with the numerous wax adjustments. By the end of the first lap, Mark and I were on the verge of throwing our skis in the woods and starting a new profession. Instead, we took a putty scraper and took everything off. I thought that i would rather have no kick than deal with icing up. I threw on a few layers of violet and although i still had mild icing with the residue of the V70, i could at least ski a full lap without having to stop and curse at the snow. The snow had beat me by the end of the workout and I vowed revenge another day.
The workout was done and I was mentally and physically exhausted. So much for the L1-2 ski. I got some dry clothes on and was encouraged by the thought of a good breakfast, but my small amount of hopefulness was dashed by the car refusing to start. The back hatch hadn't closed all the way after we waxed our skis and the battery had died. LAME!!!!! We found a guy inside to help us out and give us a jump and we were thankfully on our way home. There was only one thing to do at a time such as this, where the spirits were broken and the day turning for the worst.........
Monday, November 15, 2010
Altitude L3
Nov. 15, 2010
Training: AM light L3 (33minutes) workout. Total time: 2hr
PM easy recovery jog. Total time: 30 mins
There are probably a million different philosophies on how to transition to altitude from sea-level best, but im not sure I've found the perfect one yet. I've applied a few over the years and after a week I always end up feeling the same, so maybe it doesn't really matter. I do agree though that a good light threshold workout to cycle the blood through the system is great within the first couple days. Without getting to scientific, I think that the work effort of the L3 zone can help the body recognize the lack of oxygen a bit quicker and therefore accelerate the acclimation. I had a good conversation about this idea with Mark and his friend Danny today and allowed me to think about it a bit.
Workouts like today's are not really meant to make you fitter per-se, but mearly to help the body adjust. I know this well, but still I get a bit disheartened when I look at my heart rate and recognize how slow I'm going compared to sea-level pacing. Its momentary frustration, but frustration nonetheless. I can't say at all that I wasn't pleased with the workout though. Fresh grooming at the Steamboat touring center made for a wonderful ski. We had the company of a former racer now coach Josh Smullin skiing with us too which Mark and I enjoy because it adds to our general skiing banter. A good day though. I also want to point out that I had the best Pork Loin ever last night for dinner. I'm pretty sure it melted in my mouth.
Training: AM light L3 (33minutes) workout. Total time: 2hr
PM easy recovery jog. Total time: 30 mins
There are probably a million different philosophies on how to transition to altitude from sea-level best, but im not sure I've found the perfect one yet. I've applied a few over the years and after a week I always end up feeling the same, so maybe it doesn't really matter. I do agree though that a good light threshold workout to cycle the blood through the system is great within the first couple days. Without getting to scientific, I think that the work effort of the L3 zone can help the body recognize the lack of oxygen a bit quicker and therefore accelerate the acclimation. I had a good conversation about this idea with Mark and his friend Danny today and allowed me to think about it a bit.
Workouts like today's are not really meant to make you fitter per-se, but mearly to help the body adjust. I know this well, but still I get a bit disheartened when I look at my heart rate and recognize how slow I'm going compared to sea-level pacing. Its momentary frustration, but frustration nonetheless. I can't say at all that I wasn't pleased with the workout though. Fresh grooming at the Steamboat touring center made for a wonderful ski. We had the company of a former racer now coach Josh Smullin skiing with us too which Mark and I enjoy because it adds to our general skiing banter. A good day though. I also want to point out that I had the best Pork Loin ever last night for dinner. I'm pretty sure it melted in my mouth.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Travel day phenomenon
Nov. 14, 2010
Training: Nov. 13. Easy recovery skate. Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 14. Travel day Shake out run. Total time: 40mins
I always seem to build a lot of anxiety before travel days because even though I have traveled much more than the average person, I don't travel well. By the end of the flights and drives, I am tense from sitting in awkward positions and generally grumpy from lack of sleep. It was hard to think that anything would be different, because as usual I was not very psyched to get on the plane. I didn't sleep well the night before and was already tired. Thankfully, Mark had an extra pair of ear plugs and so I could at least drown out the engine groans. After making fun of him for needing a sleep aid before travel, Mark handed me a melatonin pill and even though I figured it wouldn't do much, I took it anyway. We boarded the plane, I sat down, and I was out cold. I woke up to hear the intercom informing people to have their seats and tray tables up for landing .
Alive was not the best way to describe me trolling from one gate to the next. I really must have been out hard because I hardly remember a thing from being in Seattle. Mark said it was just the 2mg tablet, but you would have thought I took the entire bottle. I slept through our layover on a bench and immediately after boarding the second plane, I was out again for the duration. I wasn't in much better shape consciously on the other end, but I think that with sleeping through the flights, the anxiety and tension I typically have was reduced. The puddle jumper to Steamboat was much the same as I passed out quickly and awoke just before landing.
We arrived in a winter wonderland of snow with heavy snow still falling and a forecast calling for much more. The touring center down in town has a scheduled opening for tomorrow and with the new snow, could be something wonderful. Mark and I went for a short run to loosen up the legs and to get a quick reminder that we were at altitude now. I am comforted that we will have a solid 10 days of acclimation before racing starts. The season has begun and we are going to start racing!!!
Training: Nov. 13. Easy recovery skate. Total time: 1.5hr
Nov. 14. Travel day Shake out run. Total time: 40mins
I always seem to build a lot of anxiety before travel days because even though I have traveled much more than the average person, I don't travel well. By the end of the flights and drives, I am tense from sitting in awkward positions and generally grumpy from lack of sleep. It was hard to think that anything would be different, because as usual I was not very psyched to get on the plane. I didn't sleep well the night before and was already tired. Thankfully, Mark had an extra pair of ear plugs and so I could at least drown out the engine groans. After making fun of him for needing a sleep aid before travel, Mark handed me a melatonin pill and even though I figured it wouldn't do much, I took it anyway. We boarded the plane, I sat down, and I was out cold. I woke up to hear the intercom informing people to have their seats and tray tables up for landing .
Alive was not the best way to describe me trolling from one gate to the next. I really must have been out hard because I hardly remember a thing from being in Seattle. Mark said it was just the 2mg tablet, but you would have thought I took the entire bottle. I slept through our layover on a bench and immediately after boarding the second plane, I was out again for the duration. I wasn't in much better shape consciously on the other end, but I think that with sleeping through the flights, the anxiety and tension I typically have was reduced. The puddle jumper to Steamboat was much the same as I passed out quickly and awoke just before landing.
We arrived in a winter wonderland of snow with heavy snow still falling and a forecast calling for much more. The touring center down in town has a scheduled opening for tomorrow and with the new snow, could be something wonderful. Mark and I went for a short run to loosen up the legs and to get a quick reminder that we were at altitude now. I am comforted that we will have a solid 10 days of acclimation before racing starts. The season has begun and we are going to start racing!!!
Friday, November 12, 2010
A Great Day
Nov. 12, 2010
Training: Nov. 8,9 : Off days for recovery week
Nov. 10: Easy L1-2 classic ski. Total time: 2hr
Nov. 11: Easy L1 skate ski. Total time: 2hr
Nov. 12: Classic L4 intervals. Total time: 2hr
What a difference a few days can make! After last Sunday, it was easy to have doubts about the season especially when skiing back to the car felt like climbing Mt. Everest. Thankfully the two days spent recovering and catching up on some needed sleep helped bring my body back to life and rejuvenated my spirits. With some nice grooming at the hillside trail system on Wednesday, Mark and I had a very pleasant morning stroll on our skis to bring the bodies back into training mode. Two days off is enough to throw us off kilter a bit, so its good to start moving the blood again.
Yesterday was an amazing day though. I took a drive home to Soldotna because I was invited to speak at a Rotary meeting and because I was and still am in the market to find sponsors for my racing, this was a good opportunity to talk with some hometown businesses. I am always surprised how relaxed I feel when I drive into town. Its as if the busy lifestyle I live in Anchorage seems to disappear and I resort back to this grade school-like happiness of not having any REAL stress. Just comfort people I suppose.
I was excited to be able to give a short presentation at the Rotary giving information on many of the great potential investments in the local ski community and I was surprised to find how receptive the group was. I forget that even though I have yet to qualify for a World Championship or Olympic team, I have had a lot of success in athletics compared to most coming out of our small community and I can have some influence when speaking at home. Nonetheless, I was happy to be there and glad I could help promote our local ski programs. We have a lot of great people involved with our Rotary club in Soldotna and am not surprised that our community programs have grown and prospered through the help of such clubs.
The Soldotna community itself still blows my mind as well. Perhaps I'm seeing things from a newer perspective, but the huge amount of support and accolades I received from our community was simply astonishing. I would like to send a very sincere thanks out to Tom Seggerman of TDS Construction and Mike Sweeney of Sweeney's Clothing for the support they have given and a special thanks to Justin Moore of Justin Moore Orthodontics and Dennis and Sandra Ghormley for their support as well. With communities like mine, I get so fired up to contribute back and I look forward to doing so this winter and winters to come. I will not be surprised if we begin to see a lot more Soldotna kids kicking my butt and achieving greater things than I, especially with the expert grooming from Bill Holt and the Tsalteshi trail crew. The trails in Soldotna are some of the finest in Alaska with the terrain out there, I wont be surprised to see some bigger caliber races there in the future.
