Training Log Archive: carbon

Time logged is moving time, total time was around 5:45 or so.

This has to have been the very worst race experience to date in my race career, no doubt! It was somewhere between 0C and +2C when we started. There did't seem to be many exceptions to the fact that you either ended up with skis with grip and huge snowball building; or you had skis with no grip whatsoever and small amounts of snowball building. I had the latter. No matter what we tried before the race nothing seemed to be working so already at the start your new what you were in for.

The start was a bit messy. I ended up at the very back as I was trying to get wax sorted out until last minute. A few crashes, bog downs at the spots where the tracks decreased in number and also many, many people with waxing issues pulling over made for a hard section to move past people. It sorted itself out around km 5.

Then the rest the race went like this: try to ski (while cursing in two languages - both of which were recognized by other skiers), pull over and try to apply more wax, then try to ski again. I puller over 6 times to try to get sorted out. Once it worked for about 20 minutes. Finally I gave up and went into survival mode. Even sections that appeared as flat but were just slightly uphill had me nearly cry at the end. I had to run some of them on the side and even then there was huge slipping! The tracks were a mix of ice, ice covered in a dusting of snow and very hard packed snow. Some people had tried klister and they Looked desperate when trying to get it off. The people who had them waxed at the wax tent before were no better off either. It was interesting when you looked around you. Skiers that were very advanced were going the same speed as skiers that looked like beginners. Obviously there were some fast people too, but it felt like it was few. Once guy I chatted with said he finally sorted his wax out at km 42 and only had some sticking but had good grip and managed okay.

I "skied" with red wax in the end.

The course itself was pretty boring. Felt like one long AR bike section on a forest road. The terrain was exactly the same all the way through and the track was covered on both sides with a short growth forest.

A very negative report, I know, but it really was a big downer of a day.

C • Awful 23

Didn't feel great last night so I went to bed at 19:30 and stayed there until 6:20 this morning. Nice! Wish I could have that kind of rest every night! Although as a result I didn't do any training or the yoga that I had planned. I guess I'll make up for it by skiing for 7hrs on Saturday. Yikes, what have we gotten into?!

Another great class tonight. Base building with some 1-2 minute set of E3, E4, MAP and AnC. Felt great and held everything where I wanted to.

It was rough getting up this morning but while at the gym, I got into it quickly. Had a good session and worked my hips to exhaustion in a very good way. The fast feet with a harness went really well. Body position was good, used the hips well and managed to tow Llew along well, and he is pretty big!

Ran up and down Snagmore in West Bragg. The trail had more icy spots than the last time I was out there. I struggled on the way out but put on the spikes at half way and felt a bit better. I also discovered that I need a better light. The last time out I ran with the Betty and it was too heavy and bouncy. This time I used a trekking light but it wasn't quite enough. We'll see what I try next. Might consider picking up a pair of spikecross too.

C • Oh oh... 11

Good sessions with a mix of glutes, hammies, shoulders and back. Also the usual running drills.

This was the best I have felt running (technique wise) since my sessions with Llew started back in the fall. I felt like I could put everything together, including the hips which I don't think I managed properly befor. I got so excited that I kept increasing the speed, then I had to keep bringing it down. It almost turned out to be an interval workout. My GPS never picked up the sattelites so I don't have a distance (must have been on indoor mode).

This set felt a bit tiring since my glutes and arms were tired from the morning session, although I still notice that I'm slowly getting a bit stronger. Abs and glute work are feeling mich easier while my pushup type stuff is still on the weak side.

A Round of my favorite poses to work out the body from the last few days of running.