Training Log Archive: BorisGrIn the 7 days ending Feb 20, 2011:
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Sunday Feb 20, 2011 #
Skiing 40:00 [2]
Sandra and Marc wedding trip - Day 2
The wedding ceremony was beautiful and multilingual: French, German, and English, with some songs in other languages, including Finnish! Ross managed to get through his French reading in style, and I apparently deafened the audience with mine (in American). Marc's vows to Sandra made German sound beautiful for the first time ever, and I was ready to cry despite not understanding a single word. Really, a beautiful ceremony in a lovely old church overlooking Neuchatel.
We then had wine (a lot of wine) and appetizers (cheese!) while Marc and Sandra greeted what seemed like the entire population of Switzerland who came up to wish them well. Ross and I pried them away from the adoring fans for a minute to play the shoe game. Apparently, they will have 3.5 children. And Sandra has the better handbag collection. Mingling with Swiss orienteering stars was cool. (Simone was there! Woo!) Some familiar faces, too, like Peter H and Marion C, Franziska W, and a few others.
After the super-cool balloon+promise release (I promised the happy couple 1kg of chocolate should my balloon be found by some innocent farmer and returned to Sandra and Marc), it was party time. A massive bus drove us up the hills to the hotel/restaurant, and partying began.
The dinner consisted of a steady stream of yummy food punctuated by Sandra and Marc's friends outdoing each other with elaborate skits, slide shows, speeches, and games, the best of which was undoubtedly Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: the Sandra and Marc edition. Our table had a clear lead until I had to go and convince Matthias M and Baptiste R that Sandra and Marc are wimps and would need a whopping 9 years of training to run around the world. Oops. But at least we got to watch Marc do 32 push-ups. Though Cristina said only a few of them would count in a US Air Force fitness test. I think this might be a good time to invade Switzerland and its wimpy push-ups.
Finally, the dinner came to an end, and dancing began. It was 1.30 now - the party had already gone on for twelve hours! The dancing was really fun, as a hardcore group of Swiss (including the awesome groom and the barely-bustled bride), Finns, and Americans kept going till the DJ had to get to sleep. It was great to take breaks from dancing by running outside and throwing snowballs at Erin. The wine flowed and, despite a serious attempt, we did not manage to finish it.
We left in the morning in fine American style - neglecting to pay for the hotel and running off with the room keys.
After an endless succession of cars, trains and buses, (Isn't Switzerland basically the size of New Jersey? Why the hell does it take so long to get across it? I am pretty sure we were just going in circles the entire time.) we were in Silvaplana, and so were our skis. Success!
As soon as we got there, Kat, Biggins, and I grabbed skis and headlamps and went for a hangover-curing ski on the lakes. Double-poling in the dark with the falling snow was fun.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful and multilingual: French, German, and English, with some songs in other languages, including Finnish! Ross managed to get through his French reading in style, and I apparently deafened the audience with mine (in American). Marc's vows to Sandra made German sound beautiful for the first time ever, and I was ready to cry despite not understanding a single word. Really, a beautiful ceremony in a lovely old church overlooking Neuchatel.
We then had wine (a lot of wine) and appetizers (cheese!) while Marc and Sandra greeted what seemed like the entire population of Switzerland who came up to wish them well. Ross and I pried them away from the adoring fans for a minute to play the shoe game. Apparently, they will have 3.5 children. And Sandra has the better handbag collection. Mingling with Swiss orienteering stars was cool. (Simone was there! Woo!) Some familiar faces, too, like Peter H and Marion C, Franziska W, and a few others.
After the super-cool balloon+promise release (I promised the happy couple 1kg of chocolate should my balloon be found by some innocent farmer and returned to Sandra and Marc), it was party time. A massive bus drove us up the hills to the hotel/restaurant, and partying began.
The dinner consisted of a steady stream of yummy food punctuated by Sandra and Marc's friends outdoing each other with elaborate skits, slide shows, speeches, and games, the best of which was undoubtedly Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: the Sandra and Marc edition. Our table had a clear lead until I had to go and convince Matthias M and Baptiste R that Sandra and Marc are wimps and would need a whopping 9 years of training to run around the world. Oops. But at least we got to watch Marc do 32 push-ups. Though Cristina said only a few of them would count in a US Air Force fitness test. I think this might be a good time to invade Switzerland and its wimpy push-ups.
Finally, the dinner came to an end, and dancing began. It was 1.30 now - the party had already gone on for twelve hours! The dancing was really fun, as a hardcore group of Swiss (including the awesome groom and the barely-bustled bride), Finns, and Americans kept going till the DJ had to get to sleep. It was great to take breaks from dancing by running outside and throwing snowballs at Erin. The wine flowed and, despite a serious attempt, we did not manage to finish it.
We left in the morning in fine American style - neglecting to pay for the hotel and running off with the room keys.
After an endless succession of cars, trains and buses, (Isn't Switzerland basically the size of New Jersey? Why the hell does it take so long to get across it? I am pretty sure we were just going in circles the entire time.) we were in Silvaplana, and so were our skis. Success!
