Friday Feb 29 |
 | xc classic skiing 9:30 [2] | |
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| ski from the car to the Yurt with Kari...... |
Thursday Feb 28 |
| xc skate skiing 1:03:21 [3] | |
| ahr:134 weight:171.6lbs |
| skiing Wirth....skied from the apartments, across the lake, the Gardens the front nine and back........conditions were not bad and it was nice to ski with no race in sight....just skiing for the training and exercise..... |
| weight machine 32:26 [2] | |
| ahr:114 |
| 3 sets, heavy weigts, 10-15 reps |
Tuesday Feb 26 |
| Note | |
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| Some random observations on the Birkie and Nordic skiing.....
best trend: the increasing number of classic skiers....984 strided the Birke up another 15-20% from the full race 2 years ago....no doubt from the new classic trail portions and more seperation of the skate and classic races......I think I will be joining the trend on my last 2 Birkies...I believe have skated my last one....as I skated up main street I felt a sense of finality and I was ending on a good note....I think its time to classic the next two...unless conditions make classic sketchy I look forward to a new challenge next year....I also think that classic is a better way to go since the tracks are less effected by the masses in earlier waves than the skate track.....
I think the Executive director Ned Z. is great for the race and has a vision for it....he seems to know that the future lies in enticing the midpack and back of the pack skiers to jump in and ski the Birkie events....his lead to build the classic trail is a direct result of his idea that it increases the possibility that the "slower" nordic skiers can take on the Birkie and not feel blown off the track by the skaters.....also he is smart about expanding the offerings of the shorter more casual events to get the entire family involved....this will keep the numbers up in a time when the # of skiers in the Birkie is stagnant at best and the average age is creeping up with no end in sight...I predict the Korteloppet will continue to grow as a % of total skiers and the Birkie will decline,,.eventually all the older skiers will quit racing and I think he knows this...he is doing everything he can to entice younger skiers.....the Birkie is in good hands....I believe the numbers would have suffered without him as the lead guy.....and he comes out and O's....got to like that.... |
Monday Feb 25 |
| xc classic skiing 40:52 [3] | |
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| Kari and I went on a little adventure ski....we classic skied the snowy/icy running path around Lake Harriet + at night on our waxless...lots of full on double pole with some skating steps thrown in to keep up the speed.........we also did some one on one drag racing....a different kind of skiing but lots of fun.... |
Sunday Feb 24 |
| Note | |
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| after the drive back from Hayward, Kari and I went on a long walk around Harriet and down Minnehaha....great temps and scenery.....we walked for nearly 2 hours...neither of us to sore from yesterday.... |
Saturday Feb 23 |
| xc skate skiing race 3:46:53 [4] | |
| ahr:154 |
| Had a fantastic race....beat my goal by a significant margin and was well ahead of some people I usually race close...I caught one of them at the Hwy 77 hill and he started a wave ahead which means I beat him by over 10 minutes...so I knew I was having a good day...and I felt good the last 15K...actually skiing strong and feeling good.....Birkie #18 in the books...
Kari also did great in the 23 Korteloppet Classic...after the race she told me she had stopped at the 2nd aid station and chatted with an older volunteer for 7-10 minutes.....ater lookig at the results I told her that 3rd in her age group was only 7 minutes ahead....NO CHATTING AT THE AID STATION NEXT TIME!...she ended up 6th in her AG and managed to finish in the top 38% of her race field, men and women.... |
Thursday Feb 21 |
| Note | |
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| heading up to Hayward Wi for the Birkie tonight....and I usually dont feel totally prepared to race 51.5K,....although this year I have done a decent job....I would have felt more prepared if I had raced the 42K classic Mora Vasaloppet....I would like to go below 4 hours....a goal that would not impress me at all 10 years ago but my race and training times indicate that I am 10-15% slower than I was 15 years ago....fastest Birkie ever was a 3:09 in smoking fast conditions.....actually, my best race ever was a 3:14 in the mid 90's in slower conditions when I had great ski's, so I figure a 4 hour goal is doable and requires a significant effort...
This will be #18 and that is probably the accomplishment I am most proud of....I am not a distance guy and its taken alot of pain and suffering at times to haul myself over those hills to get to the finish line 17 times...when I get to 20 that will be it......
The hills, the soft sugar snow...it gets tougher every year, but its Mecca if you are a nordic skier and there is no ski race close to its size....in a time when I am seeing a slow death of Nordic ski citizen racing, it remains the one event that keeps the scene going....
