Training Log Archive: expresso

After being outside for the last five days, I was not motivated for a run in the chill. As the sun beginning to set I realized it was now or never so I set out with plans to check the status or the DRT after the big thaw. As expected, the river had completely closed its passage under 137 and was even swollen to the point that it closed the southern route to Oak Spring. Oh well, it looks like it's roads for a while. I headed back and finished an Austin's lap. Felt decent; snowboarding & running muscles are distinct.

So today it was back to Devils Head for our final day. A welcome addition was my brother-in-law John who lives in Madison. He is a bit younger than I and already knew how to snowboard. It was fun to ski with him and he rounded us out to a foursome so everyone had a chairlift partner.
After all the time on the board, I felt very comfortable. While I take more turns and am thus slower than most others, I have developed a lot of control. Although I had an occasional small spill, there were no more full-layout, bone-jarring wipeouts. Also, I was not nearly as tired because I do not have to spend extra energy on my balance. Now, it just happens naturally.
The only unfortunate occurrence was that Katie got taken out by completely out-of-control adult skier. Fortunately, she is extremely tough and managed to get down without our calling the ski patrol but her hip was so bruised that she could barely walk. It was late in the day so we packed it in for the long ride in the car. She'll be fine and both of them are already asking when we get to go again.

Today we planned to ski Cascade (another local hill). I remember it from learning there as a kid and figured we should try it for some variety. When we got there the parking lot was very full and there was a long line to purchase tickets and the hill was pretty full with growing lift lines. I'm not sure why I didn't leave right then and go back to DH but inertia kept me in line and I got our tickets. I learned that "kids ski free" so I only had to buy two tickets since Katie is still barely a "kid." Now I knew why why the place was completely LOADED with kids.
So we ventured up to find the green and blue runs choked with bad skiers as well as speed freaks bombing down them without turning. On top of this the hill was one big ice chunk from all the traffic and little grooming. After a few runs, none of us were enjoying it so I made the call to leave. But, not before I found the general manager of the hill and complained. He implied that it was a zoo and politely offered to refund our tickets. He asked us to come back when the traffic lessens later in the winter. Nice guy but I don't think we'll ever go there again.

Now fully equipped, we headed back to Devils Head and up the lift to the blue runs. What a dream to be on a great board and not a beat-up rental. I would like to say that it made me great boarder but it didn't. However, run after run made a big difference and by the end of the day we ventured onto our first black run. The top was pretty easy but the steep wall at the end dropped right down to the lodge for all the spectators to see. Although tentative, all three of us acquitted ourselves fine so this opened whole new runs for us to try.
We again stayed for night skiing and got to mom's late but were treated to another feast of turkey tetrazinni, acorn squash, hot rolls and another comatose slumber. Ahhhhhh.

After waking up late, we drove back to Devils Head but it was raining. We sat there for a bit to see if it let up but finally left and drove to Madison in search of snowboards. "Yep, we're gonna buy our own." J & K were speechless. They had always been on rented ski equipment and never asked for or fathomed the thought of owning their own. Although I never told them, I was just waiting to see whether they really loved skiing and until they stopped growing. After yesterday, the decision was made, but instead of skis, it would be snowboards for all of us.
After an educational visit to REI (where their selection was too limited) we were referred to a snowboard specialty shop. We found the very unassuming store with a bit of a shamble on the inside. Here we met Rich and spent a few hours talking with him about everything (including a little about snowboards). He was a Vietnam vet living an east-side Madison life exactly how he wanted and was very cool to talk to and learn from. He eventually got around to fitting us out with three complete sets of equipment and offering to stick around late to mount the bindings, wax and have them ready that night. What an great guy, I was happy to spend my money there for three awesome Nidecker boards. We were ready for the rest of the ski week.....

J & K love our annual Christmas ski vacation and this year the plans were to stay with my mom near Madison & ski the local hills. It's typical midwest skiing but they really enjoy it. However, this year I decided that I'd give them the opportunity to learn snowboarding. With a long time skier for a father it's been hard for them to avoid my prejudice against snowboarding so this was their chance to try it and make their own decisions. This also gave me the opportunity to try the sport that I'd maligned for so long.
So, we arrived early at Devils Head, rented boards & signed-up for a semi-private lesson. Our instructor (Rob) was great and took us from zero knowledge to linking turns down the bunny hill after 90 minutes. Wow! was it hard to stay balanced with both feet attached to a single board, but every run was a little better. When he let us go, we took a few more runs on the bunny hill and then attempted the chair lift. The snowboarder carnage at the top of the lift was one of my pet peeves. I wondered why they often fell & always grouped right around the lift egress. Well, after contributing to the mess, I now know why. We spent the rest of the morning on a green slope and every turn and run was incrementally better & better with the occasional horrendous fall thrown in as soon as I would start to feel overconfident. It was all very humbling, super-challenging and even a little fun. It was neat for all three of us to be at the same novice level and share our experiences, hints & successes on the lift rides up.
After a late lunch, we finally ventured up a lift serving a blue run. It looked so steep but we all managed it (with many falls) and we never returned to the greens. It was so exhilarating to carve along in complete balance and see J & K doing the same right along with me. We just didn't want to stop so we kept going all afternoon and into the night session, what a rush that was. We experienced it all, full runs in complete control as well as head-jarring backward falls, losing your wind after catching an edge and diving forward and even a number of accidental trips off the slope into the deep powder & woods. What a thrill snowboarding is!! My opinion had completely changed.
So we finally stopped and limped to the car for the drive back to mom's. I reflected on the day and why I'd fallen in love with this kids' sport at my age. Downhill skiing has become so easy for me (after living in CO) that it had become boring. This is a new challenge for which I see my potential but can't get there via any shortcut but rather by skiing run after run. Plus, my kids TOTALLY love it, partially due to the novelty of seeing me struggle at their level rather than be on a pedestal way above them (as with most activities and general maturity). All-around amazing day.
Got back to mom's for loads of spaghetti, garlic bread and a collapse into a near-coma of sleep.

