I just got home from a quick weekend trip to Winter Park, CO, for a 30km Skate race called the Governors Cup, held at Devils Thumb Resort.
It was a good trip overall. I stayed at the Beaver Village Hotel with former teammate and now coach of Denver University, Dave Stewart. The skiing was awesome over there, as always. It seems that every time I ski at Devils Thumb, its perfect. Blue ski, tons of trails, great grooming... this time around was no different.
It was a pretty typical race weekend for me. I arrived Thursday night and went for a short run. On Friday I tested my skis and waxed them for the race. Saturday, race.
The race went OK, though certainly not my best ever performance. Glenn Randall, NCAA Champ, was on hand. Glenn has been known to ski quite well at altitude, likely because he trains at 10,000ft! When we started, he was content to lead. He pushed the pace early and near the 5k mark, I was starting to feel it. One thing I know about racing near 9000ft is that you don't want to go under early. So I backed off, hoping to ski the fastest race I could and catch him if he blew up late in the race...
Well, when we came through the lap at 15k, he was no where in sight and I didn't have it to speed up. Looking around, I saw former teammate - now sponsor - Natron a bit behind me and I slowed up hoping to pull him a bit. It worked but he couldn't quite hang on at the end of the lap and was beaten by another well known Coloradan, Michael Brothers. I cruised in to 2nd.
Natron and I both have experience cycling and it seems everytime we race together, we find ways to bring new tactics into skiing. I enjoy that.
It was a bit of a strange day for me. I didn't feel much snap in my body and had a tough time really putting it down when I needed to. In the past week I did some really big workouts to prepare for these upcoming marathons and I think I was just a bit behind the eight ball for this race... I think the training was good, it was the recovery that wasn't happening... Anyone can train hard, the key is recovering from it quickly...
I have another 30k coming up next weekend in Idaho, the famed Boulder Mtn Tour, where I will be defending my title...
I intent to do a lot of resting this week to create some speed. I know my fitness is there, I just need to get it out from under the training load I've been piling on!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Waiting and Working and Training....
Well this is a first for me... It mid-January and my race season is about to start in earnest. Typically, this time of year I am in a mid season training block, scrambling to recover from the many early season races that populate the North American race schedule and simultaneously trying to get in some long workouts that will allow me to race 50kms weekend after weekend.
This year has been a bit different as funds have been tight in the ski world and upon the conclusion that I was to have no mathematical chance at making the 2010 Olympic Team. I have focused heavily on marathons this season and soon I will find out whether my plan has paid off.
These past weeks have been tough in many respects. Many of my friends are preparing for World Cups and waiting to hear about Olympic selection. At times I really wish I was in their camp. But I've gone a different route and I feel confident in my decision. Especially after many long hours on the bike this summer, I feel well prepared for the long events ahead.
Additionally, I've had a heavy load on my back in preparation for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Show, here in Utah. I will be on hand to help out my ski sponsor, Rossignol, as well as to promote my own team, Steinbock Racing. In the past four days I put in something like 50 hours redesigning our Program Overview.... I'm an all or nothing kind of guy and this was definitely an "all" situation. I'm excited to present it later this week.
This coming Saturday I will race the University of Utah Invitational, at Soldier Hollow, which will be my last tune up before I head out to some bigger events... The following weekend I will be in Winter Park, CO, for the Governor's Cup– which from what I understand is the longest running ski race in Colorado. After that I head up to Sun Valley to defend my Boulder Mountain Tour title. The following weekend is a 10km classic race and the Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, CO. The weekend after that is the Minnesota Finlandia, a 50k, on Saturday and a sprint race in Madison, WI, on Sunday... And the weekend after that is the American Birkebeiner. The next two weeks are up in the air, I may head over to do the Engadin Marathon again or maybe ski the Yellowstone Rendezvous. The week after the Rendezvous is the Great Race in Truckee, California.
And this is where things get blurry.... After the Great Race I may head to the coast (of California) to ride my bike for a few days and hit the San Dimas Stage Race. That would be abruptly followed by the Califonia Gold Rush, another ski race... And then back to the coast for some more riding and likely the Redlands Classic and Sea Otter Road Races...
And then likely back to Park City for May and June to finish out the school year with my crew at Ecker Hill Middle School.
I can't wait for the races to start. I love to be in the mix– banging elbows, as they say– and fighting for position in the last kilometers of a race.
I'll be sure to keep you posted on how things unfold...
This year has been a bit different as funds have been tight in the ski world and upon the conclusion that I was to have no mathematical chance at making the 2010 Olympic Team. I have focused heavily on marathons this season and soon I will find out whether my plan has paid off.
These past weeks have been tough in many respects. Many of my friends are preparing for World Cups and waiting to hear about Olympic selection. At times I really wish I was in their camp. But I've gone a different route and I feel confident in my decision. Especially after many long hours on the bike this summer, I feel well prepared for the long events ahead.
Additionally, I've had a heavy load on my back in preparation for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Show, here in Utah. I will be on hand to help out my ski sponsor, Rossignol, as well as to promote my own team, Steinbock Racing. In the past four days I put in something like 50 hours redesigning our Program Overview.... I'm an all or nothing kind of guy and this was definitely an "all" situation. I'm excited to present it later this week.
This coming Saturday I will race the University of Utah Invitational, at Soldier Hollow, which will be my last tune up before I head out to some bigger events... The following weekend I will be in Winter Park, CO, for the Governor's Cup– which from what I understand is the longest running ski race in Colorado. After that I head up to Sun Valley to defend my Boulder Mountain Tour title. The following weekend is a 10km classic race and the Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, CO. The weekend after that is the Minnesota Finlandia, a 50k, on Saturday and a sprint race in Madison, WI, on Sunday... And the weekend after that is the American Birkebeiner. The next two weeks are up in the air, I may head over to do the Engadin Marathon again or maybe ski the Yellowstone Rendezvous. The week after the Rendezvous is the Great Race in Truckee, California.