Beyond yesterdays great success, todays workout was equally exciting. Mark and I took off for some L4 intervals on a course with three substantial climbs. We switched leads each interval and each rotation got progressively faster. On the second to last interval I found myself having to dig deep and really grit my teeth to stay on the back of Mark, who perhaps had faster skis but I wont make excuses, and hit the highest heart-rate I think I've seen in L4 intervals. I buried myself a bit, but I kept the final interval in check and finished just a few seconds behind Mark. Going hard feels good. I was so jazzed after the workout today that my chocolate milk afterwards was drank with ferociousness. Those are the intervals that get you tough and I am now excited to race.
Training: Nov. 8,9 : Off days for recovery week
Nov. 10: Easy L1-2 classic ski. Total time: 2hr
Nov. 11: Easy L1 skate ski. Total time: 2hr
Nov. 12: Classic L4 intervals. Total time: 2hr
What a difference a few days can make! After last Sunday, it was easy to have doubts about the season especially when skiing back to the car felt like climbing Mt. Everest. Thankfully the two days spent recovering and catching up on some needed sleep helped bring my body back to life and rejuvenated my spirits. With some nice grooming at the hillside trail system on Wednesday, Mark and I had a very pleasant morning stroll on our skis to bring the bodies back into training mode. Two days off is enough to throw us off kilter a bit, so its good to start moving the blood again.
Yesterday was an amazing day though. I took a drive home to Soldotna because I was invited to speak at a Rotary meeting and because I was and still am in the market to find sponsors for my racing, this was a good opportunity to talk with some hometown businesses. I am always surprised how relaxed I feel when I drive into town. Its as if the busy lifestyle I live in Anchorage seems to disappear and I resort back to this grade school-like happiness of not having any REAL stress. Just comfort people I suppose.
I was excited to be able to give a short presentation at the Rotary giving information on many of the great potential investments in the local ski community and I was surprised to find how receptive the group was. I forget that even though I have yet to qualify for a World Championship or Olympic team, I have had a lot of success in athletics compared to most coming out of our small community and I can have some influence when speaking at home. Nonetheless, I was happy to be there and glad I could help promote our local ski programs. We have a lot of great people involved with our Rotary club in Soldotna and am not surprised that our community programs have grown and prospered through the help of such clubs.
The Soldotna community itself still blows my mind as well. Perhaps I'm seeing things from a newer perspective, but the huge amount of support and accolades I received from our community was simply astonishing. I would like to send a very sincere thanks out to Tom Seggerman of TDS Construction and Mike Sweeney of Sweeney's Clothing for the support they have given and a special thanks to Justin Moore of Justin Moore Orthodontics and Dennis and Sandra Ghormley for their support as well. With communities like mine, I get so fired up to contribute back and I look forward to doing so this winter and winters to come. I will not be surprised if we begin to see a lot more Soldotna kids kicking my butt and achieving greater things than I, especially with the expert grooming from Bill Holt and the Tsalteshi trail crew. The trails in Soldotna are some of the finest in Alaska with the terrain out there, I wont be surprised to see some bigger caliber races there in the future.
Beyond yesterdays great success, todays workout was equally exciting. Mark and I took off for some L4 intervals on a course with three substantial climbs. We switched leads each interval and each rotation got progressively faster. On the second to last interval I found myself having to dig deep and really grit my teeth to stay on the back of Mark, who perhaps had faster skis but I wont make excuses, and hit the highest heart-rate I think I've seen in L4 intervals. I buried myself a bit, but I kept the final interval in check and finished just a few seconds behind Mark. Going hard feels good. I was so jazzed after the workout today that my chocolate milk afterwards was drank with ferociousness. Those are the intervals that get you tough and I am now excited to race.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Man oh Man, Stick the fork in me
Nov. 5-7, 2010
Training: Nov. 5 : Distance skate with speeds. Total time: 2hr
Training Nov. 6 : Easy distance skate. Total time: 1.5hr
Training Nov. 7 : Over distance skate. Total time: 2.5 hr
Man oh man, my body has definitely found a breaking point. I didn't feel quite as refreshed as I could have after Thursdays recovery day, but feeling a bit tired is never out of the ordinary for me this time of year. I started the ski on Friday like any other and kept the pace pretty easy to allow my body to get underneath me before I started the sprints, which were roughly 8x30secs in length. The first couple sprints went pretty well, but I was having to really bring the pace back afterwards to allow the heart rate to drop back down again. It was after the the 7th sprint or so, maybe an hour fifteen into the workout that some switches in my body seemed to turn off. My balance seemed to be that if I had just taken back a couple shots of tequila and my breathing rate could have passed for a dog that had just ran as fast as he could in high heat. This was well after the sprint too mind you as my body was in easy mode. I wasn't going too fast between the sprints, but i was relegated to a walk at this point. I'm confident that your body does have a kill switch in there somewhere.... and I hit it. For what might have taken me ten minutes to get back to the car took a solid 30 or so. There would be no run that night.
With two sprint time trials the next day, I felt torn as to what I should do. These are important workouts to do at this time of year, but if I was smart and payed attention to the body it would be beneficial to relax the next couple of days and let things come back to life again. Talking with the coach, we decided to see how my body felt in the morning and make the call then. I have a hard time saying no when there could be suffering involved, but there is a difference betweennsuffering when the body is moving well and suffering with a suffering body. These are two very different scenarios when taking into account the mental game involved. Feeling healthy, the suffering will generally produce a positve feeling, while feeling crappy and suffering, can really put you out of the game and doubting fitness can creep in.
When I woke the next morning (Saturday) I wasn't surprised that I didn't want to get out of bed. I had taken a pretty bad fall on the dreary ski back to the car the day before and more things felt out of whack than I would consider normal. I made the hard but necessary call to take it easy and not TT. I went out for a fairly short 90 minutes and crawled along the nicely rolled out hillside trails. While skiing, I was comforted in knowing that if i had tried to TT, I would be disqualified for delay of race because getting out of first gear was seemingly impossible.
After a quick shower and feed, i was off to work and like most Saturdays, the Raven was excessively busy. The mental fatigue from busy work and the body being at a point of distress, I was feeling pretty wigged out by the end of the day. Its really easy to think negatively when the body is in that state and questioning whether or not its worth it to keep skiing is always the first topic in your head. There have been a lot of things on my plate recently and it was all feeling pretty heavy. I really just wanted to sit down and stare into space for a few days. The bright side was that a couple of customers that had come in just before closing and were going to miss a bluegrass concert at the Atwood Concert Hall for some reason and they gave me their two tickets. I called my girlfriend and off we went right after work. The concert was fantastic and I felt as though a spark of life had come back mentally.
Although I had a rough nights sleep last night, my body had actually moved a bit better today during the OD workout. I kept it pretty easy and tried not to stress anything. My body still feels really tired, but thankfully I will start my recovery week tomorrow meaning a couple days off followed by a couple easy skis. This is a good time to catch up on needed sleep and general rest for the body. I have never been so excited to do nothing. I have two weeks until the racing starts and I want my body to feel fresh and my mind to be positive, both of which come with time spent relaxing and building energy levels back up. I have done great work this summer and its time for the body to catch up and soak it all in.
Training: Nov. 5 : Distance skate with speeds. Total time: 2hr
Training Nov. 6 : Easy distance skate. Total time: 1.5hr
Training Nov. 7 : Over distance skate. Total time: 2.5 hr
Man oh man, my body has definitely found a breaking point. I didn't feel quite as refreshed as I could have after Thursdays recovery day, but feeling a bit tired is never out of the ordinary for me this time of year. I started the ski on Friday like any other and kept the pace pretty easy to allow my body to get underneath me before I started the sprints, which were roughly 8x30secs in length. The first couple sprints went pretty well, but I was having to really bring the pace back afterwards to allow the heart rate to drop back down again. It was after the the 7th sprint or so, maybe an hour fifteen into the workout that some switches in my body seemed to turn off. My balance seemed to be that if I had just taken back a couple shots of tequila and my breathing rate could have passed for a dog that had just ran as fast as he could in high heat. This was well after the sprint too mind you as my body was in easy mode. I wasn't going too fast between the sprints, but i was relegated to a walk at this point. I'm confident that your body does have a kill switch in there somewhere.... and I hit it. For what might have taken me ten minutes to get back to the car took a solid 30 or so. There would be no run that night.
With two sprint time trials the next day, I felt torn as to what I should do. These are important workouts to do at this time of year, but if I was smart and payed attention to the body it would be beneficial to relax the next couple of days and let things come back to life again. Talking with the coach, we decided to see how my body felt in the morning and make the call then. I have a hard time saying no when there could be suffering involved, but there is a difference betweennsuffering when the body is moving well and suffering with a suffering body. These are two very different scenarios when taking into account the mental game involved. Feeling healthy, the suffering will generally produce a positve feeling, while feeling crappy and suffering, can really put you out of the game and doubting fitness can creep in.
When I woke the next morning (Saturday) I wasn't surprised that I didn't want to get out of bed. I had taken a pretty bad fall on the dreary ski back to the car the day before and more things felt out of whack than I would consider normal. I made the hard but necessary call to take it easy and not TT. I went out for a fairly short 90 minutes and crawled along the nicely rolled out hillside trails. While skiing, I was comforted in knowing that if i had tried to TT, I would be disqualified for delay of race because getting out of first gear was seemingly impossible.
