Training Log Archive: ernst

Snow and cold (5 F)! Put on the "Rangeley dress code", and braved it with Jena for a before-breakfast loop. Very bumpy. 1.5 inches of light snow. Either contact with bare ground or uneven hard-pack underneath. Not much of a training, but a lot of cold fresh air.

Then on to a "skate trial". Mostly back and forth on the access road (4 times) and electric avenue (2 times), plus over some minimally covered (1 inch!) connectors, where I just double poled to avoid scratching. Ok, but 40 minutes is enough!

Run to work. A tad faster than yesterday.
Had to rush to make it to Kyle's M.S. defense on moose mortality and winter ticks. Extremely interesting, and Kyle did a fabulous job. Love the Wildlife and Natural Resources crowd, they bring the best homemade cookies to their seminars, which I sampled generously and with delight.

Run home, same as yesterday + hill detour in CW for a bit of tempo trial. Still easing into the running routine.

Decided to run to work after a couple of rest (= too much work) days.
Legs felt good. Easy pace before work.

Then decided to check out College Woods, as I already was on the field house side after a swing by at Hewitt where I had forgotten an VGA adapter. While about 70% of the trails where ice covered, it was possible to run on the side, or on the edge, plus the ice was so dirty, I had no problem balancing over it when I had to. So, instead of bailing out in the middle, I took it all the way the Oyster River Forest/Spruce Hole.

This gave me a chance to "inspect" the gaping hole that the loggers left. Incredible! It looks as if Spruce Wood requested an opening so that the old folks can see the sunset. What I don't understand is that the town spent $ to plant several thousand seedlings of non-invasive shrubs and trees on the field a year ago, of wich 1/4 has now been flattened down by the logging operation. Great coordination guys!

Also inspected the extend of snow cover and found that, if desperate, I could skate ski on 3 strips: down the access road, electric avenue, and the half bow connector, with only 1 or 2 ski-off crossings. We'll see.

Rangeley Loppet. Start postponed to 10:30 for weather reasons. It did warm up somewhat thanks to brilliant sunshine, but the wind continued intermittently. After yesterday's clothing testing, I was perfectly dressed for the 6 - 15 F range. I did use hand and foot warmers which worked fine. And I was not overdressed like some others..
Course was nicely groomed, much improved since yesterday. Nevertheless some icy spots on the downhills that had been expertly scraped by the skiers in front. I wiped out on the first of the two dangerous looking rt hand turns on the first loop with lots of people around me. No major collision though. A few minutes later, same situation, but I drifted far to the left with no control, but avoided another fall. The rest was fine. The cold snow in the shade made for slow glide, so had to work extra hard to keep a rhythm going, to try keep up with Jud, and 3 young ladies who skied together. The long uphills to the 2nd waterstop did me in - my core muscles were screaming, but there is always the quick recovery on the downhills.
After the first half, I could not keep up with Jud and the ladies, so started to drift back. Once they were out of sight, and nobody in sight behind, me, my motivation dropped. The glide did improve as it warmed, but major weakness took hold on the uphills, and I was reduced to a touring pace. In the end, I did have some energy left on the Geneva loop and did not feel entirely spent.
All in all, not too bad; I lost 4 minutes to Jud, Michael came in 4 minutes behind me; a couple racers between us.
As every year, the best soups ever afterwards (donated/prepared by the local restaurants - I had 4 cups of different soups, then to the legendary sausages, and finally an assortment of cookies.
Rangeley is still my favorite marathon!

C • Favorite marathon 1