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!