After a quick shower and feed, i was off to work and like most Saturdays, the Raven was excessively busy. The mental fatigue from busy work and the body being at a point of distress, I was feeling pretty wigged out by the end of the day. Its really easy to think negatively when the body is in that state and questioning whether or not its worth it to keep skiing is always the first topic in your head. There have been a lot of things on my plate recently and it was all feeling pretty heavy. I really just wanted to sit down and stare into space for a few days. The bright side was that a couple of customers that had come in just before closing and were going to miss a bluegrass concert at the Atwood Concert Hall for some reason and they gave me their two tickets. I called my girlfriend and off we went right after work. The concert was fantastic and I felt as though a spark of life had come back mentally.
Although I had a rough nights sleep last night, my body had actually moved a bit better today during the OD workout. I kept it pretty easy and tried not to stress anything. My body still feels really tired, but thankfully I will start my recovery week tomorrow meaning a couple days off followed by a couple easy skis. This is a good time to catch up on needed sleep and general rest for the body. I have never been so excited to do nothing. I have two weeks until the racing starts and I want my body to feel fresh and my mind to be positive, both of which come with time spent relaxing and building energy levels back up. I have done great work this summer and its time for the body to catch up and soak it all in.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Snow is wet
Nov. 4, 2010
Training: AM easy classic ski. Total time: 2hr
PM easy run. Total time 1hr
So its true, believe it or not, snow is wet. I know this because I experienced it first hand. It looked like snow and felt like snow, but today I looked as if I was sprayed down with a fire hose after I finished my easy workout. Im sure it was a combine effort of my sweat trying to get out and the snow which is wet, trying to get in, but I could have wrung my jacket out and quenched the thirst of a lost man in the desert.
I had a wonderful workout today, but as usual for Thursdays, the strength workout the night before caught up to me and began to drag my feet a bit. I'm not getting as sore after strength as I used to, but the late nights at the gym still suck the body dry of energy. There is always a price to pay when you want to get huge. Theres always a give and take. I
I don't have much inspiration today to draw off of, so i will simply leave you with a little movie Mark put together from our trip up to Hatchers this weekend.
Training: AM easy classic ski. Total time: 2hr
PM easy run. Total time 1hr
So its true, believe it or not, snow is wet. I know this because I experienced it first hand. It looked like snow and felt like snow, but today I looked as if I was sprayed down with a fire hose after I finished my easy workout. Im sure it was a combine effort of my sweat trying to get out and the snow which is wet, trying to get in, but I could have wrung my jacket out and quenched the thirst of a lost man in the desert.
I had a wonderful workout today, but as usual for Thursdays, the strength workout the night before caught up to me and began to drag my feet a bit. I'm not getting as sore after strength as I used to, but the late nights at the gym still suck the body dry of energy. There is always a price to pay when you want to get huge. Theres always a give and take. I
I don't have much inspiration today to draw off of, so i will simply leave you with a little movie Mark put together from our trip up to Hatchers this weekend.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
OOOF!
Nov. 3, 2010
Training: AM Sub-race pace 15k. Total time: 2hr
PM Run with strength. Total time: 1 hr
Well we were able to ski at hillside this morning and to be honest I was quite skeptical of how the conditions would be. I was surprised to find that the skiing was quite good considering the fairly minimal coverage. We hit a few rocks of course, but apart from a few sections, we could ski without trepidation.
I actually wasn't sure what the workout was going to be today, so I was excited to hear that the workout was to be 3 x double bubble with spencer 5k loop, which is essentially 15k. I have always loved these kinds of workouts. The effort is geared towards capacity building, meaning the pace is to be just below race pace. This is the pace where you are going hard enough to be building lactate (light flooding) in the body, but staying just under the point where your body starts to break down. So its basically going as hard as you can while maintaining comfortable form. The effort is not meant to really stress the body like races can do, but still get that really hard workout feeling afterwards.
The workout for the most part went well for me. My plan was to ski negative splits on the laps and I accomplished that. The disappointing part in my mind was that my body movements still felt slow. A lot of this has to do with the transition from dryland to snow, but naturally I want my body to do what i want it to now. Having not spend as much time as others on my roller-skis this summer also adds to partial inefficiency in my movements. These will work themselves out with more time on skis, but it still creates frustration.
These workouts at this time of year are hard on a skier mentally. A skier will tend to gauge his or her own fitness on these workouts with the season only weeks away. The trouble with this is that there is a lot of training buildup in the bodies and some of these workouts might just end up being sub par for what the athlete feels their training should show. This can play with the mental game a lot and I fall into that limbo as well every season. Even though i recognize that my body is just tired, I still try and set goals for myself and when i don't feel they have been met, I get bummed out. Thinking about it now, I realize that I have been training without a recovery week since the week after Trans-Alps. 7 1/2 weeks of solid training without a recovery week. I guess I will wait and see what happens at the end of the week with two sprint TT's coming up and really enjoy the recovery week that follows. That might just be what my body needs at this point. Time to let the great workouts I've put in soak into the body. I love epiphanies!
Training: AM Sub-race pace 15k. Total time: 2hr
PM Run with strength. Total time: 1 hr
Well we were able to ski at hillside this morning and to be honest I was quite skeptical of how the conditions would be. I was surprised to find that the skiing was quite good considering the fairly minimal coverage. We hit a few rocks of course, but apart from a few sections, we could ski without trepidation.
I actually wasn't sure what the workout was going to be today, so I was excited to hear that the workout was to be 3 x double bubble with spencer 5k loop, which is essentially 15k. I have always loved these kinds of workouts. The effort is geared towards capacity building, meaning the pace is to be just below race pace. This is the pace where you are going hard enough to be building lactate (light flooding) in the body, but staying just under the point where your body starts to break down. So its basically going as hard as you can while maintaining comfortable form. The effort is not meant to really stress the body like races can do, but still get that really hard workout feeling afterwards.
The workout for the most part went well for me. My plan was to ski negative splits on the laps and I accomplished that. The disappointing part in my mind was that my body movements still felt slow. A lot of this has to do with the transition from dryland to snow, but naturally I want my body to do what i want it to now. Having not spend as much time as others on my roller-skis this summer also adds to partial inefficiency in my movements. These will work themselves out with more time on skis, but it still creates frustration.
These workouts at this time of year are hard on a skier mentally. A skier will tend to gauge his or her own fitness on these workouts with the season only weeks away. The trouble with this is that there is a lot of training buildup in the bodies and some of these workouts might just end up being sub par for what the athlete feels their training should show. This can play with the mental game a lot and I fall into that limbo as well every season. Even though i recognize that my body is just tired, I still try and set goals for myself and when i don't feel they have been met, I get bummed out. Thinking about it now, I realize that I have been training without a recovery week since the week after Trans-Alps. 7 1/2 weeks of solid training without a recovery week. I guess I will wait and see what happens at the end of the week with two sprint TT's coming up and really enjoy the recovery week that follows. That might just be what my body needs at this point. Time to let the great workouts I've put in soak into the body. I love epiphanies!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Snow on my car...... Snow on my car
Nov. 2, 2010
Training: AM Distance ski skate with speeds. Total time: 2hr
PM easy distance run. Total time: 45mins
Oh snow on my car, so white on the hood
So peaceful, so fresh, to touch you I could
But I shant, not right now, I will watch you and smile
And sip from my coffee that lasts me a while
Oh snow on my car, the first sign of season
Why I'm so happy, I have not a reason
I hope that you stay, I pray that you wait
For with my blessed season, you are my fate
I woke up to snow on the ground this morning. Hooray for mother nature finally getting the ball rolling! It was comical to witness the incapableness of Alaskan drivers on the way to APU to catch the Van up to Hatchers. So many accidents caused by those that fail to relate the white stuff in the sky and on the roads with slippery. But such was it that it also took us about a half hour longer to get up to Hatchers.
It was still snowing when we started skiing and the overnight snow had left about 4" of fresh snow for us to plow through. We were happy enough to do so still living in the excitement of being on snow, but plowing the way gets pretty old as the season starts to motor through. At any rate, after a few laps the trail was getting skied in and was getting faster and easier to ski. I of course started getting excited and began to ski harder than i should have. Mark had passively asked if I was going L2 and having not put on my heartrate monitor this morning, I had no idea. Judging by his panting, I was clearly entering the L3 zone and pushing the pace. Not that this is anything new, but I cant help getting excited this time of year.
I was a bit late to work due to the road conditions going to and from Hatchers, but thankfully it hadn't been too busy. I made ammence by bringing in a Pumpkin Pie I had made that was left over from the Thanksgiving at Marks. And as luck would have it, we had a can of whipped cream in the back fridge. I don't think anyone could complain about anything if whipped cream was involved!
I finished the night off with a nice 45 minute jaunt from the house. The roads were getting pretty icy at 8pm when I took off, so i'm pretty sure I got in some good ski technique in there as well. My girlfriend had spaghetti cooking when I returned home and at that point I was happy to just sit down. The days seem long this time of year, but its probably just that the light hours are shorter. Oh well, another day of good training in the bank.
Training: AM Distance ski skate with speeds. Total time: 2hr
PM easy distance run. Total time: 45mins
Oh snow on my car, so white on the hood
So peaceful, so fresh, to touch you I could
But I shant, not right now, I will watch you and smile
And sip from my coffee that lasts me a while
Oh snow on my car, the first sign of season
Why I'm so happy, I have not a reason
I hope that you stay, I pray that you wait
For with my blessed season, you are my fate
I woke up to snow on the ground this morning. Hooray for mother nature finally getting the ball rolling! It was comical to witness the incapableness of Alaskan drivers on the way to APU to catch the Van up to Hatchers. So many accidents caused by those that fail to relate the white stuff in the sky and on the roads with slippery. But such was it that it also took us about a half hour longer to get up to Hatchers.
