Busy Day.

Someone has either found my Birkie race report funny or interesting--and forwarded it on to lots of people. 20 views is a busy day here, and well--this is as of noon.


Looks like a link was emailed to a group across the Midwest. I did see a new pageview from Sweden too.... not sure if that's related though. Last week someone in India was reading about the Vasaloppet here.

Say hi while you're here, and feel free to snoop around!

Birkebeiner '08 Race Report

I should preface by saying that neither Birkebeiners nor Jager shots cure chest colds. I'm going to bed after I finish this, and I'm not going to work tomorrow.

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As I left the city on Friday, I was sneezing. By the time I made it to Telemark, I was hacking phlegm in every color of ROY G BIV.

This would be my first Birkebeiner and I was determined to race, mostly because I skipped the Vasaloppet, I've improved much this year, and I've been really excited to finally ski on this course. I figured if it got worse, I'd just quit.

I settled in with some new friends at the condo, waxed my skis to Fastwax's recommendation, ate some pasta, and got to bed early.The weather station said that the weather would be 28 high for race day. In the morning, it was 2F, and I was torn about what to wear. Figuring I'd warm up, I wore my base layer & jersey/ thin tights and Craft windstopper underoo's and was very comfortable after the race started.

As I lined up in wave 4 (full 51km, skate), I promised myself that I would stick to my strategy for the day: Take the first third easy, start to push 18-34km, and go for bust after that. I would also get ahead of my calorie consumption by taking a gel at least every 40 minutes.

My legs felt pretty flat as we started up the first of the bumps along the power lines and was beginning to wonder if not skiing since last weekend was such a good idea, but they warmed up soon enough.

Cough, cough. Hack, hack.

About 7 km in, I fell on a very small downhill. My foot caught a rut, I crossed ski's and superman'ed to the ground, ski's helicoptered above me. I got up quickly & kept going. Shocked Very embarrassing--my balance has improved exponentially this year, and I'm glad only a few witnessed it.

When the big hills arrived, I was ready, having done plenty of single poling during training. Sometimes it felt even faster than my V1. The view approaching Firetower was incredible. Going up it wasn't too bad--there were worse ones later on. These huge hills have super long lines of people going up them. It's very difficult to get ahead of people in these instances.

Shortly after passing 00, I reached for another gel. I was out! I'd only had 4 to that point, but I'd brought more than that. I must have dropped some on the course while reaching into my jersey pocket. I still had some concentrated gatorade in my hip holster, and that was able to hold me over until I hit the next aid station that had gels. I had a Clifshot Plain at the next stop. I hate the flavored kind with intense fervor, but this was the worst thing I've ever tasted. To make things worse, it was cold and extra viscous. I needed three "energy drinks" to wash it down.

My second (and last, thankfully) fall was at the second snowmobiler hangout. A steep downhill curving to the right, I avoided the two traffic-jammed inside berms in favor of the smoothe outside next to the classic track. Unfortunately, someone else with the same idea fell in front of me, and to avoid her, I stepped over between the classical tracks, lost my balance, and just before regaining it, caught my tips in the powder 6" from the jeering audience. Instead of plowing into them, I kneeled down, rolled onto my back, skis over the top of me, and back onto them in one fluid motion--a talent carried over from my steep & deep downhill experiences at Whistler & Alta.

The next section of the Birkie is much more forgiving: lots of rolling hills, flat stuff, easy uphills, fluid corners, etc. I started to push a little harder, V2ing as much as possible, carrying as much momentum up hills as possible. I started to drop packs of (mostly wave 3) skiiers. This was my favorite part of the course, and I still felt fairly fresh.

Cough, hack, cough.

Things started to get difficult a little before the last aid station--I could feel the wear on my body in my core. I finished my gatorade, grabbed some drink and immediately took off on to one of the most difficult hills of the day. Sad, because it wasn't very steep at all--one of the few times I was passed. Once I made it to the top, the terrain again opened up, and I resumed V2. I V1'ed what I guessed was the last hill with the knowledge that I had less than 5km, and soon enough I was on the lake. I was trying to hold a V2, but the snow was already out and starting to bake the snow....and my god the line of skiiers was long. I decided to shift down to an open field skate at the hardest pace I could hold, planning for a sprint through Hayward. This was probably the most painful section of the race for me. Even little 6" bumps on the groom felt like hills. I passed more & more skiiers, threaded the needle through a few in some ankle deep powder connecting the lake to the streets of Hayward, and started my last V2 assault.

As I took a full speed right turn onto main street, someone yelled my name. I took a hypoxic look back and nearly fell, balancing with my left ski at hip height for a good 15 meters before I caught myself. I passed ~5 people on main street and finished.

My chip-taking friends from the condo laughed at the huge icicle hanging from my temple down to my jawline as a photographer took my portrait.

In the end, the race was easier than I'd been led to believe. It was tough, but I was expecting worse. The trail was WONDERFUL--beautiful nature and well developed "flow." I was dropping lung fragments on the trail about every 30 seconds, but I still had a fun time.

