Friday Mar 31 |
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| Event: Flying Pig X (OCIN)
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 | Orienteering race 35:00 [5] *** 5.4 km (6:29 / km) +220m 5:23 / km | |
| spiked:15/17c slept:4.0 |
| Flying Pig Middle. Not a great race, but a decent result all things considered. Getting up at 3 AM, packing frantically, and then traveling for the next 14 hours is just not ideal for race prep. Arrived late for the start so warmup consisted of rapid Superman-street-clothes-to-lycra change in the parking lot and a quick run to the start, where they were already dismantling things. Coaxed them to take the start/clear/check controls back out of the trunk of the car, they gave me enough time to tie my shoes, and then I was off. Not a really smooth start, but things went fine. Overall not too technically taxing a course - mainly a running race I guess. Will post splits and leg comments later. Hans won in 33-mid or so, followed by Mark Adams (34-mid), and then me in 34:57. Wadd and Patrick very close behind. Generally feeling a little tired at the end, not pushing as hard as I should have been. Will be interesting to look at the splits and see where I dropped my time. |
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| C • ... 2 |
| Orienteering warm up/down 1:30:00 [2] *** | |
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| This was the combined warmup and cool down for the above race (mostly cool down obviously). Because I delayed their takedown of the race apparatus, I had offfered to pick up controls so spent an hour out in the bush again hauling down flags and ribbons and packing up a couple of water stops. Probably not exactly the ideal way to recover from a race, but it seemed to go smoothly. Will see how the legs feel throughout the rest of the weekend. My overall plan was to carry a heavy week of training into this weekend of racing, and carry on some volume for the next little while as well (i.e. no taper). Hopefully the body will hold together - so far so good anyway. |
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Blue - middle - Splits |
Thursday Mar 30 |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 1:40:00 [1] | |
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| Fun night, non-stop playing time. Probably should have been home packing instead, but hey - gotta have fun some days too. Guess I'll sleep on the plane.... |
Wednesday Mar 29 |
| Running (Commute) 7:00 [3] | |
| slept:8.0 |
| Morning commute in - one of these days I'll actually get rolling early enough so that I can extend my journey into something a little more respectable. It's only a mile in to work from home, so I really should be doing an extra loop or two when time permits.... |
| Other Alternative Training (Stepper) 2:01:00 [1] | |
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| A good long day of Z1 stepping before coming home. |
| Running intervals 41:00 [4] | |
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| Natural intervals, mainly on dirt roads. Some time in Z5, a tiny bit in Z3 during "recovery", but the vast majority was in Z4.
Tried out my new VJ Twisters. Have been having a rough time with my (previously faithful) OLWAY Tigers, which gave me major heel blister problems during the winter camp with Team Hott Johansen, as well as the recent mini camp in Hamilton, so Katta agreed to pick up a pair of Twisters for me. I've previously used VJ (dis)Integrators between 1998 and 2004, with pretty good success - only switched to the Tigers because Katta's VJ sponsorship ended, and we could get great deals on Jalas and OLWAY products through Colin Kirk. Decided to try Twisters to see if the narrower last would feel as if it was giving more support. I can say the 2006 Twisters feel different and more snug then the 2004 Integrators, but it's too early to tell if one is really better than the other. I mainly hope the quality and durability has improved - I used to go through 2-3 pairs of Integrators a year, even with only running 40-50 days/year of races and little training in the shoes otherwise. |
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| C • shoes 8 |
Tuesday Mar 28 |
| Running (Commute) 7:00 [3] | |
| slept:6.0 |
| Moderate run into work - feeling good today after "resting" yesterday (a.k.a. "too busy on call to train"). |
| Other Alternative Training 1:43:00 [1] | |
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| On the stepper - knocked off some time without even really trying.... Nice! Good to feel the quads burn too. |
| Strength 10:00 [3] | |
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| Quads and calves at work. |
| Running (Commute) 7:00 [3] | |
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| And a brief commute home. |
Monday Mar 27 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Semi-unplanned rest day - just too much work and not enough time (or motivation) to log the hour it would have taken to put me over 18 hours. Oh well - there's always tomorrow. |
Sunday Mar 26 |
| XC Skiing 53:00 [3] | |
| slept:7.0 |
