Anthony Lakes Camp

I'm a little bit behind, so I'm finally getting around to writing about the training camp that Tannis and I went to a week ago up in NE Oregon. PNSA camp at Anthony Lakes, mostly J1 and OJ skiers from the region, with other college skiers from Williams, SLU, Dartmouth, Whitman, and MSU. The week looked something like this:

Monday and Tuesday- easy, not at camp yet, total 1.5 hours

Wednesday- Morning: 1:15 run in Bend, pretty hard cause none of the other girls showed up. Left for camp. Afternoon: 2:15 skate roll with 4x7.5 minutes just below threshold, 2 of which were no pole, climbing from the flats up into the hills.

Thursday- Morning: 2:00 classic roll, level 1. Lots of downhill, then turned around and went right back up. Video, technique. Afternoon: bounding. 6x100m moosehoof, 6x100m bounds, 6x3.5 minute threshold+ moosehoof/bound/skiwalk intervals, total 1:30-1:45.

Friday- Morning: 2:00 skate roll, level 1, 5x4 minute no pole. Consistent uphill for the second half. Video, technique. Afternoon: spenst, strength, soccer, 2:00 hours.

Saturday- Morning: classic time trial. 5k, all uphill (400m of double poling about 3k in, the rest a very steady grade). Tannis beat me, 11 seconds. Afternoon: no boundaries capture the flag. Um, yeah, real serious training...

Sunday- 3:45 run/hike. Supposed to be 5 hours, but it was about 40 degrees, raining, and windy, and I couldn't feel my legs well enough to know that I had sliced them climbing through some granite boulders. Everyone was numb.

And while I know that 7,000 ft is nothing for Trevor, that's where the cabins were, and that's higher than the base of Bachelor, so it's elevation for me.

Makes it kinda hard to go back to training on my own, but the summer's closing up. See you all soon!

Averyville is a harsh mistress

Remember this? Well today during my threshold workout on Averyville, I too Rocky Dennis'd it up a la Young David and got some road rash of my own. I don't really know how it happened, but I'd just crested a hill and was cruising along with the V2 alternate when all of a sudden I didn't have the rubber side down. It was a classic case of pole-between-the-legs.

I knew I was going down, so I did my best to salvage skin. Somehow, and I wish I'd seen it third person, I was able to kick my right leg forward and fall backwards rather than forward, sliding on my right leg and hands for a few feet. I thought the damage was minimal, few scrapes on the hands, some tape missing on my pole grips, no biggie, right? Then I went to adjust my shorts and came back with a handful of blood. So much for surviving unscathed. Within a few minutes my body recognized that I had just essentially used pavement as a Slip 'n Slide, and the right side of my ass began to throb.

During the rest of my workout, I felt like this, but now that I'm home and have checked the damage that is definitely an overreaction. At least I don't look like this tool.

I do, however, look like I've been beaten with a meat tenderizer,

-- O

Postscript: for all you newbies out there joining us in September, learn who Rocky Dennis is. I would suggest either renting the classic 1985 film Mask, starring Cher, or just going here.

On injury, training, and fashion

The other day I toasted (read: sprained) my ankle doing a threshold workout on the Van Ho ski trails. It sucked big time. As most of you returning skiers/my sister will know, I have ankles about as strong as rubber bands. After taking Saturday/Sunday off (hardest 2 days of the summer, hands down), I was back at it Monday. Training has looked like this:

Monday: 2:00 DP
Tuesday: 2:30 skate roll
Wednesday: 2:45 classic roll

Not bad hours, but I'm not stable enough to lift or do intensity yet, which is a bummer. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but I'll figure it out. Maybe some steady state skating. I should be good for that.

Anyway, last night it rained, which brings me to the last part of my post: fashion. Normally when I wake up and it's sorta chilly, I immediately spring for the Scando look (i.e. training in tights and no shirt). Anna, in all her infinite wisdom and kindness, has taken to ripping on me for this, as if it were a fashion faux pas.

Well, Schlutz, yesterday I thumbed my nose at the ski-fashion-world and wore *gasp* basketball shorts during my OD. To be specific, they were basketball shorts that me, Andy, Chris, Dave, and Anna bought at the dollar store in Bennington, VT (Anna also got the deal of the century on Tampax, so keep that in mind when we head to Williams, ladies). If I may say so, I looked pretty baller flaunting convention and going for the Chris Webber look (props to the Fab Five). It was almost as cool as sophomore year when I insisted on going to the weight room wearing Harvard tights and a bandanna.

