Training Log Archive: bishop22

RH3 from Midtown Athletic Center. Estimate of time spent moving - we were out for almost 1:45:00, but there were 2 stops and the occasional wait for people to catch up.

Made my debut in the Zamboni League at Thomas Creek. I tried to sign up for Beginner, but it was full, so I am in Intermediate (there is also an Advanced). I am definitely low-end for this league, but I am not the worst skater out there, and my hockey knowledge helped my positioning.

There was 80 minutes of ice time. We did drills for the first 38 minutes, then scrimmaged for the rest of the time - a 2-2 tie. There were 16 skaters aside (I guess every single participant showed up, which never happens), so there were basically 3 lines, so I counted 1/3 of the time.

C • Thomas Creek Zamboni league 3

Event: ROC - Ski-O at Harriet Hollister Park
 

ROC Ski-O at Harriet Hollister.

Things started off poorly. I got a start time (that was almost 4 minutes away) before I put my skis on, and by the time I was done fumbling around, I was about 1:30 late for my start. And things only got worse. I was slow on the uphills, I was slow on the downhills (sometimes I had to take the skis off to go downhill on the trails) and I was slow on the flats, after my legs started to tire and I couldn't even approximate skating form.

It seems like getting the skis was a mistake, but I look at how easy it is for others to move on them (e.g. Nate, who doesn't really have that many hours in), and perhaps I can get the hang of it and enjoy it.

C • Early for any judgement;-) 5

Scott and I hooked up with G2 and Skull. Here's the route. Pace again slower than the effort, although more than half of the run was on clean pavement. I was pretty drained from yesterday, so it was tough to keep up and I lagged behind a couple of times. A few more Thrusday/Friday combos like this and I should be in decent shape again.

Finally made it back to GTA. Turnout was quite good, considering the temp was down to 10 degrees: Erik, Scott, JV, DV, Vinny, Lawrence, G2. Sue and Shannon were there for the ladies aux.

Here's the route. I was only able to keep up until Westfall, which was actually pretty good, since we dropped VL, DV and SW. After that, it was mostly try to keep the group in sight. They slowed at lights and turns to let the stragglers other than me catch up.

The 8:18 pace was not so slow, considering the icy spots that were often underneath the couple of inches of new snow. The overall effort was closer to 7:30.

Did some skiing at Mendon Ponds Park, after having Scott wax my skis. Much improved over my first outing, but still not very comfortable. Did a loop in the north meadow 3 times (probably a bit under a mile): 20 minutes first loop (included a detour, and much hesitation on the downhills, which were scary the first time, in the dark), then 15 minutes and 14 minutes. Used my poles to various degrees of efficiency (well mostly inefficiency). Only fell once - I guess I wasn't trying hard enough.

I think it will be a major struggle to do a 6.6km course on Saturday, but the Green (4.5km) course seems to be for women only. I guess I could always do White.

3:59/8:06
1:33,38,33,38,32,37,28,39,30,38

Scott started back at Xerox today, after nearly 9 years of consulting, so I guested him into the Y (guests are free downtown?). He did a different workout, but I still had chances to try to stay with him, which meant my 500 time was much quicker than recent performances and my 100s averaged 3.4 seconds faster than last week.

21 min of Random Hills-12 @ 94rpm

My HR spends too much time below 120 doing this. I should try increasing the level, and not worrying about maintaining 90+rpm when the hard sections come along (focus more on HR instead).

C • HR on Stationary Bike 4

Since we were at Chris's parents' house, I decided to swing over to Tyler State Park for a run. I haven't seen an O-map of the park yet, so I printed the standard park map to carry with me. Nate didn't want to go, but Chelsea went over with me.

As we arrived, there was a fair amount of traffic, and we couldn't park it the lot we wanted. It turned out there was a 5K race going off at noon, and we had arrived at just a few minutes before. So, I sent Chelsea over towards the start, but chose to sit it out myself, since I was worried about my calf. I took a quick trip to registration, and while it looked easy for the regulars (they seemed to just check off their names), it was too complicated for a one-time registration (it looked like you had to join the club plus enter the series), so I decided Chelsea could make her bandit debut.

I ran across the creek and above it to the road, crossing back I spotted the race, so I caught up to Chelsea and ran with her for most of the rest of the way. Afterwards, I crossed the creek again and checked out some of the terrain. We'll have to make it back for an O-event as an excuse for the kids to visit the grandparents again. Hopefully DVOA will be back there this year, on a weekend that can work for us.

My calf was just sore enough to justify a day off.

I need to do a complete review of 2007, and set goals for 2008, but for now, a review of my top metrics for 2007 (USOF Rating) and 2008 (US Age Group Medals):

In 2007, my primary goal was to improve my USOF Rating on Red to 80 (from 71.3 in 2006). I finished at 79.70, which was just short, and also just behind Rob (79.86) and the kempster (80.29). My goal for 2008 is to improve my Rating to 85.

In 2008, my primary goal will be to place in at least 2 US Champs competitions, in my new age group. In 2007, I managed to win the M40+ Middle Champs (but would have only been 3rd in M45+) and was 3rd in the M40+ Night-O Champs (but would have only been 5th in M45+ - perhaps I should remain in M40+ ;-)). I missed in the Long-O, finishing 4th (but would have been 2nd in M45+, go figure). I was not able to compete in the Classic or Sprint. In 2008, I think I will only miss the Middle, since I'll have to run unofficially, if at all.

The most difficult challenges in regards to the US Champs goals are that there is no Night-O scheduled, and the Sprint and Long come very early, so I'll need to get going with some serious winter training.