| Great morning ski - especially on the golf course. Beautiful, sunny conditions with a solid crust, great for playing around and exploring all those off-piste areas that you never get to when it's all powder.... |
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| C • Nice. 1 |
| Running 36:00 [2] | |
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| Relatively easy run outside with Katta (on the bike) - taking advantage of the +5 C and sunny weather. Slowly the snow is disappearing - though not soon enough for my tastes! |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 2:05:00 [1] | |
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| Big crowd but played a lot of doubles - mostly losing but it was still quite fun. |
Saturday Mar 25 |
| XC Skiing (Skating) 1:16:00 [2] | |
| slept:8.0 |
| Nice spring ski - warm and soft conditions, sunny and +3 C. Getting a little too soft by the end - had to stop before the tracks got too destroyed.... |
| XC Skiing tempo (Skating) 12:00 [4] | |
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| Tempo ski at >90% MHR - part of the above session in zone 4-5. |
| Running 1:07:00 [2] | |
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| Nice run around the block with Brian Mahoney - in town for a weekend visit to the land of snow (and polar bears... ;-) ) |
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| C • Mahoney --> San Fran? 2 |
| Strength 21:00 [3] | |
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| And some strength training to make the day complete. |
Friday Mar 24 |
| Other Alternative Training 1:31:00 [1] | |
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| Easy enough on the stepper before coming home - nice to knock off a little time, especially with guests coming over for the weekend. Might be harder to get in a solid block of time. |
| Running 25:00 [3] | |
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| Run to/from work today. Wanted to go longer but was late getting out. |
Thursday Mar 23 |
| Other Alternative Training (Stepper) 1:33:00 [1] | |
| slept:9.0 |
| Easy stepper training - really beginning to appreciate being able to knock off some time before getting home. I decided not to train a second time last night, in favor of investing that time in an early bedtime. A good investment, I think - hope it will pay off with a nice weekend of steady training, maybe even a little intensity outside if the weather holds. |
| Running 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| It was a balmy +4 C, so I had to go for a run outside when I got homre from work. Not really tough running, just a steady pace. Lots of slush and mud and some snow - and of course a bit of pavement too. Tried out my new Gore-Tex socks for the first time - I really like them! I have previously been running in thin neoprene paddling socks, which are cheap (less than $10) and I never blister in them because of the padding - but they are quite sweaty and my feet are always prunish after a long run in them. Today I deliberately ran in as many puddles and pools as possible, and still no problems. My early impression is quite favorable, although they are much more expensive (about $70).... We'll see how well they last before buying any more pairs at that price. No blisters today either, partly because I was wearing liner socks, and partly because I ran in my Icebugs, which are a little less prone to blistering me than my OLWAYs.... |
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| C • Gore-Tex socks 3 |
| Strength 23:00 [3] | |
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| Mixed strength training, predominantly core but with a decent amount of calf, quad, and ankle work too. |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 1:45:00 [1] | |
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| Fun night tonight - only 5 of us so unlimited playing time. And I didn't suck as badly as usual - starting to get the hang of the drop shot into sneakly little corners of the court. But maybe they're going easy on me too.... |
Wednesday Mar 22 |
| Other Alternative Training (Stepper) 1:48:00 [1] | |
| slept:5.0 |
| Easy mini-stepper, knocked off some time before coming home. Another call-in after midnight = less-than-desirable sleep amount. |
Tuesday Mar 21 |
| Other Alternative Training (Stepper) 58:00 [1] | |
| slept:3.0 |
| Mini-stepper training. Tired - as in sleepy - today, despite a rest day yesterday. Sleep deprived, but hey, that's life. Guess it gets even harder to get some sleep coming up in May....! ;-) |
| Running long 1:05:00 [2] | |
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| Mixed fartlek on the mill. Had a nice nap after work - woke again at 2030, just in time for a quick supper then a bit of time in training. Got to see the Leafs actually win a game, which was good.... Every point counts now! |
| Strength 8:30 [3] | |
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| Just a short session - really it's time for bad again. What, already? |
Monday Mar 20 |
| Note | |
| slept:5.0 (rest day) |