As soon as we got there, Kat, Biggins, and I grabbed skis and headlamps and went for a hangover-curing ski on the lakes. Double-poling in the dark with the falling snow was fun.
Saturday Feb 19, 2011 #
Orienteering 35:05 6.0 km (5:51 / km)
Sandra and Marc wedding trip - Day 1
Arrived in Neuchatel and successfully found the old hotel stocked with US orienteers. Yay! Ross and I got up in the morning and ran the M35A final sprint course from last year's World Masters. We had one map, so we traded off memorizing legs while the other person led the previous leg without a map. Good training, Ross was quick. Running through the castle ruins was very cool. A fantastic breakfast spread courtesy of Marc waited back at the hotel!
522/2000
Arrived in Neuchatel and successfully found the old hotel stocked with US orienteers. Yay! Ross and I got up in the morning and ran the M35A final sprint course from last year's World Masters. We had one map, so we traded off memorizing legs while the other person led the previous leg without a map. Good training, Ross was quick. Running through the castle ruins was very cool. A fantastic breakfast spread courtesy of Marc waited back at the hotel!
522/2000
Friday Feb 18, 2011 #
Running 25:34 [2] 4.42 km (5:47 / km)
Running to Jan's house and then back "home" from the last control.
Orienteering 1:04:44 [2] 7.0 km (9:15 / km)
Hanging controls for Jan's training tomorrow. Mostly city orienteering, with some forest parts. Nice and cold out (-15C), but the running felt good, and the orienteering was fun. Off to Switzerland now!!
503/2000
503/2000
T.rex training 3:00 [1]
A bit of T.Rex training after the run.
Thursday Feb 17, 2011 #
Running 55:00 9.17 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Supra
Intervals with Linné. The intervals were (3(1)-2(1)-1(2))x5, though I only did it x3 to avoid wiping myself out soon after a bad cold. Felt strong running, but the really cold temperature made it hard to get into a good flow. Calves sore on the last pair of intervals, but I think they are just tight.
T.rex training 40:00 [1]
Jympa/circuits led by Marta after the intervals. It was a really great program, with nice exercises and good music. Really enjoyed it.
Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 #
T.rex training 5:00 [1]
Some T.rex work after the run.
8 AM
Running 1:12:39 [2] 7.93 mi (9:10 / mi) +96m 8:50 / mi
shoes: VJ Supra
Morning run, rerunning last night's Tuesday line-O that I missed because of skiing. This went mostly on trails and bicycle paths with occasional forays into the knee-deep snow in the fields and forests. Nice morning run.
Tuesday Feb 15, 2011 #
Skiing 30:00 [2]
Warm-up and a very slow cool-down
Ski Race 38:50 [5] 10.0 km (3:53 / km)
OK Linné's club champs in skiing
This consisted of four loops on the 2.5km lit track next to the clubhouse. The temperature was a tropical -10C, and the tracks were fast except for the places where people or dogs had run through them. I started 1 minute ahead of Mats and hoped to hold him off for at least a lap. As a result, I pushed really hard the first lap and managed to stay ahead. He caught me halfway through the second lap and passed me when I managed to wipe out when taking a corner on a downhill. I was working hard and seriously hurting on the final lap, only just holding off Lofas, who started 4 minutes behind. Ended up in a glorious last place, 2 seconds behind Millinger and 4:25 behind the winner. However, I thought I skied well and tried thinking about leaning forward at the ankles as Alex suggested, which felt natural as soon as I started doing it again.
This consisted of four loops on the 2.5km lit track next to the clubhouse. The temperature was a tropical -10C, and the tracks were fast except for the places where people or dogs had run through them. I started 1 minute ahead of Mats and hoped to hold him off for at least a lap. As a result, I pushed really hard the first lap and managed to stay ahead. He caught me halfway through the second lap and passed me when I managed to wipe out when taking a corner on a downhill. I was working hard and seriously hurting on the final lap, only just holding off Lofas, who started 4 minutes behind. Ended up in a glorious last place, 2 seconds behind Millinger and 4:25 behind the winner. However, I thought I skied well and tried thinking about leaning forward at the ankles as Alex suggested, which felt natural as soon as I started doing it again.
Monday Feb 14, 2011 #
Skiing 45:00 [1]
Decided to follow Alex's advice and do a double-pole session in Hågadalen. Instead I mostly froze. It was about -20C when I set off, and I could very soon not feel my hands or, a while later, my face. So the workout turned into a bunch of double-pole kicking, striding, and standing still trying to warm my face. I saw one other idiot out there, skiing with his headlamp, looking foolish like me. Days like this were meant for TV-watching on the sofa.
The night was rescued by a romantic Valentine's Day dinner of heart-shaped pizzas with Mats and Rasa at Basilico.
The night was rescued by a romantic Valentine's Day dinner of heart-shaped pizzas with Mats and Rasa at Basilico.
Running 10:00 [1]
Running with skis to and from "home".