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Wednesday Feb 20 |
| weight machine 20:24 [1] | |
| weight:173.6lbs |
| 2 sets, very light weights, 15-20 reps.....light effort to save it for saturday... |
Monday Feb 18 |
| Run 31:34 [3] | |
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| Kari and I ran around Calhoun on a windy cold evening....... |
Sunday Feb 17 |
| xc classic skiing race 1:58:36 [4] 25 km (4:45 / km) | |
| ahr:167 max:178 |
| North End Classic....I got a good start and was up further in the field than I expected.....after a dumb fall 1K in while switching tracks I settled in and skied well.....came through the first loop in good shape but faded a bit on the second loop and lost 6 or 7 places....I just counldn't keep them all behind me....I had good kick and glide on a day when some struggled a bit to get the right kick...I finished 58 out of 95 finishers which truns out to be my best result of the year....If I could have mimimized the fade I would have had a great result but my percent back from the winning time and placement in the was a solid result..........my average HR was nearly identical to last year for this event...... |
| xc classic skiing 2:02:14 [3] | |
| ahr:144 |
| after the race Kari and I skied one more race loop of 12K and a loop of 4.4K.....total for the day was 41.4K.....Birkie prep is done....hopefully I have done enough to minimize suffering the last hour of the race.....I probably could have used one more long ski of 40K plus but its time to rest.... |
Saturday Feb 16 |
| Run 1:29:07 [3] | |
| ahr:144 |
| Kari and I ran Summit, trying to keep some running time in our schedule so we can work on it a bit more in the Spring.... |
Friday Feb 15 |
| xc skate skiing 30:23 [3] | |
| ahr:138 |
| well, I was skiing at Wirth on the back 9 trying to follow the trail but it was groomed to the top of a hill near the snow board area...I wasnt sure if this was the nordic ski trail so I decided to ski down the hill onto the snow board area to figure out if I had taken a wrong turn or the grooming was sketchy...as I sped down the hill onto the open slope snowbard slope I saw a WHITE tow rope right in front of me that caught me across the right eye sending me to the snow with a clothesline effect....I was knocked silly and quickly realized I had cut myself pretty good......a touch of the glove to my eye and the red drops of blood on the white snow confirmed my thoughts..... I picked up my ski's and walked Wirth Parkway home while noticing that blood was clouding my vision....after I got home and took a look in the mirror I saw that I had cut my eyelid and left a hole....... I called Kari and she came home from work to drive me to North Memorial where they called in a plastic surgeon to sew it all up.........tried to get him to do a little extra lifting and tightening while he was stitching but it was to no avail........ended up only getting 30 minutes out of a planned 2 hour ski, a black eye, skinned nose and some fine sutures in my right eye......... |
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| C • OMG 3 |
Tuesday Feb 12 |
| Run 31:48 [3] 3.19 mi (9:58 / mi) | |
| ahr:145 |
| Kari and I ran a loop of Calhoun.....felt faster than it was....perhaps the snowy icy paths are creating a slipping/treadmill effect...... |
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| C • treadmill effect 2 |
Monday Feb 11 |
| xc classic skiing 41:40 [3] | |
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| easy ski at Wirth after getting a bit sore from the weights and speed workout.....JD Gardens area was a mess....drifted and wiped out tracks.... |
Sunday Feb 10 |
| Note | |
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| funny, I kept looking at weather reports and just didnt get around to waxing my ski's..........just couldn't get motivated to go ski 42K classic at Mora, so I punted....apparently I wasnt alone...less than half signed up, showed up....and after seeing the pictures and results I was glad I didnt start..... |
| weight machine 45:27 [3] | |
| ahr:112 |
| 3 sets, heavy wights, 15 reps.....burning off some ski race taper energy.... |
| Run 41:14 [4] | |
| ahr:151 |
| on the treadmill.....3x5 minutes at 8:00/mile pace.....1x2:30 at 8:00/mile pace....10:00/mile recovery...I figured I would do some speed works since I was well rested.... |
| Run 29:40 [3] | |
| ahr:145 |
| Kari and I ran around Harriet after sundown.....-7F...glad I didnt ski race in the temps with significant wind... |
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| C • cold 3 |
Friday Feb 8 |
| Note | |
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| soooooo......its supposed to be about -16F at he start of the 42 Classic Vasaloppet with -38F windchill....rising to -5F by finish with -24F wind chill.....arent y'all jealous....boy, hard to think about lining up at the start....I do remember doing my first Vasaloppet in 1992 when it was -15F at the start of the 58K skate that I did....
they pushed back the North End 24K Classic a week due to the cold...a race I like doing but usually cant because it the same week as Mora....hmmmmm......I have outside thoughts of dumping Mora and racing the North End next week....probably wont but it is an attractive thought..... |
Wednesday Feb 6 |
| xc skate skiing 3:39:52 [3] 47.4 km (4:38 / km) | |
| ahr:153 max:174 |
| wow!...Elm Creek...can I just count this as my Birkie this year?....this turned out to be the longest ski training session of my life...and I did it in a solid time...when a company canceled class today I decided to take the day off and do a hard day of skiing...decided to ski for distance and not time to ensure I ski far enough to keep a Birkie bonk at bay....
