Training Log Archive: ernst

Testing my absolutely dreadful wax job and warming up for the race. Larry Berman informed me at breakfast that emails have been sent around stating that the ski tracks would be hardpacked with icy patches - all transformed snow. Oh dear! I had assumed soft January snow with temps in the 20's. Considered to either drop down to the 25k ( could have been wise given that I had a muscle spasm in my buttock from 2 days ago) or else rewax my ski and add the recommended klister base. I did the latter 30 min before the race,which was not enough time to cool klister down. So trying to cork in hard wax on top was impossible, everything stuck to the klister - oh and in my hurry I squished way too much klister (blue!) on to the base. Even cork particles got added to the mix. I am not a klister person. Anyway felt the breaks on but figured, better to have kick than none in a 50 k race.

Craftsbury Marathon. All in all not a bad race. My first ski race since Winter of 2014. I fell back relative to my peers on the flats and downs at first, but then on Ruthie's Run (long uphill) I caught up, and even passed some. It is fun to have good kick! I was a bit lonely towards the end, but was able to keep going without fading entirely. 4 laps. Three would have to be ideal I would say. The skis got gradually faster in the glide, while the kick was deteriorating a bit, but not to the annoying level. Mostly the lack of remaining strength contributed to increased slipping. Was in good company: 10 min behind Jud and Victor, 3 min ahead of Perry, 5 min ahead of Michael. Also did reasonably well at 25k. 1:47. Saw that kadley was listed in the 25k. Back felt fine after a very hot shower.

C • Nice ski! 4

Around Spruce Hole w. Jena. 41F, sun and clouds. It has been above freezing for 30 hours. Slow gliding with waxless skis. Snow pack is fading. Tracks are becoming less stable. Too bad, but a nice day out, nevertheless, and still no bare patches to step over.

Then on to a run. Road shoulder was nice and soft. Tried to just be very controlled after a bit of a hiatus. PF-road S then over to Wedn Hill Road N., looped around Lamprey Lane and then back home. 100 m climb over the Wednesday Hills. Felt pretty good. Classic skiing improves my road-run stride.

Warm up with Jena. Last day of un-transformed snow. 40F. A slight slowing. Waxless atomics.

Then over to Spruce Hole. So much fun! Now the hope is up for another snow event.

Loop around S causeway on Clyde's trail then to Buddah, and back home; with Jena. Waxless Atomics. Temps at 34F. Snow was good. Some bare spots on the sun/wind exposed edges.

On to exploring skate skiing at Linden Farms trails. (Atomics). I was expecting poor conditions and had my classic skis in the car just in case. But was not bad at all. Trails had a mix of classic tracks, few foot/snowshoe tracks and a couple of skate tracks, but otherwise were soft but not deep. Excellent where there was enough snow, mostly in the hardwood sections. Some precarious sections under pines, with rocks showing among the debris and the leaves, but I was able to avoid the "death cookies". Arms seemed strong enough to push trough it all. It was about 50% very pleasant wide tracks, and about 30% semi-wide - would be dashed symbol in Ski-O. Fields were good, especially when there was that last 1/2 inch of snow on a nicely cut area. A few step-over wash outs. Glad I had the energy to explore. Gorgeous January day of 34F (30F at the end).

C • Skiing 2

W. J. around the Clyde's loop. Waited for temps to go down to 33F. Trails in good shape except the leaves and debris

Then over to Spruce Hole. GPs'ed the trails, in particular "Electric Avenue" which was not in existence 2 years ago, when I GPs'ed my tracks. Also only kept to the inner circle of trails. Snow is too thin for some of the outer loops. Nobody in sight, must be game time.