Adler to Old Rockland Road & back.
Beautiful morning, snowing hard but too warm. The new foot+ of snow that we had over the last few days was untracked and wet. This made the slog out fairly difficult but much easier coming back as I followed my tracks.

Got there early for a longer warmup and had a chance to talk to the instructor. She was aware of other programs which did longer, endurance-type rides but that most were all intervals because this class is "primarily for weight-loss." I'm not sure why intervals are the best for weight-loss but, oh well.
I seemed to lack energy today. This was not surprising considering my recent training zeal. I knew that today is likely my last hard day until the new year. I just couldn't stay with the intensity so I backed off. Great to finally finish. Done with spinning for a bit.

3k swim.
Felt decent but need to start slower so my middle K is more fluid.
Splits: 17:02, 17:38, 17:00

Just registered for Scotland (bib# 141).
NOW I'M MOTIVATED !!!

Started slowly at level 4 and worked up to 11 by the end. Getting a bit easier; felt decent.

Extended circuit. High reps, low weight.

checked the box.

400s, 300p, 6 * 50d/s
5 * 100 on 1:45
Goal was smooth w/ focus on technique. Was fine but ran out of time for more so cut it short.

Decided to visit the "bully's" spin class again. As he recognized me when I entered and greeted him, he did not ask my name. Luckily, he had forgotten it and so I had a relatively quiet class because he won't speak to anyone unless he grabs their attention with their name. I did enjoy the ride a lot more than his prior one. I attribute this to becoming more attuned to the whole spinning deal as well as this being a better planned workout.
One quote that I must record. As we were warming down to a few John Denver tunes (I was enjoying them), he felt that he must apologize for this. He said, "Sorry, but I own so much music that I need to play everything. I like a few of his songs but he sure looks goofy. When I was a kid my friends and I used to beat up guys who looked funny like him."
I have decided to give him an alias when he eventually asks my name again. I need a name that sounds funny when he yells at me during class. Maybe "Nanuk" so he will say, "C'mon Nanuk!! These girls can handle the workout!"

When I realized that our DVD movie was really bad, I decided that I would watch the rest while on the treadmill to salvage something from this waste of time.

Circuit but skipped shoulders as they got their workout digging yesterday.

not nothing.

Drill day. Not so fun but I often find they help technique.
400s, 300p
5 * 100 fist w/ fins, 2 * 100s technique.
300 pwp
5 * 100 straight arm, 2 * 100s hammer.
300 pwp
Occasionally I get someone who wants to race and today was one such day. He timed his starts & smoked by me repeatedly as I was doing drills & pulling. On my final 100s he had no such luck. See ya...

Early morning before the snowblowers started. Beautiful & peaceful, though a bit tiring. Was out for 1.5 hours but I'm not logging the time spent catching snowflakes on my tongue.

After the beautiful foot of snow, I really wanted to get out. Found my snowshoes and headed for the DRT. The first part was on snowmobile track so it was runnable. After a couple miles the tracks turned off so I had to blaze my own. This was fine but a bit exhausting to run so I walked to Old Rockland & back.

C • Snowshoe=high heart rate 4

Spin class. Same instructor as Tuesday (Pam). She is alright and even had us doing about 5 minutes of tempo range but still mostly intervals. As these "I" workouts seem inevitable, I've decided to do aerobic stuff after these classes so it resembles a long workout.

3K swim
Started this about 15 minutes after spin class so my legs were depleted and HR elevated. Began easy with a goal for consistent (or negative) splits. Prior 3k worked on stroke count; today I focused on technique. Fairly pleased with rotation, arm recovery & consistent kicking but still much room to improve.
Splits: 17:20, 17:50, 16:35
Annoyed by my second split so I pushed the final 600 to make darn sure 3rd K was negative.

Spin class. Relented and did the stupid interval workout (since that's all that's ever offered). Always feel good after getting HR jacked through the roof.