I skied 4 outer loops at Elm Creek, ( Jerritt, I calculated it as 8.75K not 11K using the trail map) two 5K lighted loops and one 2.4K manmade loop...that adds up to 47.4K, and did it in 3:39:52....my 8.75K outer loop times were 41:30 (136 HR avg), 39:41 (151 HR avg), 40:38 (158 HR avg), 42:14 (163 HR avg)...5K loops were 21:48 (150 HR avg), 23:48 (162 HR avg) and my manmade 2.4K loop was 11:03 (157 HR avg)...
....as I was skiing I was wishing the big races I do had conditions like this...the track was firm and flat and it was easy to ski with good technique.....I did not single stick any hills and the down hills allowed efficient step turns becasue of the loose snow...not a hint of a snow plow...quite a change from sunday....I was very stiff the last 40 minutes but my technique held up.......hopefully I can recover from this workout in enough time to ski the 42K classic on Sunday (I think I can) and it will allow me to hang on the last hour of the Birkie as I hope to go sub 4 hours..... |
Tuesday Feb 5 |
| xc classic skiing 1:35:52 [3] | |
| ahr:136 |
| classic skied Wirth....nice conditions and a great to good track most places...they have groomed wider due to the race and this help keep the tracks stay intact on the front and back nine and the JD Gardens....keeps the skaters from wiping them out on the narrow trails... |
Monday Feb 4 |
| Note | |
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| Kari made short work of the 12K Tour and classic skied it in 1:02 on her waxless skis....ahe said she was suprised to get to the finish line so quick....her skiing has improved this year Kari and she moves pretty well.....after the race we walked for 1:20 around the Lake of the Isle after the race and some of Calhoun....(unlogged).....I was a bit tired but not that sore....the fast conditions probably helped.... |
Sunday Feb 3 |
| xc skate skiing 2:04:56 [4] 33 km (3:47 / km) | |
| ahr:164 max:176 |
| City of Lakes Loppet....everything went well except for the result....felt fast, technique wise I felt like I handled it reasonably, no falls, fast time, but poor placement and result.....finished farther back in the field that I hoped for and not really sure why.....my heart rate average was right where I would expect indicating that I gave it a good effort...but I just wasnt where I wanted to be in the field....by the time I got to some of the downhills they were luge runs but that was to be expected given the conditions...funny how you develop good downhill technique but have to resort to the "ol snowplow and let the berm guide you" technique after the early waves push all the soft snow off the trail.....My wax was warm for the last half of the race and I wasnt gliding as well as I was at the beginning but the conditions were fast for most...
The weather was good and it was a good day to race....they seem to improve the race course and staging every year....I would have expected more than the just over 700 finishers in the skate and 200 in the classic race that participated given the good snow year we have had....I thought they would top 1000 in the skate race...It will be interesting to see how many the Vasaloppet draws this year..... |
Saturday Feb 2 |
| xc classic skiing 32:10 [1] | |
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| Kari and I skied the Luminary Loppet...took off 10 minutes to account for stops and picture taking.....great event that is alot of fun...amazing to see over 1000/1500? skiers enjoying the great temps and candle luminaries on Lake of the Isles...they had built a ice candle pyramid and glowing ice columns...ironic that this event is growing each year while the race fields are not....the course was screaming fast as you could double poll with little effort to make it around the 2 mile? course.... |
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| C • Waiting 1 |
Friday Feb 1 |
| Note | |
| weight:170.8lbs |
| after 3 days of teaching/training 7 hours each day I just decided to veg and forget a Thursday workout....
watched Leif on the Internet TV this morning in my office skiing the first leg of the US Juniors Biathlon Relay team....did anyone else see it?.....I actually gave out a little yelp when he cleared his targets in the 2nd prone shooting leg and moved into 3rd....fantastic!...
my weight is in a good spot right now....I thinking lifting weight has helped...I feel stronger if not faster...
looking forward to the Loppet this weekend...33K skate....fast conditions are likely, which should help me....I do OK on the flats and if I can hold it together in the hills in butler and the bog I hope to finish in the top 55% of the field...top 60% would likely be a good result....should be a good time if I can get to the lakes feeling good... |
| weight machine 20:27 [1] | |
| ahr:85 |
| 2 sets, very light weights, 20-25 reps.......saving it for sunday... |
| Note | |
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| Kari and I walked around Lake of the Isles for 45 minutes on Friday night.....we need to try and get out ice skating once this winter....very cold wind but nice to see others out...some skiing on the lake... |