Training Log Archive: Ari-o

River Loop to Longfellow. Warm.

Waxing at the OH was nice. Wax bench out on the porch, good lighting, and plenty of room. Not too cold, either. Put on some klister, and covered it with some colder waxes. When we woke up it was still 22, cold and calm. Then we heard wind and the temperature spiked to 36. Put on some warmer wax. Tested it: it worked, but who knows what the day will bring.

And off for the race! I started too late to get a good spot, so burned a lot of matches passing people. Good kick up the first big hill and on to the flats, but my wax was dragging on the flats. So I kicked well up the hills, and gave a lot of time back on the downhills. So I was with a group of a couple of guys: I'd gain a lot on the hills, and then give it all back on the downhills and flats. Some of the flats were brutally windy and it was hard to stay upright. I had some double pole struggles with draggy skis. Hard wax skis and klister too long doesn't help. Will have a shorter pocket for Craftsbury. Finished, respectably but not well, and ate food. Conditions were surprisingly good, kept good kick in the woods although I may have done better with no kick and good glide!

Jess and I headed out to skate some. The woods were still solid, but warm on the hills.

Up to Jackson, leaving later than planned, so skiing mostly in the dark. Tracks solid, grooming quite good. Kicking on hard wax. Then there were people at the OH, so it was 62˚ when I walked in!

Train up to Nov Project; way too early to try to run up there.

Silly things with sleds, pushing, pulling, grappling through snow. And other such sundries. Had to leave early because I had a presentation at 8:45 and had to meet and have breakfast beforehand. Of course, there was an accident on Lake Shore so I sat on the bus for 30 minutes. Got to the hotel at 7:57, was in a suit and off to breakfast at 8:09. My roommate was duly impressed. (He's not a morning person.)

Evening run around Chicago after work. Cool, but not frigid.

Out to Weston to ski and … there's no snow. They haven't made snow in two weeks. So even though it was below freezing for nearly that entire time (yes, with one major meltdown) there is less skiing than there was before Christmas. Mount Weston has maybe 6" of cover. One warm spell away from Weston being unskiable. Not much sense of urgency either, or worry at having wasted one of the best cold snaps in years with a broken pump. I last skied at Weston Jan 3. It didn't go above freezing until Jan 8. But no snow was made. And it was 18 when I was skiing. No snow. Ugh.

Look, you run a company that requires a snowmaking system. Most of the system is easy to replace, except the pump. That's a single point of failure. So if it fails, you need to know what your backup option is. Can't get the parts? Get a temporary pump. Or buy a new pump. Stop going on about cheap skis from Hilton's Tent City on your trail report and tell us what to expect.

I'd say but I'm still angry about this.