| Rest day - semi-planned. This was my third 24-hour shift on call in 4 days, and Mondays are always hellish in the ER. So I wasn't too surprised that things just didn't materialize for training today. Probably just as well to have a rest day - it's been two solid weeks of training, and although my body feels like it could handle yet more punishment without any real ill effect, I guess there's room for rest and recovery in there somewhere too. I'm not really planning on much of a taper up to the Pig, though. Will likely plow right on through with as much training as I can manage - my goals are to be better later in the season, and the Pig (aside from being a fun race with a good competitive field) doesn't have too much importance attached to it for me. But it certainly will be interesting to see how things stack up down there - I'll definitely try to do my best on race day, regardless of tapering or not. |
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| C • Hell on call?? 7 |
Sunday Mar 19 |
| Running 44:00 [1] | |
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| Easy Z1 run on the mill - on call so tough to commit to anything more extensive.... |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 1:15:00 [1] | |
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| Nice night of badminton - still playing poorly but the silver lining there is that you have to run all over the court to chase down those shots.... Anyway, it's a fun way to get some time in. Maybe get up to Z2 but to be conservative I'll log it as Z1. |
Saturday Mar 18 |
| Running long 2:21:00 [2] | |
| slept:6.0 |
| Nice long, easy run on the mill, moderately "hilly" but felt fine the whole way. Luckily able to sleep pretty well after 0100 until 0700, so not as bad as it could have been. Goal was for 3+ hrs of continuous activity today but was feeling pretty bored after 2 hrs on the mill, sooo.... |
| Strength 20:00 [3] | |
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| ... I switched to strength (particular focus on the calf and quad stuff today, but the core was not neglected either) ... |
| Indoor cycling 31:00 [2] | |
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| And then added a bit on the spinner to finish it all off. Made the 3-hr goal in the end, which felt fine. Now I have the luxury of no second training tonight if I don't really feel like it. |
Friday Mar 17 |
| Running 43:00 [2] | |
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| Easy mill fartlek while taking a quick supper break. Gotta love the ER on St. Patrick's Day... |
| Indoor cycling 21:00 [1] | |
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| And a wee bit of light spinning to wind down after a looong day. |
Thursday Mar 16 |
| Other Alternative Training 1:00:00 [2] | |
| slept:8.0 |
| On the stepper at work - feels good to have knocked off an hour already before I even get home.... |
| Running 1:02:00 [2] | |
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| Light-moderate mix of little hill surges on the mill. Nothing higher than Z3, overall call it Z2. |
| Strength 17:00 [3] | |
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| The usual mix of stuff. |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 1:35:00 [1] | |
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| Nice night out at badminton. Only 6 of us so unlimited playing time. Still, played pretty horribly so the rallys weren't too long. No HRM, maybe it was a low Z2 but I'll call it a Z1 today.
Now I have some big hours in the bank, which is good. I'm taking call 3 of the next 4 nights (payback for the week I had booked out to go to DK - have to pay the piper eventually), so it may be difficult to log normal training. Ever the optimist, I'll try my best, but it's nice to have a few extra hours in the bank "just in case". Feeling sleepy today - hope a nice night tonight will make the upcoming stretch a bit more tolerable.... |
Wednesday Mar 15 |
| Running intervals 21:00 [4] | |
| slept:4.0 |
| Hilly intervals on the mill. The warm up and cool down are included below. I initially had thought about doing about 40min of work, but just didn't seem to have the heart for it today. Didn't sleep much last night and it carried over into today a little bit. |
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| C • Unrelated to the log entry... 2 |
| Running 1:10:00 [2] | |
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| This was the mixed warm up and cool down and generaly lower intensity portion of the run - the goal was for a total of 90 minutes of running, including the interval session, so that was achieved, at least. |
| Strength 21:00 [3] | |
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| And a decent strength workout after, just in case I don't train again today. Trying to incorporate more calf raises and one-legged squats in between the other (core and upper body) exercises. |
Tuesday Mar 14 |
| Indoor cycling 1:03:00 [2] | |
| slept:8.0 |
| Spinning - it's a snowstorm out again today (they even closed part of the Trans-Canada here for a while this morning). Welcome back to Cochrane. At least it's not -25 C as theShadow has to deal with....
