Training Log Archive: Ari-o

Rain let up overnight so out to Littleton to ski, and try out some Niflheim skis too (my ratchets are broken enough I really didn't want to try to stride wet leaves, also my classic poles are a mess; I really should just buy new classic poles this year). Lots of juniors, and I chatted with some of the other masters/coaches up the hill. Then four juniors wanted to go long, so I went long. It got breezy but dry around Harvard, and was fine coming back through the chip seal and turny parts.

Until for whatever reason the speed reducer on one of the skis wouldn't disengage. At the start I think the moisture kept it locked down, but later on it would pop up in to the first notch on any rough sections, which is most of the return of the loop. Which meant one of my skis was significantly slower than the other, which was not good for striding! (The other did the same thing, but that notch didn't engage the speed reducer). So I had some proper struggles and got dropped by the boys, but Cary found me as he was out skating, since he's trying to actually ski this year, apparently.

Finished up Picnic to Hill, which was all repaved (although not in its entirety down Horse Farm Hill) but was a joy to roll.

Also I think I'm done with classic rollerskiing this year.

C • Speed reducers 4

Skipped NP this morning (sleep in!) so instead, it was off to meet Alex to go to the Fells. Run over Sullivan for the ride up. Didn't even have to wait too long!

Then running the Fells. We ran the Skyline Loop, sort of, because there was some getting lost and a lot of "are we on the trail?"-ing. Mostly we were, and it's well marked. Was nice for the first 3/4, then started getting pretty rainy, but we made it back without getting too lost or drowned. Alex's light may or may not have died near the end.

Stealing Alex's elevation again because her Garmin found 100m more than mine?!

Then car sauna!

C • garmin 2

Thinking of rollerskiing the bike path, but then realized juniors are going to Prospect, and so is Alex, and she can give me a ride from Herter. So off to Herter!

Got there early (!) so lapped the parking lot a few times, no poles.

My Garmin/Strava seems to be underestimating the climb, so I am going to use the climb that the Strava segment shows instead (correlated with Alex's log, and yes I spent way too much time looking at this). Update: stole Alex's vert.

Five times up the hill, with the leaves being blown off after the first two (THANKS!). Legs definitely feeling 50 sections from yesterday, and some new pole tips would help, especially in the dark and with janky slipperiness. Negative splits until #4, but my technique quit then. I'll blame the pole tips.

The rollerski warmup. Slow, with lots of leaves.

The runny down parts.

Warm at NP, and bright. Time change! Even some sun at the end, which Dana and I were not happy about. Played a game where I added the digits of the stadium section together and ran that many stairs (strides), so 27 would mean running 9 (so 18, or just more than halfway) and then fast hiking the rest. Anything with a zero in it was a sprint, which definitely spiked the heart rate a couple of times.

Wanted to run. Wanted vert. Closest hill: Summit. Took some different routes, found some new stairs, had a modicum of fun!

Vert update.

October was a setback for vert. This was mostly because I decided to PR the half, which meant a week of tapering and a week of recovery. So instead of 12k I wound up with more like 9k. Which means I need (as of Nov 5) something like 408m/day (23222m to go). Which is a lot, although I've averaged more than that so far this month (small sample size).

But! Plans are in my favor:

* I'll throw down at least one vertical mile at ye olde stadium this month, hopefully.
* I'm not injured! IT band didn't help vert last year.
* No family trip to NYC this year for Thanksgiving means I can find some local trails to run or maybe go north and find some less-local ski trails to ski.
* Maybe some cold weather will get Wachusett to lay down some snow for early morning Aims-style skiing.
* Also planning a mileage run trip to BZN for the end of the month.

If I can get 12000m this month I think I can swing this with December upcoming (usually a good month!).

C • 408m 5

Off to Blue Hills for some trails with Gabriel. Magically got a perfect parking spot in the tiny lot. Mostly dry except the wet places which were … wet. Took him around yellow, up over the hill to the tower, then down and around and back on Skyline, and up a bit on the other side of the road. Legs started out a bit tired but ended up decent.