Training Log Archive: FoxShadow

Shredmill before the MNOC meeting.

Hot lap at leb. A new small section open at the end of the intermediate loop. Awesome banked turns. Leb is king.

Aquila Park Cyclocross race.

Andrei came out to watch, thanks man!

Started the race in about 10th and after the first few corners I was sitting about 5th place. The course was very technical and turny which suited me very well. On lap two we started to open up a gap on the guys behind us and I started to realize that I was riding much better than on Saturday.

On the third lap we dropped a guy and now I was starting to memorize the course, figure out exactly what gear to be in around each corner and remember just how much speed to scrub coming out of a few of the decisive corners.

I was riding with James in front of me and my friend Ben ahead of him at the beginning of lap 4 of 5. Ben started to slow, and James and I were running 2 and 3, or so I thought, I was never sure. I picked up the pace a bit, feeling good. James was carrying a lot less speed than I through the technical sections, but is generally much more fit that I.

At the beginning of the last lap we passed the leader and James and I were running 1 and 2. He didn't look too fresh, which surprised me. I waited until the last long straightaway and took off. He looked back and saw me and it was on. I got pinched back a bit around a slight corner and then took off again. We crossed the line at the exact same moment, I had no idea who won. I circled back around, the head judge said that I pushed my bike for the win.

Freewheel puts on the races and awards straight cash on the spot. Freewheel rules!

Reached my podium goal quickly this season. Now the goal is to get one more W this year. I know the second one won't come easily.

C • Nice job man! 5

warm up and cool down at SLP cx race.

Whoo damn! Interstate park, what a great run.

My personal favorite run of all time. The rocky trails, beautiful heights, the river and the lakes, this is my flavor of terrain. What a great day.

Started out leading the pack to CP1, turned in too early and spent some time chasing down the flag, arrived about 4th or so. Speedy runners Andrei, Curtis and Owen soon disappeared never to be seen again. Gear Junkie and Curtis beat me to CP 2 and I never saw GJ again. Pete and I worked together taking different routes but aware of each other's location for the next 3 or 4 CP's. Super fun run down the re-entrant from 4 to 5 and 6. Passed the starters table and Tood told me I was in 4th, which was strange because I never saw GJ after he passed me. I was not sure if Todd was wrong or if GJ or someone else bombed. Never saw anyone else for the next 45 minutes. Todd included some epic legs up some big hills, across long flat spurs, across bridges and over rivers. By the end I felt really thirsty and it was tough to keep a solid pace. The last few CP's were largely trail runs and I couldn't run move fast, I looked over my shoulder quite a bit!

Thanks to Todd and MNOC for getting a map put together at Interstate, it's a brilliant place to explore.

Long Adventure Run - Splits

First CX race of the year. Went out hard and rounded the first turn in 3rd place of the 40 some starters. After a lap I was hurting, not able to stay in the anerobic zone I started in. I settled into a pace I could sustain and found myself in about 7th or 8th.

The course in corcoran was a great course, a good mix of fast open stuff and technical switchbacks and hills. I was the only rider (from what I heard) that was able to ride up a steep switchback, so I was proud to make it all 5 laps. Too bad I didn't have the legs that the top 10 guys did. I finished 11th in the end, unable to hand onto the fast guys.

A good first effort. My goal is to make the podium once this season.

C • Pain!!! good luck on your p... 1

Warm up at corcoran cx.

Was I dreaming or did Todd seriously post to OTNT that he is taking work off tomorrow to go to sand dunes for hard core training?

Met up with Andrew Kroese for two laps at Lebanon Hills plus some riding in the terrain park and the trials area (that is not technically open)

After watching Lindsay Whalen and the lynx win their first round playoff series last night I was given the opportunity to host one reclusive recent SHT 50 finisher for a quick overnight on his way to yellowstone for the week. And I think he's getting paid for the trip and he does not really have to do anything except BS with people. Which he couldn't be paid not to do, am I wrong? Nicely played JJ, you are winning.