It was still snowing when we started skiing and the overnight snow had left about 4" of fresh snow for us to plow through. We were happy enough to do so still living in the excitement of being on snow, but plowing the way gets pretty old as the season starts to motor through. At any rate, after a few laps the trail was getting skied in and was getting faster and easier to ski. I of course started getting excited and began to ski harder than i should have. Mark had passively asked if I was going L2 and having not put on my heartrate monitor this morning, I had no idea. Judging by his panting, I was clearly entering the L3 zone and pushing the pace. Not that this is anything new, but I cant help getting excited this time of year.
I was a bit late to work due to the road conditions going to and from Hatchers, but thankfully it hadn't been too busy. I made ammence by bringing in a Pumpkin Pie I had made that was left over from the Thanksgiving at Marks. And as luck would have it, we had a can of whipped cream in the back fridge. I don't think anyone could complain about anything if whipped cream was involved!
I finished the night off with a nice 45 minute jaunt from the house. The roads were getting pretty icy at 8pm when I took off, so i'm pretty sure I got in some good ski technique in there as well. My girlfriend had spaghetti cooking when I returned home and at that point I was happy to just sit down. The days seem long this time of year, but its probably just that the light hours are shorter. Oh well, another day of good training in the bank.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Simplicity
Nov. 1, 2010
Training: Recovery Day. Total Time: 0hr
I love it when one of your childhood heroes continues to blow your mind even years later. Since I was a kid, Thomas Alsgaard was my favorite skier and I followed his results and accomplishment more than any other skier. He was a man that to me always seemed to have a fight in him when racing. Some of the best ski race finishes I can remember involve the towering Alsgaard obviously digging down and narrowly beating great competitors. In fact, when I was racing in high school I would write motivational phrases or names on the back a big orange vest I skied with and "Thomas Alsgaard" was for sure one of the most motivating for me. I was excited to find that fasterskier posted an interview with Thomas today. Here are a couple excerpts:
I agree with Alsgaard in both responses. Although I do believe that technique work is always needed, there is a point where you just have to put your head down and just go train. To be out on your feet and to simply get fit. There are all sorts of different training philosophies out there on how to get fast and reach a performance peak and I'm sure most if not all work in one way or another. The "little details" though are what bog some skiers down. Those details will differ from one person to the next, but I feel like for some skiers, the bombardment of technique work, nutrition, etc.. takes away from the whole experience of just putting yourself out there and making it hurt. I am reminded of the movie "Rocky IV" where Rocky flies out to somewhere in middle-of-nowhere Russia and just trains super hard. He removed the distractions and simply make himself tough. Even if it was just a Hollywood ending, the idea is there. "So maybe it’s not the fitness but the head that makes some athletes winners?". I like this quote because it makes sense to me. The mental game really is a big part of competition at all levels. Competing for jobs, women (or men depending on the reader), friends, fights, etc. Those that are tough upstairs are always hard to beat. Im not the toughest, but I like to think that I am fairly stable mentally.....at least when it comes to racing. I rarely lose my cool in races which is perhaps why my good and my bad races don't show significant variances. I am though always trying to find ways to make myself mentally tougher . There is always room for improvement at any level. I haven't won a World Cup medal or even made an Olympic squad yet, so there is definitely room for improvement here. More training doesn't always do the trick either although for some it might, but sometimes you have to search elsewhere for it. For me it was the Trans-Alps.
You can pull from other aspects of your life too. I love the pain I experience during mountain races and I like to transfer the mental toughness to my ski racing. Posting solid times on climbs each year here in Alaska does a lot for me. Reminding myself that I run up mountains and occasionally win gives me plenty of draw even with ski races. It simply makes me feel tough. Thats all its takes sometimes to make a win or have a great result. If you feel like your tougher than your competitor is next to you, you might be compelled to dig further and hurt more.
There are ups and downs with everyone during a race season... or in life for that matter, but its constantly finding things to keep the mental toughness up and motivation high that creates the successful individual. I'm not perfect by any means, but I'm still here racing and finding better results each year. I'm happy and thankful that i'm at least still moving forward.
Training: Recovery Day. Total Time: 0hr
I love it when one of your childhood heroes continues to blow your mind even years later. Since I was a kid, Thomas Alsgaard was my favorite skier and I followed his results and accomplishment more than any other skier. He was a man that to me always seemed to have a fight in him when racing. Some of the best ski race finishes I can remember involve the towering Alsgaard obviously digging down and narrowly beating great competitors. In fact, when I was racing in high school I would write motivational phrases or names on the back a big orange vest I skied with and "Thomas Alsgaard" was for sure one of the most motivating for me. I was excited to find that fasterskier posted an interview with Thomas today. Here are a couple excerpts:
FS: The U.S. has made great strides in recent years, with top skiers like Kikkan Randall, Andy Newell and Kris Freeman posting strong results. But there is still a long way to go. What do you see as the most important considerations for a country like the U.S., where skiing is not a mainstream sport?
Alsgaard on his way to gold in 1994
TA: You have a lot of talents, and I think all of the cross-country world would like to see the U.S. with even stronger results. I don’t know much about the philosophy of training in the U.S., but I think you have all you need. Just make everything simple. Forget all the tiny little details, and focus on the hard work
FS: What is it that separates the greats like Bjorn Daehlie, Petter Northug, and yourself from the rest of the very good skiers?
TA: A lot of skiers train basically the same, and are equally strong during summer and autumn. Still, it can be a huge different between them in a very important race. So maybe it’s not the fitness but the head that makes some athletes winners?
I agree with Alsgaard in both responses. Although I do believe that technique work is always needed, there is a point where you just have to put your head down and just go train. To be out on your feet and to simply get fit. There are all sorts of different training philosophies out there on how to get fast and reach a performance peak and I'm sure most if not all work in one way or another. The "little details" though are what bog some skiers down. Those details will differ from one person to the next, but I feel like for some skiers, the bombardment of technique work, nutrition, etc.. takes away from the whole experience of just putting yourself out there and making it hurt. I am reminded of the movie "Rocky IV" where Rocky flies out to somewhere in middle-of-nowhere Russia and just trains super hard. He removed the distractions and simply make himself tough. Even if it was just a Hollywood ending, the idea is there.
You can pull from other aspects of your life too. I love the pain I experience during mountain races and I like to transfer the mental toughness to my ski racing. Posting solid times on climbs each year here in Alaska does a lot for me. Reminding myself that I run up mountains and occasionally win gives me plenty of draw even with ski races. It simply makes me feel tough. Thats all its takes sometimes to make a win or have a great result. If you feel like your tougher than your competitor is next to you, you might be compelled to dig further and hurt more.
There are ups and downs with everyone during a race season... or in life for that matter, but its constantly finding things to keep the mental toughness up and motivation high that creates the successful individual. I'm not perfect by any means, but I'm still here racing and finding better results each year. I'm happy and thankful that i'm at least still moving forward.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
SNNNOOOOOWWWW!!!!!
Oct. 31, 2010
Training: OD classic Total time: 2hr 45mins
I got to ski on snow today!!!!!! Friday night, there were rumors of enough snow in Hatcher Pass and that grooming was going to happen. With a big thumbs up, the team took off there on Saturday and enjoyed the fresh groomed excitement. Mark and I had to keep ourselves contained one more day. We took off at 7:30 to head up to Hatcher and were waxing our skis in the parking lot at 8:45. I forgot how cold it can feel up there, but I had worn plenty of clothes and was ready. 5 layers of Extra Blue later, i was out on my skis. Like always though, the first few minutes are allocated to making transition from 2' skis (roller-skis) to 7'+ skis. I feel like a new skier every year for a few minutes, but sure enough the muscle memory kicks in and I feel right at home.
With the body still feeling a bit tired from yesterday, I kept the pace pretty moderated. Mark was getting pretty excited because of the snow, reminding me of a two week old puppy, but i remained focused and calm.... like a fully cooled loaf of pumpkin bread. The loops are pretty small up there, so it wasn't hard to shut down the mind and phase out after a few laps. No matter what though, it was awesome just to have skis on again. I have my ups and downs every summer with motivation and whatnot, but putting on skis again this time of year gets me more pumped that anything. Its winter baby!
My team typically takes off around mid-November to start out our season, which means Thanksgiving has been spend on the road for many years now. I love the Thanksgivings on the road because we stay in a big house and everyone pitches in and we have a great meal. I do although miss being able to spend that joyous day of food..... I mean.. day of giving thanks with my friends at home too. With that in mind, Mark and I planned a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner for tonight. Full spread..... I mean if you think of all the best parts of Thanksgiving being made to perfection, this was it. Thanksgiving on Halloween is an excellent idea and one that I will push for in future years. Its great to be able to spend a good evening of food and conversation like that of Thanksgiving with all the good people in your life... and to that I say Cheers and Happy Halloween!
Pictures coming.
Training: OD classic Total time: 2hr 45mins
I got to ski on snow today!!!!!! Friday night, there were rumors of enough snow in Hatcher Pass and that grooming was going to happen. With a big thumbs up, the team took off there on Saturday and enjoyed the fresh groomed excitement. Mark and I had to keep ourselves contained one more day. We took off at 7:30 to head up to Hatcher and were waxing our skis in the parking lot at 8:45. I forgot how cold it can feel up there, but I had worn plenty of clothes and was ready. 5 layers of Extra Blue later, i was out on my skis. Like always though, the first few minutes are allocated to making transition from 2' skis (roller-skis) to 7'+ skis. I feel like a new skier every year for a few minutes, but sure enough the muscle memory kicks in and I feel right at home.