Keep it thug,

-- O

Train by Numbers - Take 2

Why the use of a heart rate monitor (in this case, the Suunto T6) is a good plan for accurate training:

Heart rate, EPOC, altitude, and splits on 5 x 4 minute level 4 skating intervals. Avg. HR on the intervals: 180, 184, 186, 185, 187... closing in on 90% of max. Train precisely and know that you are getting where you need to go.

-Schulzy

An OD by the numbers

Today Anna, Alyssa, Dave, Clarkson skier (and local phenom) Matt Delaney, and I headed out of town to Jay, NY to do an OD ski. Earlier in the summer, at the suggestion of Dave's dad, Anna and I had explored some roads in Jay during a 2.5 hour ski. What we found was rollerskiing heaven: amazing views, few cars, decent pavement, and great terrain. I have since returned twice for a ski, but this time I figured I'd bring the whole crew. The plan was for a 4 hour OD, a stretch for all of us (Alyssa and Anna were shooting for 3). For Dave and Matt it would be the second longest workout of the summer, tops being the Tupper Lake Tinman triathlon (a 4+ effort for both). For me it would be topped only by my 5.5 and 6.5 hour rides.

The weather looked iffy early, with a rain squal hitting us on the way out of Placid, but we got to Jay to find a slight mist and nothing more - within 20 minutes the sun was shining and it was beautiful. Rather than bore you with a description of the whole workout, I'll give it to you by the numbers.

Length of ski: 4 hours (2:40 for Alyssa and Anna)
Miles covered: 32 for Matt/Dave/Ollie
Calories burned (Ollie's HR monitor): 2848
Average HR (Ollie): 134 bpm
Max. HR (Ollie): 170 bpm (what can I say, there were some hills and a drag race sprint at mile 31)
Food consumed (during workout): 3 Chewy granola bars, 1 Powerbar, half a peanut butter sandwich
Liquid consumed (during): 48 oz. Accelerade, 32 oz. Gatorade
Liquid consumed (after): 1/2 gallon of skim milk (Dave drank 1/2 gal. of chocolate milk)
Reindeer seen en route: 20-25 (rough estimate)
Alpacas seen en route: only 1 unfortunately
Farms passed that have been immoratlized in paint by Norman Rockwell: 1, the Asgaard Farm
Cars passed: 15-20 over the course of 4 hours (pretty effing sweet, eh?)
Hills we wish we could have seen Nabel ski down (providing he didn't get hurt): 2, and it would have been hilarious.
Falls: 0
Equipment failures: 0
Times Dave raved about the view/terrain: too many to count (this is worth noting because previously Dave had ripped on skiing in Jay/Keene - we showed him)

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because Anna did leave us her camera to take post-workout photos with, so I'll leave you with this stock photo of David:


-- O

A departure from blog posts past

I love recovery weeks. Instead of posting anything about the training I've been doing, I'd like to share with you an internet discovery I made the other day. As many of you know, I'm rather "into" Dispatch, a group much beloved by people from my hometown. The other day I was scouring the 'net for music and found a link to a song from one of their earliest shows. It's pretty sweet, so I'm going to share it with all of you.

Dispatch - Brad's Senior Project

Training updates will follow in due time.

-- O

"Let me ride through the wide open country that I love; don't fence me in. Let me be by myself in the evening breeze, listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees. Send me off forever, but I ask you please: don't fence me in."

- Cole Porter

I went out for a run a few weeks ago to a place we often go: the Middlesex fells reserve. Straddling I-93, this park serves as the home to the Winchester water supply. Getting out there is no walk in the park. At level one, it takes a good 45 minutes across the asphalt expanses of Somerville and Medford. The run back to Cambridge is arguably nastier, as the pavement's less forgiving the second time around. But that doesn't really matter. To be honest, I'm not sure what satisfies me more: crunching over the trails paved with pine-needles, or flagrantly disregarding all trespassing signs. After a while, I actually found some comfort in them. They were some kind of reliable companion, but a non-intrusive one. Beyond that, there were just trees. And a lake. And me. And it was good.

One can imagine, then, how liberating it was to be in the boundary waters of Minnesota. I felt like a prisoner on a conjugal visit: the release was indescribable and over before I knew it. If anyone's looking for a good workout, I would suggest 5 hours of sustained paddling with some half-mile treks carrying a canoe on your shoulders. It's surprisingly easy when you have views like these:

Chris