C • Thanks! 1

First flag football game of the season. Lots of sprinting. A better workout that I anticipated. With no play calling and only 25 minutes halves, most teams, ours included, snap the ball right away when everyone is back across the line. Although I generally don't like football that much, this was a good time. Certainly sore after the quick bursts.

Did 5 k in the neighborhood after the game because it was such a nice sunny and cool evening.

Rough stuff poker ride MTB at the chequamegon fat tile festival. Cold and rainy. Out of the gate I headed straight toward CP 4 according to the Pre-race plan that I developed while looking at my map before the race. They give you the map at 9 and you can start anytime up until 9:15, chip timed.

After looking at the map for about 5 minutes I went to where I thought the CP should be and didn't see it. Then I tried strategy two and didn't find it. Losing maybe 10 minutes, I decided to treat it as misplaced and give up. The course was on the telemark ski trails, mostly, some on the mountainbiking singletrack. It was wet and raining, but the trails were plenty rideable. Super hilly, really fun. MTB-O is a great sport, just as good as running with less prickly bushes and spiderwebs in your face.

There were 7 CPs total. I got the next three quickly and ha regained my confidence on the map. When I saw two guys stopped at an intersection I asked if they had gotten CP 4 and they told me yes. Dang, I would need to go all the way back up to the northernmost control.

I grabbed the last remaining western control which was on the Ojibwa trail and really enjoyed racing on singletrack. I headed back up north, I found it this time. It was at the intersection of sleigh and Ojibwa, not where it was shown on the map. So originally I had been looking in what may have been the wrong spot, but on my second attempt I covered where I think it should have been.

My last CP was near the top of telemark, a huge climb. I passed a bunch of people heading up to it, punched, and sprinted to the finish. Who had finished just before me? Gregg Pattison. So that was bad, but the good news is that we were first and second. Turns out he started about 6 minutes after me, so he beat me by a mile. Cool custom fat tire pottery and leg warners as prizes, which was generous.

More MNOCers should attend. Fun event, even if it is in a pretty poor map (modified USGS, and not modified particularly well). Despite my quibbles, it was really fun last year and thus year, and staying to watch the rest of the "festival" is a great time (cyclocross race, bike toss, log pull, log ride, hill climb, kids races, etc.)

After speaking with Gregg he thought CP4 was misplaced. He said he found it right away on his way to where he thought it should be. Others thought it was OK. Me, I still don't really know, maybe just a bad map.

C • you got a mention... 4

Family work day up at the cabin. Dad recently bought some acreage behind the cabin, nothing special about it, no lakes or hills, just an area for him to build a network of trails for hiking, skiing, and for his grand kids to play. There were no trails or even property boundaries. We rented a bunch of equipment and cleared sight lines along the property boundaries and then designed and cleared a network of trails. About 10 hours of skidsteer, dingo, and chainsaw work I'm logging the hours I spent with the chainsaw and hauling the brush to the chipper, as I'm already sore from that.

Indeed, my performance was commended by all who witnessed. I have to think it would not have been possible but for the training I received at the tough persyn this winter.

C • I'm so proud 2

Quick lap at leb before getting in the car for the trip up to the cabin.

Trail run at the river bottoms. Fun!

Warmed up on the stationary for 15 minutes before lifting upper body.

Urban Assault Adventure Race with Biz. Big turn out. I suspect the Groupon purchase option helped out participation a great deal.

Started out by leading the race down the green way. When a few guys caught us we slowed down and let them pull. The first place we went was "mystery checkpoint one" which was found by doing a word find and using the words found within it as clues to the location. Although we were wrong (our solution was the Nice Ride dock at the south end of the park) we were not wrong by much (the right location was the dock on the north side of the park).

We were in and out of there in about 4th place after the small bobble and onto the Walker Art Center backyard for a fun challenge that Biz (and I, a little bit) totally rocked. We were off to CP2 in 2nd place.

