Wednesday Feb 28 |
 | X-C Skiing (Saratoga Biathlon Center) 57:00 [3]10 km (5:42 / km) | |
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| Over at Saratoga for grooming clinic, looking at latest Tidd Tech gear. Afterwards went for two laps around the 5 km biathlon course (no guns today). Most of it had 2" wet unpacked snow on top of a great base. |
Tuesday Feb 27 |
| Weight Training 3:00 [3] | |
| weight:165lbs |
| 10 pullups |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:00:00 [3]11 km (5:27 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| Warm -- mid 30's. High moisture in snow. Not waxed for this, so a little slow. |
Monday Feb 26 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:27:00 [3]16.8 km (5:11 / km) | |
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| 4 long loops, 5 short in the Fields. Snow in excellent shape; 8-10" under the skate lane and maybe 14" where it's unpacked. Got another couple inches while we were in Wisconsin. |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 29:30 [3]6 km (4:55 / km) | |
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| A few more laps around the fields with Ruthie just before dark. |
| Note | |
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| Looks like the Bombi blew up its clutch, so hope there's no more big storms for a while. |
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| C • Snow 2 |
Saturday Feb 24 |
| X-C Skiing race (Birkebeiner race) 1:48:06 [5]25.3 km (4:16 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| Non-race today. They let the elite 200 race, and sent everyone else off at random for a "self-timed" tour. The idea was to slow people on the downhills, which was probably smart. Actually the trail was groomed better than expected given Friday's experience. Some hard surface, but mostly a thin layer of tilled granular.
Shortened the race to 25 km. Had announced it would be 23 km and end at OO, but crossed over the road and went another km on the lighted trail before doubling back to the finish. Had sprinted up the last double hill and to OO before being directed onto the extension. Had to regroup for the extra distance.
Splits: 10km 43:40 / 20km 42:36 / 25.3km 21:49
Negative splits all the way. Also faster than last year's by 2-3 minutes each. |
Friday Feb 23 |
| X-C Skiing (Birkie trail, WI) 12:00 [3]2 km (6:00 / km) | |
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| Got out here Thursday to find the trail in pathetic shape. Very thin cover with grass sticking thru. Tried skiing at OO today, but a thaw on Wed converted the little snow they had to boilerplate. Not likely the race will come off. |
Wednesday Feb 21 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:02:00 [3]12 km (5:10 / km) | |
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| 6 laps in the Fields, 2 long loops thru the Pines. Temps in mid 30's; snow plastic and slow.
Just got word Birkie will be chopped to end at OO due to thin snow cover and a thaw. That makes it 23 km instead of 51. Hardly worth the effort! |
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| C • just turn around and ski back.... 1 |
Tuesday Feb 20 |
| Cross Training (Dailly hill run) 30:00 [3]1.0 mi (30:00 / mi) +100m 14:13 / km | |
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| Morning snowshoe up hillside w/Casey. Starting to scout for new upper ski routes. |
| X-C Skiing race (Windblown XC ski-o) 45:53 [4]8.5 km (5:24 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| Afternoon trip over to Windblown to do the first weekly ski-o course. Good course on mixed terrain. Cover a little thin in places, but certainly better than the bare dirt up to this point!
Temp pushing 40F and gave the snow a plastic quality. Not at all wet, as the snow pack is still very dry and absorbed any melting. |
| X-C Skiing warm up/down (Windblown XC) 32:00 [3]6 km (5:20 / km) | |
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| Cool down lap around outside perimeter. |
Sunday Feb 18 |
| X-C Skiing (Wolski - skate) 1:00:00 [3]12 km (5:00 / km) | |
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| Over to Tom's in NY. Finally got enough snow to get the trails in condition, so did a workout on his extensive network. |
Saturday Feb 17 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 42:00 [3]7.5 km (5:36 / km) | |
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| Two laps around long loop (Fields plus 2x Pines and Ravine) and then a trip up to the end of the Logging Road. Exciting (as in terrifying) descent watching the trees flash by as I had only groomed it 6' wide, leaving no room to put on the brakes. |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:45:00 [3]19 km (5:32 / km) | |
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| After lunch and some regrooming. Deck is pretty solid now, so snow is speeding up and is quite firm. Mostly trying to widen the trails though the woods (and up the hill) and level it out. Warmer today and no wind. Very pleasant skiing under the sun. |
| Note | |
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| Ended the day with a cleanup grooming. Discovered some bolts had worked loose out of the Bombi's drive hub, leaving me stranded out in the Pines when the sprocket started spinning free. Had one loose bolt still in the hub, and borrowed one from the opposite side. Patched it up enough to limp home. Somewhere on the trail are the other five bolts securing the drive hub. Probably surface next time Greg skis here with his new bottoms. |
Friday Feb 16 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:08:00 [3]11 km (6:11 / km) | |
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| Still windy, but warmer at around 20F. Snow noticeably firmer as it sets up. Still pretty slow.
Regroomed the windblown fields and repacked everything else, too. Now skiing the long loop (2.7 km) thru the Fields, Ravine and Pines. Plan to pack out up the hill tomorrow -- hit it Wed with just the treads; will go back up with the groomer this time. |
Thursday Feb 15 |
| Cross Training (Daily hill run) 30:00 [3]1.0 mi (30:00 / mi) +100m 14:13 / km | |
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| Not a run, and not daily either. But it was a trip up the hill. On snowshoes floundering in the fresh deep powder. Clear and crisp. Snow already setting up a bit from yesterday. Should pack out well for skiing once it gets compacted. |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:24:00 [3]12 km (7:00 / km) | |
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| Groomed again and tried some skating. Trails not yet set up; will take snow a couple days to harden. Meanwhile, punched through a lot.