It got a little tough towards the end, but it was probably the most fun ski race I've ever done. I now know why everyone does it. I'm hooked, I'm going back next year, and I want blood.


Time: 3:26
13xx/3100 Freestyle skiiers according to the paper.
11x/180 age group.


Garmin:
Avg pace: 6:45/mile
Max Speed: 26.8mph
Avg HR: 158
Max HR: 172
Calories Burnt: 4491



Recovery:
1 Granola bar
1 Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar
3 Leine's Dopplebocks
2 Shots of Jager (Double kudos to Troy)
Bruschetta


The season is over. I'm staying home tomorrow, but will probably see my allergist tomorrow--I'm flying to SLC on Thursday for 4 days of downhilling.

Last Major Pre-Birkie Workout

Any endurance athlete knows that it's the work that your put in over weeks that gives you your race day stamina, but I did have one last big workout planned for Saturday to give myself some confidence for the Birkebeiner.

I drove out to Baker Park on the west edge of town and took to the trails. Baker has some of the largest hills in the west metro, a large trail system, and some nice scenery. A race had been held earlier in the morning, so the trails were pretty well used, but I didn't care too much--it will probably be like that come raceday.

I did lap after lap on a combination of loops --island, hill, timber, & prairie trails, stopping only for HEED from the camelpak, and once to take a layer of clothing off. At 2 hours in, I had one powerbar gel, which was an incredible energy boost(I'm planning on taking one every 40 minutes during the race).

It was 2:55 as I finished my umpteenth loop, I and decided on one more loop to break the 3 hour mark. I decided to go out to the island trail & back, which entails going downhill for a long time, and then back up the longest hill at the park. My arms were on fire from the start, and mid hill, I switched to single poling, but went back to V1 as soon as the grade leveled a bit. I got to the top with nothing left in the tank. Even my 70oz camelpak was empty.

Distance: 27.99 miles
Calories Burnt: 4271 (an entire pound of body fat is 3500 calories)
Average Speed: 6:39/mile
Average heartrate: 152



Now, I'll put in just a couple very short, ultra-high intensity (probably Tabata) workouts before a few days of preparation & taper.

The Birkie is on Saturday.

It's coming together on the Skis

I'm finally getting the hang of this Cross Country skiing. And I'm having a really great time.

On Tuesday night, I went to Ride & Glide, hesitantly, because we had a thaw and a chill and it was extremely icy. And hell to ski on. But Coach Kurt had us practice V2ing uphill. Apparently "because it was fast snow."

V2 is the most challenging ski stroke, and is used consistently only by the hotshots--and few of them will go up a hill doing that. It requires fantastic balance, and is less efficient *but faster* than the V2 alternate/open field skate; most people's normal flat terrain "dance." The ice was hell on the balance, but I was surprise how quickly my body adjusted, and I was able to ski up the hill! WTF?

Thursday night, I escaped out to Elm Creek and put in a few laps. The northern lights trail was vacant, and I enjoyed the cool air and the hills. The snow was softer/closer to normal (and forgiving), and all of a sudden, I felt very comfortable taking a few stokes of V2. So I began to skip open field skate altogether. Some deer crossed the trail on my last loop, completely unconcerned with my prescence.

Friday night, I put in 45 minutes at French park, and had a fantastic time. The snow was falling, leaving cool halos around all the lights. The snow in the air made the sky light enough that I could ski on the unlit trails--a fantastic feeling. The new snow was slow on the wax I have on my skis, but I didn't care. What a great feeling.

Today, I went back to Elm Creek-it was saturated with high school teams, but I ran into Coach Hank, who told me the long outer trail was open, so I took his advice. It was vacant. I took 3 laps. I was intending on a lower intensity endurance ski, but I couldn't help myself on the hills. The V2 felt great on the flats.

I decided to see how fast I could head up one of the hills. All of a sudden, my V1 transformed into a Jump V1 (see the pass), something I've been told about, but never observed. It felt fast. Coming back down hills, I could suddenly hold the inside track on tight turns at the bottoms of a few of them--using something between a marathon skate corner/jump.

I was out for 1:48:49, averaged 9.2 mph, 16.66 miles, and burnt just shy of 2600 calories.

I can't wait to go ski again tomorrow morning. I have downhill league in the evening.

I'm gonna kick ass at the Birkie.

I'm sore

So I've been XC skiing 3 times in the last 4 days. This is the first time since last winter--probably in the late February timeframe.

XC skiing is unlike any other sport. It requires tons of coordination, balance, and strength...at the same time as being as cardiovascularly demanding as trail running.

Right now, I'm trying to retrain all those little balance muscles that I haven't been using all summer, as well as other muscles that just don't get as much use. I did start dryland in early November, but it hasn't done much for me.

I've been trying to get 1 hour workouts in right now, but it's sooo difficult. Your muscles just get so sore. I have been resorting to poling in the Classic track when my legs are sore, and free-skating sans poles when my arms are spent.

Anyways, I'll probably be spending 5-6 nights/week at skiing at Clifton French Park in Plymouth until the Birkie. French has some decent trails for hillwork, and the Birkie, which I haven't completed, is 52km of hilly pain.

See you there?