And this is where things get blurry.... After the Great Race I may head to the coast (of California) to ride my bike for a few days and hit the San Dimas Stage Race. That would be abruptly followed by the Califonia Gold Rush, another ski race... And then back to the coast for some more riding and likely the Redlands Classic and Sea Otter Road Races...
And then likely back to Park City for May and June to finish out the school year with my crew at Ecker Hill Middle School.
I can't wait for the races to start. I love to be in the mix– banging elbows, as they say– and fighting for position in the last kilometers of a race.
I'll be sure to keep you posted on how things unfold...
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Some biking, some skiing, lots of training.
The last few weeks have flown by here in Park City. I accomplished some great workouts, a lot of extracurriculars and survived the holidays.
Yesterday I skied another race here in Park City. It was a good one, on my home course - an extremely flat 5km, that I have been around several thousand times, literally. There were a few more fast skiers around than usual, my brother is in town and he is a Biathlete with the US Devo Team, as well as a couple of guys from the US Nordic Combined team and several from the University of Utah.
When I was warming up for the race my pole started to make a funny crackling sound. It was coming from the grip and when I checked to see if my pole was still glued on, it was not. It was spinning loosely in the handle. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue but the first pole plant of the race, my pole came off. I had to wait for the 50 or so skiers in the front wave to pass before I could see my pole, javelined into the snow. I grabbed it and jammed it back into my grip and got going again... I had to ski through all those people to get back into the front group. It took me 2k or so to get back up there. When I caught up, I was already going pretty hard so I figured I'd just keep the pressure on. I blew the front group up pretty quickly and it was down to three of us with my brother dangling a bit off the back. I slowed up a bit to give him a chance to get back on. I skied most the rest of the race with the Nordic Combined guys, who were going really well. I felt super comfortable and was looking for the best place to make some sort of move that would stick. I waited for my standard spot - a long gradual hill with essentially no recovery afterwards. I put the hammer down and left them, taking the win by a good 20 or 30 seconds in the last 2k.
It was a solid effort considering this week has been fairly unusual in terms of a lead up to competition. This is what my week looked like:
Mon: 4x10 min L3 w Bill Demong pm: 3x15min @ tempo on a trainer
Tue: 2.5 hr Classic pm: 1.25 hrs riding on rollers
Wed: 2.5 hrs on a trainer w 3x20 @ tempo pm: 1.5 hr skate
Thur: Ramp test, cycling followed by 2hrs of skating
Fri: 2 hrs skating w 3x3 min L3 pm: .75 hrs on rollers
Sat: Race 15k skate
Cycling has not hurt my fitness, though hard cycling workouts make my legs feel sluggish for ski races. As bigger ski races approach, I won't be able to do these types of workouts in the days before. Skiing is good for skiing and biking is good for biking...
The next couple weeks are a bit more of the same. Lots of training. My first big race will around the 25th of this month in Marquette, MI. The Noquemanon Marathon, a 50km classic race. I'm looking forward to that.
Happy Holidays!
Yesterday I skied another race here in Park City. It was a good one, on my home course - an extremely flat 5km, that I have been around several thousand times, literally. There were a few more fast skiers around than usual, my brother is in town and he is a Biathlete with the US Devo Team, as well as a couple of guys from the US Nordic Combined team and several from the University of Utah.
When I was warming up for the race my pole started to make a funny crackling sound. It was coming from the grip and when I checked to see if my pole was still glued on, it was not. It was spinning loosely in the handle. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue but the first pole plant of the race, my pole came off. I had to wait for the 50 or so skiers in the front wave to pass before I could see my pole, javelined into the snow. I grabbed it and jammed it back into my grip and got going again... I had to ski through all those people to get back into the front group. It took me 2k or so to get back up there. When I caught up, I was already going pretty hard so I figured I'd just keep the pressure on. I blew the front group up pretty quickly and it was down to three of us with my brother dangling a bit off the back. I slowed up a bit to give him a chance to get back on. I skied most the rest of the race with the Nordic Combined guys, who were going really well. I felt super comfortable and was looking for the best place to make some sort of move that would stick. I waited for my standard spot - a long gradual hill with essentially no recovery afterwards. I put the hammer down and left them, taking the win by a good 20 or 30 seconds in the last 2k.
It was a solid effort considering this week has been fairly unusual in terms of a lead up to competition. This is what my week looked like:
Mon: 4x10 min L3 w Bill Demong pm: 3x15min @ tempo on a trainer
Tue: 2.5 hr Classic pm: 1.25 hrs riding on rollers
Wed: 2.5 hrs on a trainer w 3x20 @ tempo pm: 1.5 hr skate
Thur: Ramp test, cycling followed by 2hrs of skating
Fri: 2 hrs skating w 3x3 min L3 pm: .75 hrs on rollers
Sat: Race 15k skate
Cycling has not hurt my fitness, though hard cycling workouts make my legs feel sluggish for ski races. As bigger ski races approach, I won't be able to do these types of workouts in the days before. Skiing is good for skiing and biking is good for biking...
The next couple weeks are a bit more of the same. Lots of training. My first big race will around the 25th of this month in Marquette, MI. The Noquemanon Marathon, a 50km classic race. I'm looking forward to that.
Happy Holidays!
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