Full circuit; still a weakling.

Preventative maintenance. Decent effort.

Gorgeous night. Cool, 3" of powder & still snowing heavily. Ran an Adler Lap and had the DRT all to myself (except the coyotes). Mistakenly thought that I wouldn't need spikes in the powder but there was still a lot of ice under it so I slid around a lot (but no falls).

Basement watching Survivor. Yeah Bob !!

C • Survivor 6

First time on the treadmill in a while. Need to remember my sweatband & towel next time. =P

scrunchies.

Full pool today. Walking "buoy" reluctantly agreed to split the lane. Just didn't have too much in me but managed some quality stuff.
400s, 300p, 6 * 50 d/s
6 * 150 on 2:30 (pull 3,6).
and some other planned stuff that got replaced with jacuzz.

Chicago Rogaine put on by Gale. Good, fun, cool, breezy. Took place in a forest preserve I'd never run through before. Most of it was nice open woods with more deadfall than underbrush although covered with snow or semi-frozen marshes. Man, was it was FLAT, at most three 10 ft. contour intervals on the whole USGS map. Two controls marked as the end of streams which (in reality) didn't exist. Bags in the general area but we took a long time to stumble across them. This left us a few minutes back, in second place, a bitter pill. Still a great day.

Another spin class preceded by 15 mins of warmup on a recumbent. This was all-around more enjoyable than Sunday's freak show. Good instructor & well planned workout. However, I sweat like crazy as the room heated-up because I wasn't under a fan. =P

Circuit - a little harder than last time.

More serious effort at this than last time.

Beautiful night for a quick run while J & K at prac. Wanted to make it down the EW to the DRT & north to the bridge & back in time but quickly realized it would be too far. Instead of shortening it, I just ran harder. Felt great and I was early to get J anyway... I am clinically prompt. It's a rough affliction.

Levels 4-9, upping every 5 minutes.

As I got in the pool, I noticed that the split clock was not running. Arrgghhh!! I'd forgotten my watch and it sometimes takes days for these guys to replace the battery. Thankfully, a staff guy did it immediately so I made a point to thank him and mention him to his manager as I departed later. I felt a little silly making a big deal about a new battery but it can't hurt him to have his manager hear a good word.
So, since I had a clock, I decided to use it:
400s, 300p, 6 * 50d/s
10 * 200 on 3:45 (pwp every 3rd one, 10th hard)
Moderate effort, ~30s rest each interval.
3:00 on last one, but I know I can do a lot better.

Spin class at gym. Bizarre instructor, a 60-something with adolescent control of his testosterone. As a newbie to his class, he chose me as the "black sheep" and picked on me the whole time. I felt like I was back in Jr. High school with one of the bullies running the class. It was beyond laughable and I really felt sorry for this guy. Maybe I'll write more later; amazing amount of weirdness packed into one hour.
No confidence in this guy after the first three minutes so I did my own workout- mostly high-cadence stuff.

C • 60-somethings 7

Circuit.

Couple floor & machine exercises. Important stuff, I'm not motivated for it though.

Chose "Aerobic" workout, started at level 3 & bumped a level every 5 minutes (no hands). Climbed ~100 floors, FWTW. Watched Pitt v. UConn.

3k swim. Been a while since I did this; felt surprisingly good.
Splits: 17:40, 18:00, 17:40 - damn good.
Exact same stroke count every* lap - even better.
* except 2 or 3

done.

Beautiful day for a run. Temps cooled off quite a bit from yesterday so I really did not want to sweat out there. Thus, I underdressed and eventually achieved equilibrium once the furnace got stoked but never really sweat. Footing was a light 2" of powder over the hardpack from a few days ago; new shoes chewed through that.
Great run; didn't want to stop but decided to save some zeal for next time. Route avoided pavement- Adler start, DRT, OS lap, back.

C • Shoes for running in the snow 6

Yep, snow run vastly preferable to bike trainer. Probably only needed single layer at 32F as the sweat/cool period too short as I moved between wind-sheltered areas.
Modified Carmel Lap to avoid roads: DD, CL, EW to 21 & back to DD.

Not psyched to get into suit & water, but did it. Warm after four laps and then had a good workout:
400s, 300pwp, 6 * 50d/s
4 * 150s on 2:30 (splits 2:19 +/- 2s)
300 pwp
6 * 100s on 1:45 (splits 1:33 +/- 2s)
Meant to stay in tempo HR range but likely drifted too high at the end of the sets.

First session on trainer with my old bike. Ugh!! It's just wrong; doesn't feel like biking at all. I found myself daydreaming of being outside and realized that I would rather run for an hour (or more) in the snow than spin for 30 minutes in my basement. I'll stick with it; maybe it will get better.

Swim while J & K @ prac. Short but decent.
300s, 200p, 6 * 50d/s, 200pwp, 3 * 200 on 3:30, 100p
200 times: 3:10, 3:12, 3:12