Welcome To Taper Week!

But first...

Feeling perfectly filthy.

Tuesday

WOD, "Filthy Fifty" in reverse

• 50 Double Unders
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Wall Balls
• 50 Back Extensions
• 50 Push Press @ 45#
• 50 Knees To Elbows
• 50 Walking Lunges
• 50 Kettlebell Swings
• 50 Jumping Pull-ups
• 50 Box Jumps

After a quick think, I figured this would be just the ticket to work on endurance.  I figured to do all 50 and just take my time to finish.  So I started with the sub, 150 single unders.  The burpees afterword kicked my butt, though.  Starting with the burps, I ended up doing 25 or 30 reps of everything.  Still, it made me a good workout.  My finishing time was something over 30 minutes.

 Wednesday 

A big sled load.

Strength

Front Squat

10-10-10-10-10

Assistance

3 rounds of

2 Heavy Sled Pulls

30 Second L-sit

10 Good Mornings

I worked up the squats to 10 at 50%, 80#.  I didn't see the '3 rounds' part, so I really loaded up the sled for one good effort.  Even Jared helped out.  If Jared is 190#, I was pulling about 560#.  When I discovered my error, I sent Jared packing.  Good mornings were 75#. I did the L-sits in 10 second bits.  One moment off balance kind of tweaked my right shoulder getting back in line.

Today

Easy day with my beauty.

MTU trails, 24F, a bit of wind, new wax - mid temp. Finally a good day with good glide!

Easy Skate

Taper week starts with a 60 minute easy skate.  We did all the easier loops.  Still, with the glide as nice as today, the GPS showed a 6:05/km pace.  That was fun.

Here's a map.

The Hills Are Alive

With the sound of burping.

Long Skate

MTU trails - Hemlock, Skidder, Nara loops. 11F, light wind, 1" fresh powder over groomed. Cold wax.  The fresh snow gave us medium glide.

Hills.  Lots of hills. there were very few flats.  We either were going up or down.  I burnt a match on one of the longer uphills at Nara to finish without stopping.  After that, I took long uphills in sections.  By the end of Nara, I was done in and had to do the frequent stopping thing again.  

I didn't seem to quite run out of strength or run out of breath.  I just would start to get nauseous.  Perhaps this was my body's reaction to dipping too deep into glycolitic pathways - short term energy stores.  Very likely, considering my weight and lack of conditioning.  

I think another part of it was my nutrition schedule.  We had lunch (chicken salad salad) an hour before and a half dose of 3FU3L only half an hour before skiing.  I was burping occasionally all throughout our ski.  Kirsten, however, had no problems.  She did stop on later hills a lot.  Her hips and legs were getting tired.

What I learned:

• No or at least very little solid food race day.
• 3FU3L try at least 1 hour before skiing.  If that doesn't work, then 2 hours.

• 11.7 km
• 1:30:02 / km
• 7:43 / km

Here's the map: 

  

Don't Wait Up, I'll Be There Soon

Monday

Trying out the new gear.

Long Skate

Swedetown, 10F light wind.  cold -weather wax NF, glide fair to poor.

We skied the first parts of Powderhouse and all of the Bears.  A new wax job did improve the glide, but the cold weather made for pretty slow going and even slower as the temperature dropped.  Still, this was one our last chances to do two out of the three race sections.

Starting after the Baby Bear hill, I began to stop a lot.  Before that, we simply took breaks.  On the way up Papa and Momma Bear, I stopped more and more frequently.  Kirsten kept moving along, sans poles.  In the beginning, I would wait for her to catch up.  Later, Kirsten waited for me.  I was stopping two or three times for her once.  In the end, I didn't see her at all because she had to keep going to avoid getting cold.  

Once back in motion, there were two ways for me to go.  One was as pokey and slow as I could manage in the belief that I could last longer.  I found that that led to technique generally breaking down.  The other way was to just ski.  I probably got at least as far before having to stop.  It was also a lot more fun.  I shall try it next time and see how it goes. 

As to whether we'll be ready to race, Kirsten thinks that with occasional pauses she'll be able to ski it without using her poles.  I worry about myself, but I'm 'suspending disbelief' until I get much closer.

