In mid December I remember sharing with some athletes at a couple of the Sport/Faith Bible studies I lead how I couldn’t remember the last time I had a cold. It’d been at least a couple of years. I wasn’t bragging so much as just being grateful (or so I thought to myself :).
Of course at Christmas time the tingling in the nasal cavity began and I was about as helpless to stop its progression as falling and sliding down a dble black alpine ski slope (in Jan. during a period of snowlessness I fell at the top of the dble black "Lone Pine" run at Norquay and slid almost the entire run to the bottom). Now here I am the week before race #2 (of 3) for our nat’l ranking and once again a cold, complete with super stuffed nose and lung hacking cough has hit me hard.
I remember reading multiple Ironman world champion Mark Allan say that if you get a flat tyre in an Ironman, it doesn’t mean your race is over, it just means there’s a tyre to fix. So too for me, all week I’ve felt absolutely energyless, but it doesn’t mean my race this Sat. is over, it just means I’ve got to do all I can to get that energy back and be able to ski somewhat what I’m capable of.
After the Dogtooth Dash. I identified 6 areas where I could gain time. Kickturns; downhills, transitions; nutrition; skin glide; fitness. Though it seemed at the time I was doing all these at my capacity even an improvement for example of 1.5 seconds over 50 kickturns would give me 2 minutes. As I evaluated each area I believed that with realistic improvement I could have skied 8:40 faster. I still wouldn’t have caught Andrew, but that’s a lot of time!
I found that pre race nerves are really alleviated when you stop focussing on who’s in the race and how you want to do against them and simply dwell on your race. Performing each area the best you possibly can.
Most of this week’s focus has been on what I can do to get over a cold in less than 1 week. Probably totally impossible, but even if I can get back to 90% that’d be great.
Better get to bed. ‘Nite!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
DOGGY TOOTH
4th year for Dogtooth Dash, the Canadian Nat’l skimo championships. Kicking Horse mountain hosts the race, but the moniker for the event comes from one of the mountains we ascend. In the previous 3 episodes each one turned into a "Dogtooth disaster" for me. Broken poles, stickless skins, sprained ankles, etc. etc. Each year it seemed like I found a new way to have a poor race. This year was different...no disaster.
My mindset was, have fun, put together the best race you’re capable of and let the results take care of themselves. Perhaps too in now my 5th year of racing I’m finally figuring this sport out a bit. We started with the traditional run around the restaurant. Funny how the big guns hold off on this part. I think there were 3 women out of the top 4 in the run section.
It was crazy socked in this year. We tried flying as usual down the cat track, but you couldn’t see through the fog, hence it was a bit spooky. One guy was blitzing so fast that he didn’t see the groomed edge and yard saled so far it couldn’t believe it. I heard later that he never did find one of his skis and had to drop out.
I couldn’t believe how high my heart rate was. I was in the top 3 or 4, but knew I better calm down a bit. After our 3rd descent there’s a series of switchbacks that in previous years really slowed me down. I didn’t lose time on them this year, but with about 50 of these kickturns in the race, if you’re just a couple seconds faster, you can pick up a couple minutes.
As the race progressed I fell into 6th place. For awhile I was 3rd male and thought how cool it would be to podium at our natl’s, but I lost a couple places (one to eventual women’s champ- the Burner). This is a tough race and didn’t panic with Peter passing me about 2/3 in and another newer skier just behind me (I later learned he was fresh off the NCAA xc ski circuit-so it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t easily pull away from this unknown newbie). I tried to focus on my race and tend to my nutrition. Sometimes you can get so caught up in the heat of trying not to lose any seconds you don`t fuel your body enough. I downed a couple double caffeine gels and on the final bootpack felt a trend towards cramping, so I pulled out my gel flask of my trusty pickle juice (see my earlier blog entry from Ironman about this miracle cramp cure).
As I climbed I used a new strategy this year. Last year I discovered that in steep terrain and new snow wall to wall skins really allow you to climb and stay relaxed. You don`t get a whole lot of glide, but in so many N. American races (as opposed to Euro races) you don`t get a lot of cross country terrain....it`s mostly going steep up. So as I used my ``wall to walls`` I put my head down, relaxed and really tried to go.
Just before the final climb to the finish I got a couple breaks. Peter, who`s becoming a good friend travelling to the last couple races together, had a slow transition and then fell and sorta died out, so I passed and put 3 minutes or so into him. It seemed like Erich an American skier from Montana, who was just in front of me all day simply dissappeared. At first I reasoned he must have took off, but then I wondered if he`d made a wrong turn at the confusing last intersection. Turns out the latter was the case. I felt bad for him, but then later remembered that at his home town course in Whitefish, I ALWAYS seem to get lost and make wrong turns, including this year where I think I scrubbed about :10 going off course. Erich`s a good guy though so I did feel a little bad. But then on the final bootpack and uphill into the finish Jeff C. Let me know that I was 3rd, but I better get moving `cause Erich was charging hard. It took all the energy I had just to keep moving, but a couple glances backwards made me realize that the male podium was back in my grasp. Yahoo!