Watching part of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - hadn't seen that one in literally decades, but was reminded of Hammer's comments during a run this weekend about station wagons and movies featuring, among other things, the venerable AMC Gremlin - though in this movie it has "prick" spraypainted on the driver's door so that probably won't improve the little Gremlin's comeback chances....
The cast list is pretty amazing (including lots of fun familiar faces) - Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Forest Whitaker, Anthony Edwards, even a fleeting moment of Nick Cage a.k.a. Nicholas Coppola....
And not to forget, this movie featured the first on-screen definition of the term "wuss"....
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| C • fast times 4 |
| Strength 24:00 [3] | |
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| And a longer strength session - some extra sets of core stuff, plus calf work per Bash's suggestion. |
| Running 1:03:00 [3] | |
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| Moderate fartlek in zones 2-3, call it a 3 overall.
Watching "The Unit" - OK, but not as good or as intersting as "24". Waaaaayyyyy too much "Desperate Housewives"-type content for my taste. Gimme Jack bauer any day.
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| Strength 11:00 [3] | |
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| Some strength at the end. Already did a decent workout but felt I should add a little more core plus the calf exercises b/c of the treadmill. Will be interesting to see how long the calf raises and one-legged squats take to start to have a noticable effect (if ever). |
Monday Mar 13 |
| Indoor cycling 50:00 [1] | |
| slept:4.0 |
| An easy spin to get things going. Poor sleep last night - waaaayyyyy too much caffeine along the road - damned Tim Horton's and their "Roll-up-the-rim-to-please-play-again" cups. Sigh. |
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| C • rim 20 |
| Strength 11:00 [3] | |
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| A little strength session - will try to do more later today. |
Sunday Mar 12 |
| Running warm up/down 1:00:00 [1] | |
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| Misc. warmup and cool down and other pre- and post-race junk, some with the guys and some on my own. |
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| C • Hamilton Training Centre 6 |
| Orienteering race 44:00 [4] *** | |
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| THOMASS race - final one of the series it seems. Physically felt tired today - not much spring in my step. But given the 4-5 hours of running/orienteering training over the previous 2 days, that was understandable. Just felt good to get out there and run. Had to work pretty hard to stay with Duca and the Griz. Hammer, MrPither and Sudden took different routes so barely saw them. I did a real "rookie" mistake and ran towards the finish forgetting about the last control in the box. By the time I realized it and went back, Duca, The Griz, Hammer and MrPither were in the finish ahead of me. Oops! Some blister issues on the left heel again - seriously considering switching back to my old VJ's - either that, or simply wearing the OLWAYs enough to ensure that the skin turns tough enough to handle some racing in those shoes....
Overall, this was a GREAT training camp. Of course it was disappointing to not be able to go to Denmark, but given the snow conditions over there I am sure this was the best choice for me. I'll have the chance to go in April around Easter, and they should be snow free by then.
It is certainly clear (to me at least) that Hamilton is probably the best training center for elites in Canada, and possibly in the US. Nice variety of terrain, and most importantly enough of it is hilly enough that you could become quite physically strong by living and training there. And it's all literally at their back doors. The club, with considerable input from Coach Sudden, seems to have pretty decent workouts regularly, right through the winter. It's no wonder they kick our butts, especially (but not limited to) in the spring.
It was also good to confirm that the last couple months of steady training has started to have its effect for me too. I am not quite up to their level for off-road running and sheer speed just yet, but given that my training has been overwhelmingly indoors on the spinner and the treadmill, it is certainly comforting to see exactly how close things really are. Perhaps my usual spring butt-kicking won't be as bad as it has been in recent years.... Major gains since the January training camp (when I started training regularly) - maybe with some more outdoor runs and a bit more intensity, I can get things together and have a decent spring season! Racing the Pig and spending a week+ in Denmark will certainly help, too.