As to the gear, The jacket is only a shell.  However, with a base layer and a long sleeve cool-weather technical shirt and a hat with a buff to move up and down, I stayed warm enough, even with pauses.  Only when I stopped completely did I feel cold.  My lobster mitts only got too warm after the Bear loops.  It means I can wear the new jacket down to at least 10F.

I may get to ski more this week as I have a few days off.  Naturally the weather is cold all week (sigh.)

Here's the map.  Add more time for pauses.  A lot more time.  My GPS pauses when I do.

Like Sand

The Girls post-WOD

 To start, Kirsten had Kim over for a WOD last week.  She wanted me to post it, so here it is.

WOD

AMRAP 15

• 10 Box Jumps
• 20 Sit-ups or KB
• 30 single unders.

Shootim

Over to the barn to clean stalls and let the horses out to play. It was too cold for anything more.

Sarah and Kirsten

Short Intervals - Hills

MTU trails 0F, fresh groomed.  Probably none of the last wax left.  poor glide.

• Hill repeats, resting in between until pace/form deteriorate.

It felt like sand today as we skied Linden loop.  I would have liked to have made 4 rounds.  After arriving, I was hoping for 3.  I had to pause in the second round, so I stopped after 2.  I have been a slug up to now.  Hopefully I have something tomorrow.

She's invigorated.  I'm pooped.

Here's the map.

A Bit Of A Push

Wednesday

The Korpis having a bit of a push.

WOD

10-10-10-10-10

Back Squat @ 50%

Then

3 rounds

5 Box Squats

50 yard Heavy Sled Push

10 Good Mornings

CW: Not for time.  Back squat 105# (last set 55#,) box squats 65#, good mornings 45#.  The sled push proved interesting.  The sleds were already loaded with plates.  Three thick 45# plates and two of the new thinner blue 45# plates.  I thought that this would be just right.  What I didn't know until I put things away was that the thick plates underneath were 65# each.  It worked out, but I was surprised to have to remove one of the 45s.

Today

Shootim

After a good sleep in to start a week's vacation, we did not plan to do a lot.  But with our trainers dealing with stomach flu, we went down to clean stalls.  Each horse had a turnout in the arena while it's stall was cleaned.  Shootim also had a bit of free schooling. he enjoyed it, ripping around here and there.  I wish I had more time and energy, I think Shootim would have liked to do more.  

Afterwords I brushed Shootim in the cross-ties.  He is shedding and I got a lot of loose hair off of him.  After just one little indication of a nip from him and I put on his mouth-shutter.  He settled right down and we had a very pleasant time.  We'll be back tomorrow.

Ready, dad? Let's play!

Random Long Intervals

We just remembered to take a picture. Note the new togs.

MTU Trails, 20F, some wind.  Same left-over wax:  cold + LF mid-temp.  Good glide.

Long Intervals

I'm still in town and was home early from work.  It was the end of a very nice day, so Kirsten said, "Let's go skiing!"  I wondered what kind of workout to do, since we weren't on the schedule. Kirsten suggested that we "just go skiing."  She's great like that.

Double poling and Kirsten's shoulder haven't been getting along as well as we'd like.  The PT says to ski legs only and just carry poles.  This slowed Kirsten down, but it didn't knock her out.  It did make for an effective workout, though.

Since I was a bit faster, I waited at the end of each loop.  That made each loop into about a 1km interval.  Rest was about a minute.  I've got no reliable data or map because the MapMyRide app went kerfluey. The ending splits showed 5:12 and 6:18.  That might be reasonable.

The best bit, though, is that I noticed and improvement in my performance.  I did stop at every loop, but this time I didn't have to stop at the top of every hill.  Yay!  

A big thanks for the new jacket; it performed perfectly today.  A Christmas present from Mom.  

Thanks, Mom!

Back In The Saddle Again (Briefly)

Doing a ride-by.

Shootim

20F today, and I hoped to ride. It had been an age since I rode, but I was patient.  First, we turned him out while his stall was cleaned.  I didn't hear much carrying on from inside the arena, so I went to see him.  Shootim immediately came up to me, then found a lunge whip to chew on.  I took the hint, got the whip and free-schooled him.  He had a great time with the freedom from the line, showing some spectacular rollbacks.  I stayed pretty low-key, the moves were mostly Shootim's idea.