CP2 was marked at the intersection of Glenwood and Theo Wirth parkway. We got their first. And what was there? NOTHING. I was upset. I busted out the Iphone assuming that I plotted wrong. Nope, the website listed that exact location. What the heck is up with race organizers these days? We rode around more or less aimlessly towards the parking lot, found nothing, and then biz spotted some volunteers near the new playground. A few minutes lost, no time to complain, it was time to get our three legged race on. We had practiced, and we made quick work of it. We left in 2nd place, about 3 minutes behind.

Then onto north Minneapolis. We were supposed to do the water slide there but the government shutdown derailed that, so we did a fun bike challenge where I had to drive Biz around riding "buck" while "tackling" women with flag football flags on. Quick in and out and were onto CP4. we rode smart and fast to that CP, we left with the lead!

Midwest mountaineering was CP4. We found a quick route through downtown following 2nd street through the city to the wash bridge and then cedar to the rear parking lot. By this point we had dropped all the other teams and we were feeling good, had no idea how far ahead we were though because it was a score-O, it was certainly possible that some teams had found a different route.

While Biz was making quick work of a difficult puzzle, I was using my Iphone to map the best route to mystery CP2, which we had to solve during the ride. The location was Birchwood Cafe, which was right on the way from Midwest to the Cardinal tavern.

We bombed down riverside to get across 94. We traded in our teriyaki jack links jerky for a bead there, and I was back on the Iphone searching for the best route to the cardinal bar.

The way there was pretty flat and fast. I was on my cross bike, Biz on his Mtn. bike, both of us with the slickest and most narrow tires we have for our respective bikes. We arrived at the Cardinal bar to rally the Big Wheels. Biz jumped on and was right behind him, doing really fun power slides around the corners. The power slides were very stylish, but not very effective. I spun all the way around backwards in turn 4.

We left with only a straight shot north up Hiawatha to Peace coffee, the finish. We arrived totally out of breath and there were maybe 30 or 40 volunteers setting up and getting ready. Everyone looked at us with really relaxed gaze. The race organizer then realized we were finishing and directed us to the finish.

After doing 5 mystery challenges and covering over 19 miles, we beat over 900 other racers to finish in 1:09:24 for the W. Awesome.

We freaked out a bit. Biz bear hugged me and lifted me up. Pretty fun. We got Timbuku2 messenger bags, other swag and free beer and also, the "grand prize". What is the grand prize?

A year's supply of Jack Links Jerky for both of us! A dream come true.

C • Jerky 6

Riding to the UAR and back and then back to it for awards and then back home too also.

Event: MNOC - Chester Woods County Park
 

Sneaky hot day on a fun new map - Chester woods. Did not feel too fast, but, as has happened before, when I don't feel fast, I run just that much smarter, and end up with the same result. I was happy with my nav, not super happy with my running speed. Maybe I was saving it for the urban assault the next day?

Warm up and control retrieval

red - Splits

Riverbottom trail run, beautiful evening for it. Felt great for the first 45 minutes, then started to feel it a bit.

Sprint 1 - Splits

Sprint 1 - Splits

Awesome OTNT set by Todd. Those types of interval workouts at race pace are really good training. Fun to run around a scenic and well used park!

Went up north to elm creek to check out the new single track there. The beginner and intermediate loops were good, the X loop was great, awesome speed and fun obstacles. Great trail, but probably not great enough to get me to drive from Bloomington more than once or twice a year.

Walked 18 at White Eagle in Hudson. Very hilly and pretty course. Some of the holes are crazy because of the elevation gain and loss. One fun hole was a 190 yard par three that you could hit a 6 iron too because it was 100 feet below.

One of the most painful rides of the year. Rode with Chad Milner and Dan Dittmer and a few of their friends down to lonsdale and montgomery and back. All of them rode leadville. They are way faster than me. I was in the pain cave for the last twenty miles, I nearly cried. I was a little bonky, not enough time to eat or drink. After the ride, two of them fessed up to having altitude tents.

Run with MoBiz around the lakes, 7 miles. Felt pretty good until the last mile, that's about the usual.

Another awesome night at Lebanon hills. Did a lap with Scott with the lights on. XX to intermediate to terrain park.