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| C • Great training 4 |
Saturday Mar 11 |
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| Event: Nordjysk 2-Dages
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| Running long 2:25:00 [3] +350m | |
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| Relatively easy trail/terrain run with the GCG group of the day. About 350m of climb, but it came in bunches - I could definitely feel it when that happened.... This was my longest outdoor run since the adventure run last fall - felt good to do it, and I can see that there should be more of the same coming down the tubes soon. Just hope conditions improve in Cochrane and the 1-meter snow base soon melts away.... |
| Running warm up/down 30:00 [2] | |
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| Warmup and cool down for the afternoon/evening orienteering session with Hammer and MrPither. |
| Orienteering 50:00 [3] *** | |
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| Relatively easy O-session in Sass Woods with Hammer and MrPither. Billed as "downhill", but an unfortunate route choice led to a surprisingly high amount of climb for a "downhill" course. Technically pretty easy to find controls, and aside from that route choice it was all pretty decent. A few new trails on the map but the contours seemed reliable enough that it didn't really matter. Could feel a bit tired by the end of the day, though! |
| Strength 5:00 [3] | |
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| Abbreviated strength training after the Leafs game... |
Friday Mar 10 |
| Orienteering 47:00 [4] | |
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| Some orienteering training in Horseshoe Valley. I had my maps from the WOC test races in 1995, and had intended to get around most of the short race. However, the snow was knee-to-thigh deep throughout, and had the annoying crust that is just not quite thick enough to support your weight, but feels like your shins are being bashed repeatedly with a stick with every step you take. Not overjoyously fun, but it turned out to be a good workout anyway - hard to go at any real speed without the HR soaring up, up, up. |
| Running 1:12:00 [3] | |
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| Some mixed running with Hans after work, trying to avoid much of the rush-hour traffic. It was pretty muddy and there were a few hills. HR zones mostly 3, some zone 4 up the hills but call it a 3 overall. I see Hans logged it as zone 2, but I guess his legs are more accustomed to outdoor running. Try as I might, I just can't seem to properly replicate the steep hills and the mud on our indoor treadmill..... |
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| C • Treadmill 13 |
| Strength 5:00 [3] | |
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| Just a little strength before bed. No free weights, so it was a shortened session. |
Thursday Mar 9 |
| Indoor cycling 40:00 [2] | |
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| A morning warmup on the trainer. |
| Running 30:00 [3] | |
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| Followed by a moderate mill session watching the end of "Eurotrip" - what the hell is that doing on in the mornings? Anyway, gotta love the "Scotty Doesn't Know" tune by Lustra (I think).... If someone can send me an MP3 of that I'd be happy! |
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| C • Scotty Doesn't Know 1 |
| Strength 7:00 [3] | |
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| Shorter strength session - need to get things lined up for the mini weekend training camp. |
| Running 45:00 [2] | |
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| A little bit more on the mill before heading out the door.... |
Wednesday Mar 8 |
| Indoor cycling 47:00 [2] | |
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| Some spinning on the trainer to start the day - looks like we may get up to around freezing and maybe even a little snow today - hope I can make it outdoors for a bit too. |
| Running 1:28:00 [3] | |
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| A mix of speeds and intensities, ranging from zone 2-4, call it a 3 overall. |
| Strength 10:00 [3] | |
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| The usual. |
Tuesday Mar 7 |
| XC Skiing tempo (Skating) 1:07:00 [4] | |
| slept:5.0 |
| XC ski - just as the sun was setting. About 20km, decent pace. The snow was firmer than Sunday but a bit more abrasive so not quite as fast as I had hoped. My technique was getting pretty ugly by the end but with a bit of extra effort I still managed to keep my splits basically even for each of the 3 loops. Long night in the ER last night so a bit tired today.
I SHOULD be on a flight to Denmark at the moment, but thanks to unusual snowfalls and cold temperatures through what seems to be a wide swath of Europe, the woods in the WOC terrain are basically snowed out. Just not worth it to go all that way to wade around in snow - I could do that just as well here! Plus, the Norwegian team cancelled its training camp so that facet of the trip would have been missing too.
But, as luck would have it, I'll be going over in April since the surgeon here has taken holidays and we're closing the OR for a little while then. There had better not be any snow in Silkeborg then.....