With the body still feeling a bit tired from yesterday, I kept the pace pretty moderated. Mark was getting pretty excited because of the snow, reminding me of a two week old puppy, but i remained focused and calm.... like a fully cooled loaf of pumpkin bread. The loops are pretty small up there, so it wasn't hard to shut down the mind and phase out after a few laps. No matter what though, it was awesome just to have skis on again. I have my ups and downs every summer with motivation and whatnot, but putting on skis again this time of year gets me more pumped that anything. Its winter baby!
My team typically takes off around mid-November to start out our season, which means Thanksgiving has been spend on the road for many years now. I love the Thanksgivings on the road because we stay in a big house and everyone pitches in and we have a great meal. I do although miss being able to spend that joyous day of food..... I mean.. day of giving thanks with my friends at home too. With that in mind, Mark and I planned a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner for tonight. Full spread..... I mean if you think of all the best parts of Thanksgiving being made to perfection, this was it. Thanksgiving on Halloween is an excellent idea and one that I will push for in future years. Its great to be able to spend a good evening of food and conversation like that of Thanksgiving with all the good people in your life... and to that I say Cheers and Happy Halloween!
Pictures coming.
Oct. 30, 2010
Training: L3 Pace wrkout. Total time: 2 hr
Today was a fun day! Its the day before Halloween and people are simply excited to go do things like party and trick or treat and whatnot. It has been a while since I have done anything for Halloween of any sort really, simply because its always smack right in the middle of the week with intervals the next day and working until late hours with training afterwards. I do believe that athletes should make time to go out an have fun from time to time, but I suppose that for me with the season coming up and being in the middle of our last good training block before heading out, I just cant afford to be up late drinking and exposing myself to possible sickness or a day of missed or non-quality training. I don't want to sound like a fun-nazi or anything, I get in a few epic days a year that seem to tide me over, but I believe its not worth the risk at crucial times in the season like we are now. Maybe I'm just getting older and prefer to take an evening to relax. Nonetheless, the excitement is there and I still fall into suit.
Mark and I had to be at work at 12pm today and could not go to Hatcher's with the rest of the team, but we put in a great workout anyhow. We took to the hillside trails with our running shoes and poles and decided the best route for the day was 2 x Spencer Loop at L3. It was important that I keep the pace under the L4 mark and really work the aerobic system. Mark and I tend to push the pace with workouts like these and by Mark and I, I mean me. Its funny how when kept in check, L3 is a very comfortable pace. When keeping the legs just under that point where lactate starts to build, one can actually maintain a fairly fast pace with little fatigue.
Saturdays typically are not my favorite days with a hard workout in the morning followed by a busy Saturday at the Raven.When Mark and I finished the workout, we were surprised to see how fast the workout caught up to us, with both our bodies feeling rundown and a bit beat up. Thats what and hour at threshold pace on tough terrain will do though. Ive been really good about wearing my compression tights to work on these days and they really help keep the body from feeling totally impaired. With though combined with my supersuit I wore to work, I had nothing to frown about.
The day spent at work was pretty fun. With everyone dressed up in costume garb, it was hard for customers not to smile, even when you could tell they weren't having such a great day. All in a days work for......R-Man. I couldn't think of anything good. Rediculous-Man might have worked.
The prospect of doing strength after work on Saturdays is never appealing, and feeling good about the last few weeks of training and knowing I have precious time left to spend with the beautiful lady in my life, I decided to take the evening off and spend some relaxing quality time. Very much an excellent day.
Training: L3 Pace wrkout. Total time: 2 hr
Today was a fun day! Its the day before Halloween and people are simply excited to go do things like party and trick or treat and whatnot. It has been a while since I have done anything for Halloween of any sort really, simply because its always smack right in the middle of the week with intervals the next day and working until late hours with training afterwards. I do believe that athletes should make time to go out an have fun from time to time, but I suppose that for me with the season coming up and being in the middle of our last good training block before heading out, I just cant afford to be up late drinking and exposing myself to possible sickness or a day of missed or non-quality training. I don't want to sound like a fun-nazi or anything, I get in a few epic days a year that seem to tide me over, but I believe its not worth the risk at crucial times in the season like we are now. Maybe I'm just getting older and prefer to take an evening to relax. Nonetheless, the excitement is there and I still fall into suit.
Mark and I had to be at work at 12pm today and could not go to Hatcher's with the rest of the team, but we put in a great workout anyhow. We took to the hillside trails with our running shoes and poles and decided the best route for the day was 2 x Spencer Loop at L3. It was important that I keep the pace under the L4 mark and really work the aerobic system. Mark and I tend to push the pace with workouts like these and by Mark and I, I mean me. Its funny how when kept in check, L3 is a very comfortable pace. When keeping the legs just under that point where lactate starts to build, one can actually maintain a fairly fast pace with little fatigue.
Saturdays typically are not my favorite days with a hard workout in the morning followed by a busy Saturday at the Raven.When Mark and I finished the workout, we were surprised to see how fast the workout caught up to us, with both our bodies feeling rundown and a bit beat up. Thats what and hour at threshold pace on tough terrain will do though. Ive been really good about wearing my compression tights to work on these days and they really help keep the body from feeling totally impaired. With though combined with my supersuit I wore to work, I had nothing to frown about.
The prospect of doing strength after work on Saturdays is never appealing, and feeling good about the last few weeks of training and knowing I have precious time left to spend with the beautiful lady in my life, I decided to take the evening off and spend some relaxing quality time. Very much an excellent day.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Oct. 29, 2010
Training: AM bounding speeds at kinkaid. Total time: 2hr
PM easy jog. Total time: 30 minutes
Why can't I just wake up to snow in the morning. My senses were tickled last night as light snow started to fall in the evening. I went to bed with a smile on my face, dreaming that i would wake up to white fluffy power on my car and only my skis to think about. I was deceived once again! I woke to a good thick layer of ice on the roads and a tough enough layer on my windshield i had to pull out the tough scraper. The plan called for a double pole session with speeds out at Kinkaid Park and "Rollerskiers......On ICE!!!" was my first thought. Late emails from Erik confirmed a Kinkaid start, but the workout would be on foot.
Mark demonstrates good DP form
Even though the ice made for a comical morning, the workout on foot went very well. After a short hour warmup, we hit some speed circuits on a 5 minute loop with two steep climbs. The sun was coming over the mountains to a clear day and most everyone was in good spirits. I felt way better than I did yesterday, which relieves me as always. I occasionally reach the "why the hell do I do this to myself" thought when my body feels as though i would lose a fight with a third grader. I did some stretching exercises with my back last night and it seemed to loosen up it up a bit. Just enough i would say to let me pound a bit more today.
Training: AM bounding speeds at kinkaid. Total time: 2hr
PM easy jog. Total time: 30 minutes
Why can't I just wake up to snow in the morning. My senses were tickled last night as light snow started to fall in the evening. I went to bed with a smile on my face, dreaming that i would wake up to white fluffy power on my car and only my skis to think about. I was deceived once again! I woke to a good thick layer of ice on the roads and a tough enough layer on my windshield i had to pull out the tough scraper. The plan called for a double pole session with speeds out at Kinkaid Park and "Rollerskiers......On ICE!!!" was my first thought. Late emails from Erik confirmed a Kinkaid start, but the workout would be on foot.
Mark demonstrates good DP form
Even though the ice made for a comical morning, the workout on foot went very well. After a short hour warmup, we hit some speed circuits on a 5 minute loop with two steep climbs. The sun was coming over the mountains to a clear day and most everyone was in good spirits. I felt way better than I did yesterday, which relieves me as always. I occasionally reach the "why the hell do I do this to myself" thought when my body feels as though i would lose a fight with a third grader. I did some stretching exercises with my back last night and it seemed to loosen up it up a bit. Just enough i would say to let me pound a bit more today.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Oct. 28, 2010
Training: Recovery Double pole. Total time: 90 minutes
I think the last few days have finally caught up with me. I spent a good part of my day at work utilizing a magnificent device known as the Theracane. This contraption is in simplest words a big candy cane like stick with knobby ends. One of the drawback to being a skier is the plethora of fun muscle knots that develop throughout the back, which from me guessing might be from jamming ones arms via poles into the hard asphalt thousands of times a day. I'm pretty sure the knot I was working on at work yesterday could have made Mr.T cry like a little girl. I was not far from it. If it weren't for other customers being there, I'm sure i could have made it sound like I was dying against my will. If only one could afford to see a massage therapist after every practice. I think I'm the biggest wuss in the world though when it comes to the back or perhaps mine is just in that much more disarray than the norm, I don't know. Whatever.
Last night, I got to the APU gym around 8:15 to start my strength workout which meant that I didn't leave until 9:15 or so. This is never very ideal because I end up eating dinner around 10pm, but this has been my lifestyle for the past 5 years post college and I've gotten used to the odd training and eating habits developed. That being said, it always seems odd to me when i experience a "normal" day where I eat at "normal" times such as having dinner at 6pm. I feel like I'm eating a big snack before supper and spoiling my appetite. But nonetheless, the late evenings spent training hardly ever yield refreshed feelings the mornings after. Today was not out of the ordinary. The body did not coordinate itself this morning and no amount of that precious coffee seemed to do the trick. I felt pretty sluggish and slow during the easy dp workout and I cut the workout a bit short from the recommended plan. They call these "recovery" days for a reason. You wouldn't need recovery days if your body didn't feel occasionally like it had gone through a Mike Tyson- Evandor Holyfield fight.
