Time Trial

These are way out of order.

Anna finishing the 5 miler.

"Bonecrusher."



Alyssa out-sprinting the competition.

Katie kicking it in.

Andy riding the pain train...

Tannis in her first running race ever.

Meri

Anne

"Man, those heart rate monitors are hardcore." --some spectator next to me

How to be a real college skier: a primer

Step one: manipulate your schedule through whatever means necessary to only have class Mon-Thu between the hours of 11 and 2. Do not sacrifice an hour break for lunch.

Step two: wake up at 7:25 on a Thursday to shovel down oatmeal; haul ass to the training room to take a hot whirlpool before intervals.

Step three: run half an hour to the only legit hill in the Boston area to ensure that the workout will entail a full and excruciating exploration of the pain cave.

Step four: beast your 4x4 workout; elicit numerous stares from passersby.

Step five: return to Cambridge for stretching and foam rolling, disregarding time before upcoming class.

Step six: skip said 11 o'clock class to seek therapy in the training room; get denied from cold whirlpool because of open, bleeding blisters on feet.

Step seven: return home; blog.

-- O

I'm never running in Pearl Izumis again

Dude, f--k that.

-- O

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