After returning very tired from nearly 30 hours of training at 8,000-9,0000 feet on the Haig Glacier, I took I full recovery week without any intensity and 8 hours of training. I put on the first of my trail running races for the season, the Salomon Autumn Trail Series, which achieved over 100 registrants.
After a week of rest, it was time to get back at it, now with a two week intensity block in which I would aim for 8 intensity training or racing sessions in 12 days.
This is what I did:
Day 1: 2 sets of 3x4 min uphill skating intervals in the Brae Mawr neighborhood of Edina.
Day 2: Mountain bike and Ashtanga yoga
Day 3: 4x10min Level 3 no pole skating intervals on rolling terrain
Day 4: Distance run
Day 5: Trail Loppet Half Marathon, 1st Place!
Day 6: Double pole intervals 4x:40 Level 5 single stick, 8x4min L3 uphill double pole
Day 7: off and Restorative Yoga
Day 8: Lactate testing, skate, 6 repetitions of West River Rd Hill going from L1 to L4, achieved my furthest right-shifted lactate vs. speed curve to date. PM core and plyo workout
Day 12: Northshore Rollerski Marathon, so fast and fun, weeeee!
Day 13: off! sleeping in and Twins Game (Legends Club baby!)
So if you count, you'll notice I fell one session short of my goal of 8 intensity sessions, which was supposed to be L4 bounding intervals on Day 8, however, I was feeling quite drained by that point, and with the intention of making it all the way to the finish line on Day 12, I called it off. But overall the block went very well and I am pleased with the result. My two races during the block felt very good, despite feeeling fatigued, and I recovered pretty well from session to session. Now a few days of rest before I turn up the volume again.
Skiing with J. Bender in the Northshore Rollerski Marathon. SkinnySki.com photo
The Northshore Rollerski Marathon was a great experience. I wanted to participate in this inaugural event because it is unique within the American ski scene, and because I think it could grow into something very cool indeed. My day didn't start out the greatest, with feeling exhausted from training, being nervous about racing well, forgetting my boots when I got on the shuttle bus, and losing my drivers license down a port-a-pottie, all before the race started. I guess that's how marathons can go, so it was good to get in touch with those race-day experiences in September, rather than waiting for January. Once we got rolling, though, everything fell into place. Jennie Bender and I found ourselves alone at the front of the women's field. The draft was huge! I've never experienced anything quite like that in a ski race. We decided to rotate the lead every mile so we would each do our fair share of pulling. It was wicked fun to cruise along at such speeds. I was feeling very comfortable at the half way point when I took a gel. Around miles 16 to 18 I took some harder pulls to test the waters, and found that breaking away was going to take a very hard effort over several miles, and I wasn't sure that I could sustain such an effort at the end of an intensity block. With three miles left in the race, the pavement turns to concrete with linear grooves on I-35, making a last-minute break away near impossible. So Jennie and I just hung together, taking turns pulling the train. As we rounded to cloverleaf exit off the highway and back onto asphalt we had 400 meters to go and we were neak-and-neck. Jennie barely nipped me at the line by 0.3 seconds. We finished in just over an hour and a half. It was a very fun and fast time out there, and I will be back next year prepared with some tactics to overcome the draft. Race Results here.
Rollerski Marathon Featured on Northland's News Center
Skinny Ski Video, check out another angle of the sprint finish
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your feedback!