Thought of the day: There is good pain and there is bad pain........and Tylenol for both.
Training: Recovery Double pole. Total time: 90 minutes
I think the last few days have finally caught up with me. I spent a good part of my day at work utilizing a magnificent device known as the Theracane. This contraption is in simplest words a big candy cane like stick with knobby ends. One of the drawback to being a skier is the plethora of fun muscle knots that develop throughout the back, which from me guessing might be from jamming ones arms via poles into the hard asphalt thousands of times a day. I'm pretty sure the knot I was working on at work yesterday could have made Mr.T cry like a little girl. I was not far from it. If it weren't for other customers being there, I'm sure i could have made it sound like I was dying against my will. If only one could afford to see a massage therapist after every practice. I think I'm the biggest wuss in the world though when it comes to the back or perhaps mine is just in that much more disarray than the norm, I don't know. Whatever.
Last night, I got to the APU gym around 8:15 to start my strength workout which meant that I didn't leave until 9:15 or so. This is never very ideal because I end up eating dinner around 10pm, but this has been my lifestyle for the past 5 years post college and I've gotten used to the odd training and eating habits developed. That being said, it always seems odd to me when i experience a "normal" day where I eat at "normal" times such as having dinner at 6pm. I feel like I'm eating a big snack before supper and spoiling my appetite. But nonetheless, the late evenings spent training hardly ever yield refreshed feelings the mornings after. Today was not out of the ordinary. The body did not coordinate itself this morning and no amount of that precious coffee seemed to do the trick. I felt pretty sluggish and slow during the easy dp workout and I cut the workout a bit short from the recommended plan. They call these "recovery" days for a reason. You wouldn't need recovery days if your body didn't feel occasionally like it had gone through a Mike Tyson- Evandor Holyfield fight.
Thought of the day: There is good pain and there is bad pain........and Tylenol for both.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Threshold Workout
Oct. 27, 2010
Training: AM L3 threshold workout. Total Time: 2hr
PM easy run and strength. Total time: 1hr
So bring people up to speed. I did a race called the Trans-Alps in early September that consisted of 195 miles over the alps in a 8 day stage race format. I did structure a bit of my summer training to prepare for a race of that magnitude. from late August through late September I was in Europe focused entirely on mountain running. This of course had its effects on my skiing fitness, but as truly believe, the mental aspect of athletics plays a substantial role in competition. For me, The Trans-Alps not only gave me a needed break from the everyday ritual of eat-train-work-train-eat-sleep, but also allowed to experience discomfort as a whole new level. This was an event that was well beyond my mental grasps and simply put, would test my "demons". I think many athletes have these so called "demons", which are born from the desire to push yourself harder and faster. Nonetheless, the experience was invaluable and an amazing time was had, but the month spend on foot had brought me away from my ski fitness. I have spent the past month building my strength back into my upper body. I lost a solid ten pounds during the race which I'm sure came out of the upper body. Luckily, I have learned my body responds to L4/L5 work very well and i can build power pretty quick, but the L3/L4 grinding gear takes quite a while to build back. I decided to race both time trials last weekend to gauge where I was at physically. Surprisingly, I faired much better than thought in the sprints, but wasn't necessarily thrilled with the distance TT. My time was similar to that of a so-so L3 test during the summer testing sequences. There are a lot of parameters to consider when comparing times, but the short of it was that my movements did not feel as crisp as they could be at this point. That comfort comes with good L3 training, building the capacity and strength to hold better movements at higher speeds. I have a bad habit of always going a bit too hard on L3 workouts which tends to tap the anaerobic system too much taking away from the aerobic system. So after a short meeting with my coach, it is in the best interests that bring myself back a step and spend a couple of weeks with predominately L3 work, deviating from the teams L4 race prep sequence. I will focus on staying much more within the L3 realm and keep the aerobic system the dominant engine. With still about a month until the first set of races, I have ample amount of time to raise that L3 threshold and find smoother stronger movements for the distance racing. After many years of training, I have a pretty good handle on how my body responds to certain types of training, but there is always new things to learn. The coach and athlete need to be good with communication to achieve success in a program. At any rate, due to icy roads, our hilly course was relegated to a fairly flat out and back course with the outward direction being fairly gradual uphill. This made for a great workout nonetheless. I held a very solid L3 pace with a little bit of L4 in there for about 45 minutes of total work time. .
Thought of the day: In training there is a fine line between improving ones system and going too hard. Better to keep things in check, but its not bad to test the body now and again!
Training: AM L3 threshold workout. Total Time: 2hr
PM easy run and strength. Total time: 1hr
So bring people up to speed. I did a race called the Trans-Alps in early September that consisted of 195 miles over the alps in a 8 day stage race format. I did structure a bit of my summer training to prepare for a race of that magnitude. from late August through late September I was in Europe focused entirely on mountain running. This of course had its effects on my skiing fitness, but as truly believe, the mental aspect of athletics plays a substantial role in competition. For me, The Trans-Alps not only gave me a needed break from the everyday ritual of eat-train-work-train-eat-sleep, but also allowed to experience discomfort as a whole new level. This was an event that was well beyond my mental grasps and simply put, would test my "demons". I think many athletes have these so called "demons", which are born from the desire to push yourself harder and faster. Nonetheless, the experience was invaluable and an amazing time was had, but the month spend on foot had brought me away from my ski fitness. I have spent the past month building my strength back into my upper body. I lost a solid ten pounds during the race which I'm sure came out of the upper body. Luckily, I have learned my body responds to L4/L5 work very well and i can build power pretty quick, but the L3/L4 grinding gear takes quite a while to build back. I decided to race both time trials last weekend to gauge where I was at physically. Surprisingly, I faired much better than thought in the sprints, but wasn't necessarily thrilled with the distance TT. My time was similar to that of a so-so L3 test during the summer testing sequences. There are a lot of parameters to consider when comparing times, but the short of it was that my movements did not feel as crisp as they could be at this point. That comfort comes with good L3 training, building the capacity and strength to hold better movements at higher speeds. I have a bad habit of always going a bit too hard on L3 workouts which tends to tap the anaerobic system too much taking away from the aerobic system. So after a short meeting with my coach, it is in the best interests that bring myself back a step and spend a couple of weeks with predominately L3 work, deviating from the teams L4 race prep sequence. I will focus on staying much more within the L3 realm and keep the aerobic system the dominant engine. With still about a month until the first set of races, I have ample amount of time to raise that L3 threshold and find smoother stronger movements for the distance racing. After many years of training, I have a pretty good handle on how my body responds to certain types of training, but there is always new things to learn. The coach and athlete need to be good with communication to achieve success in a program. At any rate, due to icy roads, our hilly course was relegated to a fairly flat out and back course with the outward direction being fairly gradual uphill. This made for a great workout nonetheless. I held a very solid L3 pace with a little bit of L4 in there for about 45 minutes of total work time. .
Thought of the day: In training there is a fine line between improving ones system and going too hard. Better to keep things in check, but its not bad to test the body now and again!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Oct. 26, 2010
Training: AM L5 speeds with L2 distance. Total time: 2hr
PM L1 easy run. Total time: 30mins
Well I woke up this morning remembering that I had forgotten to set the coffee maker up last night and there wouldn't be coffee waiting for me when I arose. That was a good reason to stay in bed an extra five minutes. The weather had called for a couple inches of snow last night, so i finally decided that it was worth getting up to at least see if mother nature had graced us with her light fluffy stuff. Walking upstairs, i looked out the window to find wet sidewalks and gloominess. De-motivation number two....check. To my surprise though, i found the coffee had been turned on and was hot and waiting for me. My girlfriend gets up ridiculously early to go to work some mornings and she had set the coffee for me before she took off. Girlfriend gets 1000 points for that one. Motivation..... 1 point. I had spent yesterdays free time making Granola and for the first morning in a couple weeks had a solid breakfast. My Granola is packed with all sorts of goodies and protein and such, perfect for the morning feeding. As I sipped my girlfriend-made coffee I watched video of the distance TT our coach posted this morning. Watching people go hard was motivating..... point 2 for motivation. Apparently one of our juniors took a pretty bad crash just before the finish. Although I felt bad for him, the scene was entertaining. This was my third point for motivation giving it the win. I was out the door a few minutes later to hit the roller-skis. We had a simply set up this morning. Race speed L5 circuits (45sec, 60sec, 90secs). I did 3 sets and felt that was good enough for me. The power is coming back and feels good to go fast and hang up front again. The sun came out just after finishing the last set. What a beautiful day. I finished off with a good distance ski into kinkaid park.
Thought of the day: The simply act of making coffee for someone can change that persons day!