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| C • no Denmark 8 |
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| C • no Denmark 1 |
| Strength 10:00 [3] | |
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| A little bit of this and a little bit of that. The usual. |
Monday Mar 6 |
| Indoor cycling 55:00 [2] | |
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| Relatively easy spin on the trainer. |
| Strength 10:00 [3] | |
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| A brief strength session at work while waiting for patients to be prepped. |
Sunday Mar 5 |
| XC Skiing (Skating) 1:21:00 [4] | |
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| The weather cooperated and we had pretty nice conditions.... Overall this was around zone 4, though there were several segments (brief) in zone 5 struggling up hills, and a couple of (also brief) gear adjustments along the way where zone 3 might have been reached. But it's still a great CV workout with very little impact on the feet/knees/legs. And decent core strength too. Did the last 7km (except for the steepest hills) without poles - seems to be an OK way to stress different muscles during the workout. |
| Running 35:00 [3] | |
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| Nice outdoor run for a change - only about -5 C so warm enough to lay down a few miles without aggravating any cough. |
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| C • Only -5 4 |
| Other Alternative Training (Badminton) 1:10:00 [2] | |
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| Some badminton - fun stuff but I really need to improve so that I don't keep on getting completely destroyed by the gang here. Still, it's pretty enjoyable! |
Saturday Mar 4 |
| Indoor cycling 52:00 [2] | |
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| Lower intensity - starting to notice a bearing feeling rough on the spinner - probably have to pop the hub and/or bottom bracket and have a look inside.... Fortunately, Katta and I have virtually identical bikes (S-Works Epic - highly recommend them to XC and adventure racer types who might have to ride more than 20-30km or have technical XC racing trails to ride), so I can ride hers until I sort mine out....
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| Running 1:07:00 [2] | |
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| Easier fartlek on the mill. |
| Strength 9:00 [3] | |
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| Shortened strength session after the run. |
Friday Mar 3 |
| Indoor cycling 55:00 [2] | |
| slept:5.0 |
| Lighter resistance spinning. |
| Running 44:00 [2] | |
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| Easy-moderate fartlek on the mill. |
| Strength 7:00 [3] | |
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| A truncated training session - gotta get ready to make some sushi - yummy! Hoping to perhaps do a little more training later but won't stress about it if I don't get to it. |
Thursday Mar 2 |
| Running 1:12:00 [3] | |
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| A mishmash of fartlek stuff, some with the ankle weights. I had intended to do some more higher-intensity stuff today, but I was hauled out of bed at 0430 to do an epidural and have been working in the ER since (where sadly there is no opportunity for the stepper - I have to move around constantly from bay to bay). Just don't seem to have as much spring in my step today. But I'll try to log some spinning tonight as well (and really hope that the ER is quite after midnight...). |
| Strength 14:00 [3] | |
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| Some strength training to finish off before supper. |
Wednesday Mar 1 |
| Other Alternative Training 1:21:00 [2] | |
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| New experiment - how to combine training with work. My job involves staying in one area pretty much most of the day, monitoring data in real-time and making adjustments as required. I used to sit, but now I've decided that some of that sitting time could be better used doing some of my low-intensity training - especially since my work weeks have been uncontrollably long this past little while and have started to cut into my ability to maintain a decent training volume.
Soooooo..... I went out and bought a mini-stepper, which I will keep at my work area. I used it today for the first time, and it went very well. No interference in my ability to monitor the data (maybe actually good practice in multitasking as well as hand-eye reading coordination), and I actually get into low zone 2. I'd consider that a success! Now at least on some days I can knock off an hour or two of training at work and that frees up some evenings for better quality stuff (both training and family time).
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| C • How ingenious!!! 11 |
| Indoor cycling 23:00 [2] | |
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| Easy ride to warm up while Katta ran the mill. |
| Running 28:00 [3] | |
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| A moderate fartlek on the mill, couple of high-speed hill intervals to finish it off. |
| Strength 16:00 [3] | |
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| And a good round of strength stuff to end it.
It's our third anniversary today! Time is certainly flying by....
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