Training Log Archive: AliC

Wowzer, was it a zoo at Windblown today! Well, more in the parking lot/lodge, trails were still mostly fine, if a bit busy close in. It was a 'Demo Day' so Rossi, Swix, Fischer, Salomon and EMS all were there with skis and snowshoes and such for folks to try. Nice to see so many oodles of people out enjoying winter!

So this was supposed to be ski-o fartlek like, doing speedy bits between every-other control of last week's sprint at Windblown. But HR doesn't make it look like I was so speedy, maybe just map reading was too tricky still! Which I suppose is also good, because I was training that then.

First went backwards, then went forwards. Oh, also on first map switch, I made a 180 degree error, whoopsie!

And puttering around the Green course, backwards from last week. Hm, faster than I actually did it in. Suppose that is 1) better snow/grooming 2) not having to stop and punch. Legs/back/arms all pretty tired now...

Rounding it out with a double-pole lap of the classic tracks, plus a little bit of skating at the far end, because I was curious.

One minute warm up over to the start, because I totally did not arrive early enough before this race. 45 minutes is not enough time to register, use the bathroom, get race-suit + number on and wax, apparently.

Kick waxing: Had overheard Swix guy telling someone VR40 was the wax of the day. So I go back to my wax box, find I have some Swix Green. Maybe that's it? So I go back and ask if it is, nope, I should be looking for a blue. But I don't have Swix Blue. I have some Ski-Go Blue that I bought in France because I had no classic wax, so I slap 3 layers of that on over melted-in Green binder. Ski up the hill towards the start to test, hm, bit slippy. Slap on 1 more layer, but then it's time to start, so that's it!

C • Wax 2

White Mountain Classic 30k

Well, really I got there before the 2 minutes to go had been called, so not purely by the skin of my teeth. Still, everyone had already grabbed all the space at the front, and unlike in running you can't just fiddle your way in by ignoring the normal rules about personal body space. There are tracks and skis take up space in them, so I positioned myself between tracks, which is just asking for your poles to be broken, but I was lucky.

Anyways, off the start, big double pole lap in fields that let everyone get pretty situated before heading up the first hills. Was around Rob towards the end, and he warned me we had a big hill coming up, which was nice, I didn't so much remember the course. Noticed on the first up that wax was still a bit slippy, bummer. Not terrible, but not what you would like, given that these conditions should be easy to get bombproof kick. Ah well, bring in the arms + herringbone!

Never saw any other women out there (I won), was battling it out with several masters guys around me, though, so at least not lonely! Backed off my early pace a bit on the first lap, when I figured I was going too hard for a marathon, probably smart, I still felt like I had enough juice the second time around.

Despite waxing issues, I was faster on the ups than on the flats, suggesting either my glide wax (or grind...) wasn't that awesome or that the masters guys are relatively stronger on double pole than striding. Both could be true, but I think that I couldn't keep up on the downs signals a wax/grind issue.

Food: Meant to have a gel just before the start, but forgot in my haste. Had ~2 gulps of gatorade at the first 3 out of 4 feed stations, probably just enough.

Attempted a warm down, but nope, too cold!

C • congrats! 3

After yummy hot lunch (I *love* that ski marathons feed you!) hanging out with some of the current Dartmouth team, then Ernst and Mika, realized I had some time to kill before starting the 3h drive down to the NEOC social. Sooo, might as well ski more!

Headed out for a skate ski, meant to find the flat Ellis River trail, but failed and ended up heading uphill and did the Wave again. Not exactly sure on time, Garmin was out of battery thus useless...

Oh yeah, mid-January rollerskiing. But that's the name of the game for the moment, gotta keep the ski muscles happy! Woke up a bit later than intended, so only had time to head out to the bike path, not River Rd. Was cold out. Maybe the coldest I've ever rollerskied in, not sure.

Looked at maps of Beaudesert Old Park, which I didn't really remember until there were a series of 4 controls in pits... oh fun. And also the first half of Beeley Woods from BUSA Relays 2008. Did have some distinct memories of that, some crazy quarries, some serious slope running up and down!

Mostly double pole, 20 min of no poles at the far end.

C • Hopefully not tomorrow 4

Busy times in kitchen this eve:
Round 1: Double batch of brownies
Round 2: Waxing 3 pairs of skis
Classic skis: LF6 + HF Ski-Go Blue
Red grind skate skis: Off with the CH10, on with some CH6
Purple grind skate skis: same as reds
Probably should do one more hot-cold CH cycle before Tahoe on the skate skis, get them all hydrated on up!

C • Busy 6

Had a headache when I woke up, faded gradually, felt pretty ok by afternoon.

So an easy-peasy workout, over to track for some drills, all bundled up and breathing through a buff so the recovering respiratory system stays happy!

3 x 25 pushups
3 x 15, 15, 15 hammies

Normal core - 10 min abs, 2 min back, 2 min SJJs, gotta love it...

And I've got a cold, boo. Kinda felt it coming on Friday, but felt ok through the weekend. Ah well, not a terrible time for it to strike, hopefully will pass quickly!

3 x 25 pushups
3 x 15, 15, 15 hammies

10 min abs, 2 min back, 2 min SJJs