Training: AM L5 speeds with L2 distance. Total time: 2hr
PM L1 easy run. Total time: 30mins
Well I woke up this morning remembering that I had forgotten to set the coffee maker up last night and there wouldn't be coffee waiting for me when I arose. That was a good reason to stay in bed an extra five minutes. The weather had called for a couple inches of snow last night, so i finally decided that it was worth getting up to at least see if mother nature had graced us with her light fluffy stuff. Walking upstairs, i looked out the window to find wet sidewalks and gloominess. De-motivation number two....check. To my surprise though, i found the coffee had been turned on and was hot and waiting for me. My girlfriend gets up ridiculously early to go to work some mornings and she had set the coffee for me before she took off. Girlfriend gets 1000 points for that one. Motivation..... 1 point. I had spent yesterdays free time making Granola and for the first morning in a couple weeks had a solid breakfast. My Granola is packed with all sorts of goodies and protein and such, perfect for the morning feeding. As I sipped my girlfriend-made coffee I watched video of the distance TT our coach posted this morning. Watching people go hard was motivating..... point 2 for motivation. Apparently one of our juniors took a pretty bad crash just before the finish. Although I felt bad for him, the scene was entertaining. This was my third point for motivation giving it the win. I was out the door a few minutes later to hit the roller-skis. We had a simply set up this morning. Race speed L5 circuits (45sec, 60sec, 90secs). I did 3 sets and felt that was good enough for me. The power is coming back and feels good to go fast and hang up front again. The sun came out just after finishing the last set. What a beautiful day. I finished off with a good distance ski into kinkaid park.
Thought of the day: The simply act of making coffee for someone can change that persons day!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Recovery Day
Oct. 25, 2010
Training: Easy recovery run. Total Time: 1.75 hr
Although today was supposed to be my day off this week, I decided that I would join Mark out on an easy mountain run. Mark had one of those days yesterday where things simply couldn't come together to find his way out the door, a type of day I have had many times throughout my career. I'm sure many people can relate to those days where doing nothing at all sounds better than almost any other option. We brought the dogs and heading up towards O'malley Peak. As we got up into the saddle, snow and wind met us with excitement. I was debating whether or not to keep my over-pants on at the car and of course the wind and snow up top was quite chilly making me regret my opting to leave the over-pants at the car. Although the chill was a bit surprising, the slow trot was feeling good. Running back down though, my legs were actually feeling quite wobbly, a feeling i thought would be non existent after 195 miles through the Alps. Oh well.. guess i should just train more. Not much else to note today other than i did make a great batch of apple cinnamon granola which is beginning to become a staple in my morning along with the coffee. Home made granola can sure tide a guy over through a tough workout, let me tell ya!
Thought of the day: Is there such thing as too much ice cream before you go to bed?
Training: Easy recovery run. Total Time: 1.75 hr
Although today was supposed to be my day off this week, I decided that I would join Mark out on an easy mountain run. Mark had one of those days yesterday where things simply couldn't come together to find his way out the door, a type of day I have had many times throughout my career. I'm sure many people can relate to those days where doing nothing at all sounds better than almost any other option. We brought the dogs and heading up towards O'malley Peak. As we got up into the saddle, snow and wind met us with excitement. I was debating whether or not to keep my over-pants on at the car and of course the wind and snow up top was quite chilly making me regret my opting to leave the over-pants at the car. Although the chill was a bit surprising, the slow trot was feeling good. Running back down though, my legs were actually feeling quite wobbly, a feeling i thought would be non existent after 195 miles through the Alps. Oh well.. guess i should just train more. Not much else to note today other than i did make a great batch of apple cinnamon granola which is beginning to become a staple in my morning along with the coffee. Home made granola can sure tide a guy over through a tough workout, let me tell ya!
Thought of the day: Is there such thing as too much ice cream before you go to bed?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
OD - Over Distance Meditation
Oct. 24, 2010
Training: OD classic roller-ski L1-L2. Total Time: 3hr
Free time is a rarity in my life it seems. The most relaxing part of my day is the thirty minutes in the morning as I enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning. I get up earlier just so I feel like I'm not rushed through my coffee drinking experience. As most people would agree, the morning coffee is like switching on the "on" buttons. Its important not to rush it otherwise you might feel as though some button was missed somewhere in the morning hoopla and you feel slightly off kilter for the rest of the day. With days that seemed packed to the gills with training and work thirty minutes almost never feels like enough time to collect your bearings. I always seem to have a hundred things running through my mind that i never really have time to sort out. Finances, training, work, fitness, relationship, they all go into the ongoing circus which is my head. I try to stay relaxed as much as possible , but as most people know, all the effort in the world sometimes cant counteract the stress buildup. Fortunately, for me I have one good workout a week that allows me time to sort through some issues. The OD or over-distance workout is one of the key workouts in almost every endurance sport athletes regime. Its a workout that is generally low intensity and allows the body to key into certain muscle groups to promote capillary growth in those areas, thereby allowing more blood to those muscles. With more blood comes more oxygen and nutrients, allowing those muscle groups to work longer and/or harder etc.. For me, its a time to ponder those things aching to be pondered. Most of my OD workouts are in the 3 hour range which provides plenty of time to sort through things. Ive been doing these workouts for a long time and tend not to focus on the movements as much as I used to. I have gotten pretty good at shutting my brain off and plugging out the hours. In cases such as today, I hardly even notice the time ticking away and before I know it I'm back at the car three hours later. These workouts are like black holes to me. I get lost in thought almost immediately and seem to come back to reality just before i reach the end of the workout to chick in with the body and see how things are holding up. Its like a three hour meditation for me. By the end of the week, I'm generally pretty worn and tired and have plenty of things going through my head plucking "stress strings". By the time i finish my OD, i always feel much calmer and lacking a better word...normal. I'm able to sort through just enough issues to make my ongoing stress level tolerable. I know they say that exercise relieves stress and whatnot, but I always seem to find a way to make exercising, training, or whatever you might call it be stressful. I think i just find some workouts as time away from the everyday life. It provides that extra "coffee time" that everyone needs one way or another to screw their heads on straight. Without the multitudes of hours training, they would probably put me in an institution. Another day done and another 3 hours in the bank. Nice.
Thought of the day: Its totally worth it to wake up 20 minutes earlier and have those few minutes to smell and enjoy the morning beverage of choice. It can dictate how your day goes from there.
Training: OD classic roller-ski L1-L2. Total Time: 3hr
Free time is a rarity in my life it seems. The most relaxing part of my day is the thirty minutes in the morning as I enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning. I get up earlier just so I feel like I'm not rushed through my coffee drinking experience. As most people would agree, the morning coffee is like switching on the "on" buttons. Its important not to rush it otherwise you might feel as though some button was missed somewhere in the morning hoopla and you feel slightly off kilter for the rest of the day. With days that seemed packed to the gills with training and work thirty minutes almost never feels like enough time to collect your bearings. I always seem to have a hundred things running through my mind that i never really have time to sort out. Finances, training, work, fitness, relationship, they all go into the ongoing circus which is my head. I try to stay relaxed as much as possible , but as most people know, all the effort in the world sometimes cant counteract the stress buildup. Fortunately, for me I have one good workout a week that allows me time to sort through some issues. The OD or over-distance workout is one of the key workouts in almost every endurance sport athletes regime. Its a workout that is generally low intensity and allows the body to key into certain muscle groups to promote capillary growth in those areas, thereby allowing more blood to those muscles. With more blood comes more oxygen and nutrients, allowing those muscle groups to work longer and/or harder etc.. For me, its a time to ponder those things aching to be pondered. Most of my OD workouts are in the 3 hour range which provides plenty of time to sort through things. Ive been doing these workouts for a long time and tend not to focus on the movements as much as I used to. I have gotten pretty good at shutting my brain off and plugging out the hours. In cases such as today, I hardly even notice the time ticking away and before I know it I'm back at the car three hours later. These workouts are like black holes to me. I get lost in thought almost immediately and seem to come back to reality just before i reach the end of the workout to chick in with the body and see how things are holding up. Its like a three hour meditation for me. By the end of the week, I'm generally pretty worn and tired and have plenty of things going through my head plucking "stress strings". By the time i finish my OD, i always feel much calmer and lacking a better word...normal. I'm able to sort through just enough issues to make my ongoing stress level tolerable. I know they say that exercise relieves stress and whatnot, but I always seem to find a way to make exercising, training, or whatever you might call it be stressful. I think i just find some workouts as time away from the everyday life. It provides that extra "coffee time" that everyone needs one way or another to screw their heads on straight. Without the multitudes of hours training, they would probably put me in an institution. Another day done and another 3 hours in the bank. Nice.
