Outdoor Addict » XC Skiing

The happenings of 2010, so far.

mike — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:00:15 +0000

Almost a month since the last post. That has to be somewhat close to a record.

I am still here, sticking with the bike, doing the things that need to be done for another year of racing. Let’s get caught up since we last left each other.
For the end of December, I went back home to Pennsylvania, to visit the fam and got to take the bike with me. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all that cooperative, so I only got to ride once. Ohh well. Nutting you can do about that.

Since then, I am back here in North Conway, doing my best to keep my sanity during these few months of cold weather. I got out the cross county skis a couple of times (1, 2, 3) hit the trainer a bunch and also have been outside on the bike as much as possible.

For some reason, getting up and going this year has been more difficult for me. I am not sure if it is because of how much time I have spent on the trainer last year and I know the amount of suck that is involved, if it is because I have a new coach (more on that), or if because I haven’t inked a partnership with a team yet. It’s gotta be one of those three, a combination of the three, or something completely different, but the motivation isn’t there. I need to do something to change that and unfortunately, it mostly involves the trainer.

Last year, the XC skiing was pretty good due to the amount of snow we got. This year, it has been pretty chilly out there, but the white stuff just hasn’t been falling. At all the local cross country ski areas, they keep grooming, but the bare spots are popping up all over the place and it isn’t something I want to run my skis through. So trainer riding it is….I guess.

So, it seems like it is up to my new coach to get me motivated. And that certainly adds up to problems. You see, this off season, I did some studying up and passed my test and became a USA Cycling certified Level 3 coach. Do I plan on doing much with the certification?? Probably not, but I did it to help myself out. I figured that if I knew the basics of coaching, I could relay more valuable info a a coach in order to help out my current plan. Since I am going at the training on my own this year, the feedback isn’t helping. I think last year, when I was working with Grasky Endurance, I felt an obligation to them, not to make them “look bad”. I felt that if I didn’t do what was prescribed, and didn’t achieve my goals, it would make him look like a bad coach, something that he certainly wasn’t. He was a great coach and I learned TONS from him. Either way, I am now out there by myself, and I need to get my keister in gear. Nothing more needs to be said.

As for a team, I have some things in the works, but it just seems as if any of the final paperwork has not been passed back out for the 2010 season. I know when I got my contract signed with GT last year, I worked extremely hard to show my team mates what I really could do. Hopefully the paperwork will come through soon and the same effect will happen. Which also might mean a new bike……YEAH!!!!

As for races this year, I will not be the 1 trick endurance racer I was this past year. I have decided to branch out a little bit and do some other races, to make me a more rounded rider. I have decided on a road race, or two, as well as some of the shorter cross country races in the area as well as as many endurance races as I can and still have a positive season without killing myself. With all of the different style of races thrown in, it should help when it comes to cyclo-cross season (scheduling the races with some recovery time is a VALUABLE lesson learned from last year). Last year, when I made the transition from endurance to cross, I feel it was too late. This year, along with the long rides, I will be throwing in some shorter rides to prime the system. Now, I just need to look at all the schedules and races I am thinking about and put together a solid season.

That’s it for now…..off to ride the trainer….ugh..

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Busy weekend and bad weather ahead

mike — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:08:16 +0000

Ive been busy….and because of that, I’ve been tired. I have been keeping up with the workouts given to me and have actually gotten outside on Wednesday night. However, it was on my cross country skate skis, so still no pedaling outside.

This weekend is going to be a bust as well. Between now and Sunday night, I will be putting in around 12-15 hours a day for work. This weekend is our annual open house and even though a lot of long hours and hand shaking will go on, I am excited about it. I have never been on this side of things before. I have always worked the events and said the same 5 minute skit about Michelin tires, but this time, I am free to roam and talk to whomever I what about whatever I want. With all that work, I don’t see me getting any riding in (BOOOOO) but am going to try and get a commute in on Saturday, weather depending. It is supposed to rain today, be super nice tomorrow (which is my preferred day to commute) then more snow on Sunday. Hopefully the snow passes so we have a full warehouse of shops for the open house.

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Trying to stay warm outside

mike — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:23:19 +0000

Temps here are on the rise, but I have to say, they aren’t the warmest. Tonight, when I went out with the cross country skate skis, it was a balmy 20 degrees out. It wasn’t so bad, but once you get flying down a hill with some sweat built up, it can get a bit chilly. I was out for about an hour and I must say, I am starting to improve on the skate skis. The first time I was out, it was not a pretty sight. Every time since, improvement has been made. Tonight, I was moving along quite well. Gotta say, it is quite a bit of work. I do not think I am in the best shape in the world, far from it in fact, but I do a bit aerobic workouts. Skate skiing is something that will really push my limits and will really help me out in the long run…..so far, glad I got them.

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3 fer and a 1 fer

mike — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:41:15 +0000

Yesterday was a big day work the workouts… I got up early before work and headed out with the dog to do a little skate cross country skiers. I got me some new skis and I just had to try em about. We went out for about 40 minutes and had to call it quits so we could get to work on time. After work, I took to the trainer to work on some cadence drills. Nothing like working my way up to my max rpms (120) over a 5 minutes period. Working on a high cadence is something that I need to do this year so I can keep my legs spinning all year with the single speed. I have the ability to lay down some power when need be, but hitting a fire road and spinning out like a madman is something I need to do. After the bike workout, I worked on some core workouts that include some quality one legged squats and other top notch workouts.

Today, back up early and out skate sking again. I took a bunch of pictures of the trails and Mount Washington, but of course, the battery went dead and someone “missplaced” the charger, so a dead battery it is for now. Once we, and by we I really mean I, find the charger, I will try to get them uploaded..

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What a weekend…

mike — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:34:33 +0000

On Friday, when I got home from work, it was time to hit the trainer. I got it all ready to go and cranked out a few outs of some drills. I did some spin ups, which are just that, starting at a low cadence and spinning my way up to as fast as possible without bobbing on the bike, which was for me about 115 rpms. After a few sets of those lasting different amount of times, I did a few one leggers. It was a little difficult with my left leg because of my knee, so I tried to take it easy with that one.

Saturday, coach has me doing a little cross training, so that is just what I did. After a little 1ish hour hike with the little lady and the pup, I came home and got changed up for an adventure. I strapped the snow shoes on y backpack grabbed, my poles and iPod shuffle and got to it.

My destination, North Moat:

A view of Mount Washington on my drive to the parking lot:

About 3/4 way up the mountain, if you turn around, you get a killer view of Kearsarge Mountain, Cranmore Ski Area and the town of North Conway:

The total hike time was a little over 3 hours 30 minutes and as you can tell from this picture, I finished in the dark.

Today, the goal was 3 hours of activity in the aerobic area. So, to take advantage of the 5 inches of fresh fluffy white stuff on the ground, I took Campy out for about an hour worth of cross country skiing. We only went for an hour because it was her first time being out there with the skis and I think she was also a little freaked out. Plus it was kinda cold and even with her running non-stop, she doesn’t do so well in the cold.

After that little adventure was over, I changed gears, grabbed all my bike gear and hit the trainer for 2 hours. To keep the time flying by and the boredom at bay, I did a bunch of intervals just to keep the mind busy. Nothing too tricky because of the need to keep the heart rate down. Either way, after everything from this weekend, my legs are a little tired this evening. A core workout tomorrow, so that should help with the recovery of the legs tomorrow.

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