After that, we decided on driving and then maybe a quick ride. The coat came off and into the cross ties Shootim went. A new device gave Shootim a new outlook on life.  Called a mouth-shutter, it's a cowboy cavesson with stiff rope around the nose.  He didn't open his mouth and grab at all; I actually had no trouble brushing on his face.  Nice.

After driving, I got on, no spurs, just a quick ride, walk and trot only.  He did quite well at maneuvers with no major disagreements.  One turn he had trouble with improved with a second try, so I backed him, stopped and got off.  We quit while we were ahead.  A very good first ride back.  Perhaps I'll be able to ride again next time and start a trend.

Long Skate...Well, Long-ish

A bit frosted and windblown.

Swedetown: Eds, Cedar and Birch loops. 20F, windy.  Groomed early with 2" of additional powder.  Still the cold mixed with LF mid-temp wax.  Good glide.

Long Skate

We had 3FU3L just before we left.  Before that we had a breakfast.  Kirsten was a bit 'off' and I was burping the whole time.  I think we should have had 3FU3L a bit sooner to let it settle.  Also, no breakfast with greasy fats to digest.  My energy was good, though.

What with the windy conditions, the powder to deal with and Kirsten feeling a little down, we skipped the Tamarack loop.  

We've got three more weekends before the Bear Chase.  The next two weeks we've got to get in longer skis.  2/3 of the course at least.  Next week, Powderhouse and the Bears; the following week, the Bears and Tamarack.  Hoo, boy!

I think that the hills in the last part are the worst, combining steepness with length.  What I've learned is not to work too hard on the first bits so I don't run out of juice on the last hills.  Powderhouse is a warmup, then the Bears are take it easy time.

Also I've learned that stepping through downhill turns to keep my foot speed up, not to get stuck on the outside leg.

The data:

8k

54:26

6:50/km

Here's a map:

Short Intervals

Back from our sprints.

MTU trails, 16F, calm cold/LF mid temp wax, good glide.

Short Intervals

60 seconds on : 30 seconds off 

until form / pace deteriorate.

I had a little trouble with the app signaling again, but I figured it out pretty quickly this time.

CW: 

Pace / km for each interval

2:58

4:18

3:36

5:04

4:25

6:05

6:02

5:00

Average pace: 4:41/km

Pretty good.  The fast ones were downhill, of course.  The slow were uphill.

Here's a map:

Press Complex, Sled Push

Thursday

A picture of the sled push would have been great, but I didn't think about it until it was too late.  So here's a picture of a cat watching me tune.

WOD

1-1-1-1-1-1

• Thruster / Push Press / Push Jerk / Split Jerk

Followed by

• 100m max sled drag

CW: I maxed out the bar at 125#.  I maxed out the sled at 380# + Jared sitting on the sled.  I told you it would have made a great picture.

Follow Me

Shootim warming up on the line.

Shootim

Today at the barn I tried some of Susan's secret tricks.  Some worked (sometimes) and some didn't (unless they did.)  First up was 'follow me.'  I walk in front of the horse, stop, back up and the horse follows.  As I hold the lead rope, he gets a tug if he doesn't come with.  Besides watching my back, the end of the lead rope waving behind me keeps him from walking into me.  

The plan is that the horse learns to respect the trainer's personal space and work off of the trainer's body.  That worked most of the time.  I tried it trotting and Shootim must have got a little excited.  When I stopped, he did stop, but then gave the back of my arm a little nip.  He then got backed up the length of the arena.  We'll be having none of that.

After that it was on to working standing next to Shootim.  Things went pretty well, until I tried the stop and face him to square up.  Shootim just stopped.  He didn't seem to want to move to square up.  Funny, he did for Susan.  Maybe I'm standing wrong, not self-aware enough to find just the right angle.

And then something happened that made me glad for the trouble Kirsten had with him last night.  Some noises got him distracted and I could tell that his attention was on the wane.  I went back to the follow me game, then stopped.  It was then that I noticed that in the time it took me to turn towards him that he had already squared up.  No wonder he didn't want to move.  Having then gotten some success from him, I brought Shootim back in for his feeding.

I'd like more active control over Shootim squaring up his feet.  I think next time I'll start with 'follow me,' then walking next to him, I'll get him used to stopping and immediately backing up.  That should lighten him up for moving his feet for squaring.

Then back to his off side!