Thought of the day: Its totally worth it to wake up 20 minutes earlier and have those few minutes to smell and enjoy the morning beverage of choice. It can dictate how your day goes from there.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Distance TT
Oct. 23, 2010
Training: AM Skate roller-ski time trial approx 10k distance. Total time: 2 hr
The course for today was the same course as we use for our L3 testing (aerobic threshold) which begins ath the Potter Marsh parking area and heads out the Old Seward and takes a right up into residential neighborhoods. We finish at the top of Prominence Pt. after skiing up Goldenview drive about 600m. All in all roughly 10k of predominantly uphill skiing. After yesterdays Sprint TT, my body wasn't necessarily psyched to do anything hard again. It took every bit of the 40 minute warm-up to feel even remotely qualified to do anything. Of course as luck would have it I was put in the drivers seat (1st guy out) meaning I was going to be the one everyone was chasing today. It was a 15 second interval start, so the spread was going to be thin and excitement to reel the guy in front high. Mark was starting right after me and because he had been posting some great times this summer here, i wasn't going to be surprised if he caught me fairly quickly after the start. I left the start line wanting not to succumb to the pressure behind me and stay relatively relaxed the first half. As we turned off Old Seward and into the climb into the residentials, mark had gained some time on me, but was still 10 seconds back. We got into so steeper V1 climbs and the clicking of the poles behind me started to fade. This was encouraging to me, but at the same time a bit confused because i wasn't feeling that great either and didn't think i was going particularly fast. I kept trucking and a few minutes later i looked back to see Mark was no longer there. When i reached the bottom of Prominence Pt. with still 8 minutes or so of climbing to go, I was slowing down. I got a bit excited thinking i was doing really well to be pulling away from Mark and had picked up the tempo a bit. I made it through the climb fairly smooth and without breaking down. Half way up there was a long stretch where i caught sight of someone coming up on me about 45 seconds back or so. I figured this was James Southam, a fantastic skier and Olympian, who had previously overtaken me by more on occasions and had only started 45 seconds back. When I crossed the finish line, i was surprised to find the Patrick Johnson was that skier. He had started behind James and had for all I could tell.. a great day. I figured he was about 20 seconds or so up on me. Its always frustrating when younger guys beat you, but at the same time you feel proud of them too. I still love to see guys when they are on. But at far as guys that are "ON" goes, Bart Dengel had one of his best times ever up the hill in just over 32 minutes. He crossed the line and was obviously beyond himself. He was laying on the gravel face down and breathing heavily from exhaustion. Bart had started in the last position in the starting line and had passed most everybody to finish in a sprint with James. In the end it was Bart in 32:14, Patrick 33:33, Myself 33:55. This was not a particularly great time for me by any respect, but it was the best i could put forth for the day given my fitness. Mark had had a day where nothing seemed to function properly and fell far from his idea of PAR. We all have those days for sure. I can think of quite a few days over the past month that were like that for me. Its never awesome when those days fall on TT days, but it does happen now and again. I am pretty happy with the early TT results for myself. I have another month to find my form and I know it will come when it comes time to throw down. But for now, Hats off to the guys that threw down great performances, our team looks great right now.
Training: AM Skate roller-ski time trial approx 10k distance. Total time: 2 hr
The course for today was the same course as we use for our L3 testing (aerobic threshold) which begins ath the Potter Marsh parking area and heads out the Old Seward and takes a right up into residential neighborhoods. We finish at the top of Prominence Pt. after skiing up Goldenview drive about 600m. All in all roughly 10k of predominantly uphill skiing. After yesterdays Sprint TT, my body wasn't necessarily psyched to do anything hard again. It took every bit of the 40 minute warm-up to feel even remotely qualified to do anything. Of course as luck would have it I was put in the drivers seat (1st guy out) meaning I was going to be the one everyone was chasing today. It was a 15 second interval start, so the spread was going to be thin and excitement to reel the guy in front high. Mark was starting right after me and because he had been posting some great times this summer here, i wasn't going to be surprised if he caught me fairly quickly after the start. I left the start line wanting not to succumb to the pressure behind me and stay relatively relaxed the first half. As we turned off Old Seward and into the climb into the residentials, mark had gained some time on me, but was still 10 seconds back. We got into so steeper V1 climbs and the clicking of the poles behind me started to fade. This was encouraging to me, but at the same time a bit confused because i wasn't feeling that great either and didn't think i was going particularly fast. I kept trucking and a few minutes later i looked back to see Mark was no longer there. When i reached the bottom of Prominence Pt. with still 8 minutes or so of climbing to go, I was slowing down. I got a bit excited thinking i was doing really well to be pulling away from Mark and had picked up the tempo a bit. I made it through the climb fairly smooth and without breaking down. Half way up there was a long stretch where i caught sight of someone coming up on me about 45 seconds back or so. I figured this was James Southam, a fantastic skier and Olympian, who had previously overtaken me by more on occasions and had only started 45 seconds back. When I crossed the finish line, i was surprised to find the Patrick Johnson was that skier. He had started behind James and had for all I could tell.. a great day. I figured he was about 20 seconds or so up on me. Its always frustrating when younger guys beat you, but at the same time you feel proud of them too. I still love to see guys when they are on. But at far as guys that are "ON" goes, Bart Dengel had one of his best times ever up the hill in just over 32 minutes. He crossed the line and was obviously beyond himself. He was laying on the gravel face down and breathing heavily from exhaustion. Bart had started in the last position in the starting line and had passed most everybody to finish in a sprint with James. In the end it was Bart in 32:14, Patrick 33:33, Myself 33:55. This was not a particularly great time for me by any respect, but it was the best i could put forth for the day given my fitness. Mark had had a day where nothing seemed to function properly and fell far from his idea of PAR. We all have those days for sure. I can think of quite a few days over the past month that were like that for me. Its never awesome when those days fall on TT days, but it does happen now and again. I am pretty happy with the early TT results for myself. I have another month to find my form and I know it will come when it comes time to throw down. But for now, Hats off to the guys that threw down great performances, our team looks great right now.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Classic Sprint TT
Oct. 22, 2010
Training: AM Classic rollerski sprint time trial. Total time: 2.5hr
PM Shaking the legs out run. Total time: 20 mins
Well we didn't have any frost on the car window this morning, so there was no reason to think the TT will be cancelled due to snow. I was actually pretty nervous this morning. I had a talk with my coach a few days ago and we thought it would be a good idea to do both the sprint time trial today and the distance TT tomorrow just to see where I'm at. This was going to be my first real comparison of my ski fitness in a while seeming as i took time away to do the Trans-Alps most of the fall. I felt as though my upper body strength was slowly coming around, but comparing myself during the speeds the other day, I had a little bit of work to do still. After a good warm-up I was feeling pretty relaxed. I wasn't planning on doing anything beyond seeing where I was at fitness-wise compared to my teammates. Our set up was going to be two rounds of prelim style starts (15 second intervals between skiers) followed by two rounds of reverse pursuit start (meaning the slowest finisher leaves first followed by the second slowest in however much time was between them etc...). To my surprise, the first round went fairly well for me. The strength was there and for the most part I was able to hold my technical composure through the finish line. The second round was similar paced and i found myself right on the teammate starting right in front of me as i crossed the finish line. The final two rounds were confusing at best and therefore i wont go into much detail. Being one of the fastest qualifiers i started second to last and as its set up, most everyone finishes at roughly the same time. So as a whole the day went well for me. I gave my training partner and generally better sprinter a run for his money in the last round. I didn't expect to be able to handle the effort with such little anaerobic work underneath me, but it seemed to come together a bit. I'm tired now. Duh!
Thought of the day: I have heard rumors that Chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks out there..... Whatever..... Its just freakin goood!!!!!
Training: AM Classic rollerski sprint time trial. Total time: 2.5hr
PM Shaking the legs out run. Total time: 20 mins
Well we didn't have any frost on the car window this morning, so there was no reason to think the TT will be cancelled due to snow. I was actually pretty nervous this morning. I had a talk with my coach a few days ago and we thought it would be a good idea to do both the sprint time trial today and the distance TT tomorrow just to see where I'm at. This was going to be my first real comparison of my ski fitness in a while seeming as i took time away to do the Trans-Alps most of the fall. I felt as though my upper body strength was slowly coming around, but comparing myself during the speeds the other day, I had a little bit of work to do still. After a good warm-up I was feeling pretty relaxed. I wasn't planning on doing anything beyond seeing where I was at fitness-wise compared to my teammates. Our set up was going to be two rounds of prelim style starts (15 second intervals between skiers) followed by two rounds of reverse pursuit start (meaning the slowest finisher leaves first followed by the second slowest in however much time was between them etc...). To my surprise, the first round went fairly well for me. The strength was there and for the most part I was able to hold my technical composure through the finish line. The second round was similar paced and i found myself right on the teammate starting right in front of me as i crossed the finish line. The final two rounds were confusing at best and therefore i wont go into much detail. Being one of the fastest qualifiers i started second to last and as its set up, most everyone finishes at roughly the same time. So as a whole the day went well for me. I gave my training partner and generally better sprinter a run for his money in the last round. I didn't expect to be able to handle the effort with such little anaerobic work underneath me, but it seemed to come together a bit. I'm tired now. Duh!
Thought of the day: I have heard rumors that Chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks out there..... Whatever..... Its just freakin goood!!!!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A Good Recovery
Oct. 21 2010
Training: AM 2hr easy classic rollerski
It was cold morning this morning, but still no sign of snow, just some frost on the windshield of my car. It was still brisk when i started out at Sand Lake Rd by myself. Mark was having a "slow" day and was going to meet me a bit later. I plugged in my headphones and went out at a nice sluggish pace. I was definitely sore from yesterday, but moving the muscles in a non-stressful manor was relaxing. I had a nice groove going when i met up with Mark, who had specifically told me he put on extra long underwear because he was going sllloooowwww, and we skied off into the park. The sun was still rising over the mountains and i had one of those rare moments when you actually check out the view around you. Alaska Rocks. Maybe i should take pictures some time.
Thought of the day: Sometimes taking those day where your out there... but not really doing much.. makes all the difference.
Training: AM 2hr easy classic rollerski
It was cold morning this morning, but still no sign of snow, just some frost on the windshield of my car. It was still brisk when i started out at Sand Lake Rd by myself. Mark was having a "slow" day and was going to meet me a bit later. I plugged in my headphones and went out at a nice sluggish pace. I was definitely sore from yesterday, but moving the muscles in a non-stressful manor was relaxing. I had a nice groove going when i met up with Mark, who had specifically told me he put on extra long underwear because he was going sllloooowwww, and we skied off into the park. The sun was still rising over the mountains and i had one of those rare moments when you actually check out the view around you. Alaska Rocks. Maybe i should take pictures some time.
Thought of the day: Sometimes taking those day where your out there... but not really doing much.. makes all the difference.
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