Bitter wind and blowing snow, temp single digits. |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 35:00 [3]5.5 km (6:22 / km) | |
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| After a half hour break to warm up went out just before dark. Wind picked up and was even stronger than before. Filled some of the trails I had groomed earlier in the afternoon. |
Wednesday Feb 14 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - classic) 1:00:00 [3]7.5 km (8:00 / km) | |
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| Valentines Day blizzard! 20" and still coming down, although not quite as fast as this afternoon.
You'd think the day would be cancelled for work, but no, we had a staff meeting scheduled. Rather than attempt the drive, it was held as a conference call -- that lasted 5-1/2 hours. Brutal, when you could look out at all that snow coming down.
Ended up in time to plow the driveway for the third time, and to start packing the trails. Had to drop the groomer when I went up the Lumber Road, as the belly of the Bombi started to drag and we lost traction. So just packed the trail with the treads; will go back again and smooth things out tomorrow.
A little chance for classic, too. Trails too soft for skating, so did loops thru the Fields and Pines.
Nice to see the land features finally disappear under a heavy layer of snow. |
Monday Feb 12 |
| Road Running (Cummings Rd +) 30:00 [3]3.0 mi (10:00 / mi) | |
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| Morning run with Casey. Push on the hills. |
| Trail Running (Dailly hill run) 16:00 [3]1.0 mi (16:00 / mi) +100m 7:35 / km | |
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| 3" settled snow over slick base. Slippery in sneakers, but a nice morning run. |
| X-C Skiing (Morse Farm XC) 1:45:00 [3]20 km (5:15 / km) | |
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| Had to work in Montpelier this morning, so made it to Morse Farm later in the afternoon. Great trails, twisting and undulating continually with short, choppy hills. Made for interesting skiing. Nice layout design by Jonh Morton; will be an inspiration for some future runs at home. |
Sunday Feb 11 |
| Cross Training (Bromley ski) 3:00:00 [2] | |
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| Day of downhill skiing at Bromley. Windy and chilly, but pretty good conditions so skiing was fun. |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 30:00 [3]6 km (5:00 / km) | |
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| Between downhil skiingl and the hot tub. Far field has a bit of grass; fortunately no rocks anywhere.
Had three cancellations for the coming week, so should be able to get in some heavy training and recover in time for the Birkie in 2 weeks. |
Saturday Feb 10 |
| Hiking (Mt Sunapee, NH) 3:00:00 [3]6.5 mi (27:40 / mi) +460m 14:06 / km | |
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| Hike up the Andrew Brook Trail. Nice rolling climb with good views. Avoided ski trails until the summit dome. Stepped into lodge at top to get some hot chocolate. |
Friday Feb 9 |
| X-C Skiing (Stowe XC) 50:00 [3]7 km (7:09 / km) | |
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| Out Timberlane and around end on Bear Run with Brad. Lots of new snow, probably a foot or so in the past couple days. Not well packed for skating -- a bit narrow and soft. Windy and very cold. |
| X-C Skiing (Stowe XC) 30:00 [3]4 km (7:30 / km) | |
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| Some more laps around the local trails (some unpacked) after Brad headed off to Placid for the loppet. Couple laps without poles. |
Wednesday Feb 7 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 44:00 [3]6.5 km (6:46 / km) | |
| shoes: Kneisel white star ultrarock |
| Night skiing. Snow cold. Slow under old skis, but not enough cover to use good ones. |
Tuesday Feb 6 |
| X-C Skiing (Kingdom Valley - skate) 1:14:00 [3]12.2 km (6:04 / km) | |
| shoes: Kneisel white star ultrarock |
| Groomed some slight cover yesterday and let it set overnight. Thin, but ok over base of frozen sleet. May try the regular rock skis tomorrow. With temps in the teens these are really slow. |
Sunday Feb 4 |
| X-C Skiing race (Burton Crk ski-o green) 42:50 [4]9.2 km (4:39 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| US Champs Short day. Couple route choices could have worked out better -- cost a couple minutes. Otherwise went well despite a late start and temps in the +50's. First in green and M-55. |
| X-C Skiing (Control pickup) 40:00 [3]8 km (5:00 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| Nice chasing Greg around picking up most of the controls before catching the long red-eye home. |
Saturday Feb 3 |
| X-C Skiing race (Tahoe Donner green) 58:53 [5]11.6 km (5:05 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS race |
| US Ski-O Champs. Dropped to M-55 green for today. Won green by 10 minutes, although I felt somewhat tired on the hills. Snow was warm and slushy, which made some sections slow. Waxed well with fluoro and skis did okay. |
| X-C Skiing (Cool down) 20:00 [3]3 km (6:40 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS race |
| Slow slush, not worth expending too much energy. |
Friday Feb 2 |
| X-C Skiing (Control pickup) 35:00 [3]3 km (11:40 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS rock |
| Picked up controls from yesterday. Basically a rest day. |
Thursday Feb 1 |
| X-C Skiing race (Auburn Ski Club - blue) 1:15:40 [4]13.2 km (5:44 / km) | |
| shoes: Fischer RCS race |
| Complicated trail network in a small area. Map exchange and numerous loops over same terrain. More climb again. |