For those not tuned in to distance-type sports, the title of this post may take some explaining. OD is "Over Distance" which is synonymous with LSD or "long, slow distance". This is a type of work out where you go for a very long time at a very slow pace (keeping your heart rate in level I, for me this is 115 to 140). The point is to train your body to process fat to glycogen and working past the dreaded "bonk". These skis can be very, very boring as you really try very hard not to ski hard enough to raise your heart rate (and lactic acid levels) to the point where you get fatigued.
On Sunday, with thanks to my wonderful wife, I was able to get out for a 3.5 hours classic ski at Morse Farm. The other thing about these skis can be very, very boring as you really try very hard not to ski hard enough to raise your heart rate (and lactic acid levels) to the point where you get fatigued, so it helps to have a place with many, many kilometers of trails. As great as 'da Farm is, it is not blessed with many, km's of trails (total is ~24 k). This means that OD skis here can seem like a hampster in a wheel. The ski went decently. It was very cold to start the ski (o degrees), but I had lots of clothing and some new skis to try out. I only had to rewax once, and that was due more to warming temps than wax wearing off. I hooked up by serendipity with John McGill, a local bike racer turned Dad and XC skier. It helped spin the K's and the time having him around so that was great.
Unfortunately, the last 30 minutes of the day were total bonk ville. I must not have had enough to eat nor gone slow enough; it was everything I could do to get back to the car. The only thing that kept me going was thoughts of having lots of food when I got home.
This week should be pretty mellow with a taper for Cratsbury. A big storm is forecasted for tomorrow (Wednesday), so I doubt that the Wednesday night sprints will happen. A little fresh snow would be welcome, but I really want to use my new klister skis for the marathon. With my luck, I'll be on my Atomics from circa 1991.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Night Skiing
Work has been particularly busy lately. Long hours with little pause in the day for skiing. Tie that to two kids that need to be fed and in bed by 7 and it leads to only one option for skiing mid-week: at night by headlamp. For the uninitiated, skiing at night, or snow shoeing, mountain biking, running, or much of anything else for that matter, is awesome. It brings a whole new level of awareness to the experience. Last night, prior to beginning a set of intervals on Frog Run at Morse Farm, I stood among a grove of hemlock listening only to very far off traffic and snow flakes hitting the ground. Pretty soon, that quiet was blown out by very heavy breathing and a rapidly beating heart, but more on that later.
The goal for the evening was originally to do some double pole intervals: 4 to 6 X 4 minutes with equal rest. I have been working on modifying my technique such that my hands are much higher and closer to my chest.
This has been shown by lots of skiers that it produces a lot more power during the poling motion. The photo here is of Andy Newell, US Ski Team member and world class sprinter. Andy puts so much force into is body getting ready to pole again that he lifts himself several inches off the ground. I can't imagine that this is how a marathon skier will ski, but it definitely illustrates the point of high hands.
When I got to the farm last night, I was sporting VR 40 over binder. This worked great on Sunday, but at 4 degrees F, way too warm. I tried to cover this with a couple layers of VR30, but still had a ton of drag. Double pole intervals were out.
Instead, I thought I would do a repeat of a workout I had done last week during the nasty cold snap. 12 by 1:00 at best effort. I picked out a section of Frog Run that has a gradual climb into a nasty steep section, followed by more gradual climbing. These ended up being real hard. The first few went well, but by number 6 and 7, I was falling shorter and shorter of where I had started. It was pretty apparent that I just didn't have it, so I ended up doing 8. Not too bad, particularly considering that I was still pretty wiped from Sunday's race. I think it goes to show that following a race, it's really important to have a day of active rest before starting up on soem intervals.
The rest of the ski was awesome: no wind, nice nighttime views of the Worcester Range, and really great snow.
The goal for the evening was originally to do some double pole intervals: 4 to 6 X 4 minutes with equal rest. I have been working on modifying my technique such that my hands are much higher and closer to my chest.
This has been shown by lots of skiers that it produces a lot more power during the poling motion. The photo here is of Andy Newell, US Ski Team member and world class sprinter. Andy puts so much force into is body getting ready to pole again that he lifts himself several inches off the ground. I can't imagine that this is how a marathon skier will ski, but it definitely illustrates the point of high hands.When I got to the farm last night, I was sporting VR 40 over binder. This worked great on Sunday, but at 4 degrees F, way too warm. I tried to cover this with a couple layers of VR30, but still had a ton of drag. Double pole intervals were out.
Instead, I thought I would do a repeat of a workout I had done last week during the nasty cold snap. 12 by 1:00 at best effort. I picked out a section of Frog Run that has a gradual climb into a nasty steep section, followed by more gradual climbing. These ended up being real hard. The first few went well, but by number 6 and 7, I was falling shorter and shorter of where I had started. It was pretty apparent that I just didn't have it, so I ended up doing 8. Not too bad, particularly considering that I was still pretty wiped from Sunday's race. I think it goes to show that following a race, it's really important to have a day of active rest before starting up on soem intervals.
The rest of the ski was awesome: no wind, nice nighttime views of the Worcester Range, and really great snow.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Time Trial #1 15K? classic
Yesterday 6 of our local Master Blasters convened at Morse Farm to compete in club time trial. The course was either a very slow 15 k or way more than that. None of us are exactly world caliber, but the fastest time for the course by a classic skier was 1:08:56 seconds by Nick Petterssen. As any racers can attest, that is damn slow for a 15K. The course turned out to be really nice with some good, kickable climbs, lots of transitions and double poling. Conditions were soft, having just received about 3 to 5 inches of snow in the morning. For me, the race was just about getting out and hammering. My start was strong, maybe too much so, as I was pretty tight going into the 2nd of 4 laps. I had very good kick and decent glide, so I don't really know why I wasn't psyched with the results. There were times on the course when I felt like an egg beater, but other times, I felt super solid. I'm not sure where this leaves me; at this point in the season with Craftsbury just two weeks away, I was hoping for a rocking race. Unfortunately those usually don't just happen, so I guess its time to amp up the intervals for this week before beginning tapering on Monday.
Times for the race:
Nick P: 1:08:56
Brent E: 1:10:11
Dan V: 1:11:42
Joel P: DNF
Two guys came out for the race and skated (Jamie Biggham and Andrew Trip), but I missed their times. Jamie is skiing super fast, I would not be surprised if he broke 1 hour.
Next up, Wednesday Night Sprints at U32! Under the lights. My skate boots are currently heading back to Fischer for a warranty issue, but hopefully I'll scare some up for this event. Should be fun.
In other news, local hot shot skier Liz Stephen rocked at the World Cup race in Whistler. She placed 24th in the pursuit and teamed up with Kikkan Randall for a 4th place team sprint result. Considering this is her second World Cup event, it's awesome. Congrats to Liz.
Times for the race:
Nick P: 1:08:56
Brent E: 1:10:11
Dan V: 1:11:42
Joel P: DNF
Two guys came out for the race and skated (Jamie Biggham and Andrew Trip), but I missed their times. Jamie is skiing super fast, I would not be surprised if he broke 1 hour.
Next up, Wednesday Night Sprints at U32! Under the lights. My skate boots are currently heading back to Fischer for a warranty issue, but hopefully I'll scare some up for this event. Should be fun.
In other news, local hot shot skier Liz Stephen rocked at the World Cup race in Whistler. She placed 24th in the pursuit and teamed up with Kikkan Randall for a 4th place team sprint result. Considering this is her second World Cup event, it's awesome. Congrats to Liz.
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