In one of the skimo blogs a writer mentioned about this race that a couple of the faster guys (including himself) weren`t there. But when I reviewed last year`s results (where most of the big guns WERE there) I still would have come in 3rd and done so with a 7 minute cushion. Next up is Nelson ROAM rally. There should be plenty of guys gunning for it!!
My mindset was, have fun, put together the best race you’re capable of and let the results take care of themselves. Perhaps too in now my 5th year of racing I’m finally figuring this sport out a bit. We started with the traditional run around the restaurant. Funny how the big guns hold off on this part. I think there were 3 women out of the top 4 in the run section.
It was crazy socked in this year. We tried flying as usual down the cat track, but you couldn’t see through the fog, hence it was a bit spooky. One guy was blitzing so fast that he didn’t see the groomed edge and yard saled so far it couldn’t believe it. I heard later that he never did find one of his skis and had to drop out.
I couldn’t believe how high my heart rate was. I was in the top 3 or 4, but knew I better calm down a bit. After our 3rd descent there’s a series of switchbacks that in previous years really slowed me down. I didn’t lose time on them this year, but with about 50 of these kickturns in the race, if you’re just a couple seconds faster, you can pick up a couple minutes.
As the race progressed I fell into 6th place. For awhile I was 3rd male and thought how cool it would be to podium at our natl’s, but I lost a couple places (one to eventual women’s champ- the Burner). This is a tough race and didn’t panic with Peter passing me about 2/3 in and another newer skier just behind me (I later learned he was fresh off the NCAA xc ski circuit-so it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t easily pull away from this unknown newbie). I tried to focus on my race and tend to my nutrition. Sometimes you can get so caught up in the heat of trying not to lose any seconds you don`t fuel your body enough. I downed a couple double caffeine gels and on the final bootpack felt a trend towards cramping, so I pulled out my gel flask of my trusty pickle juice (see my earlier blog entry from Ironman about this miracle cramp cure).
As I climbed I used a new strategy this year. Last year I discovered that in steep terrain and new snow wall to wall skins really allow you to climb and stay relaxed. You don`t get a whole lot of glide, but in so many N. American races (as opposed to Euro races) you don`t get a lot of cross country terrain....it`s mostly going steep up. So as I used my ``wall to walls`` I put my head down, relaxed and really tried to go.
Just before the final climb to the finish I got a couple breaks. Peter, who`s becoming a good friend travelling to the last couple races together, had a slow transition and then fell and sorta died out, so I passed and put 3 minutes or so into him. It seemed like Erich an American skier from Montana, who was just in front of me all day simply dissappeared. At first I reasoned he must have took off, but then I wondered if he`d made a wrong turn at the confusing last intersection. Turns out the latter was the case. I felt bad for him, but then later remembered that at his home town course in Whitefish, I ALWAYS seem to get lost and make wrong turns, including this year where I think I scrubbed about :10 going off course. Erich`s a good guy though so I did feel a little bad. But then on the final bootpack and uphill into the finish Jeff C. Let me know that I was 3rd, but I better get moving `cause Erich was charging hard. It took all the energy I had just to keep moving, but a couple glances backwards made me realize that the male podium was back in my grasp. Yahoo!
In one of the skimo blogs a writer mentioned about this race that a couple of the faster guys (including himself) weren`t there. But when I reviewed last year`s results (where most of the big guns WERE there) I still would have come in 3rd and done so with a 7 minute cushion. Next up is Nelson ROAM rally. There should be plenty of guys gunning for it!!
Racing and Not Racing
Well it’s been almost a month since I raced the North American Champs in Crested Butte Colorado, so I suppose it’s time to do some writing!! With our Canadian nat’l team staying domestic this year, this was the big race. But my "race" turned into not quite a "race".
Day one (Sat.) Was the sprint, a handy little course that should only take 6-8 minutes. The skin to the start was about :45 and started in -30C temps. The guy next to me quickly developed frostbite on his nose, so I clued him in. Once at the race zone, it was a cool course. But let me say this, the base elevation was 9400'. Just skinning easily left me out of breath (heck, just walking from the parking lot did that!). When you race at this altitude it feels like you’re having an asthma attack- not that I’ve ever had one, but if I did I’m sure this is what if feels like).
I started fast, died 2 minutes into it and staggered to the finish. I also crashed, hitting a rock on the first downhill. It threw me off so much that racing into the transition zone I did a slow motion fall over that I was hoping that no one witnessed. By the time I got to the final bootpack my legs were so full of high altitude lactic acid that they felt like concrete blocks.
Ok, so day 1 was over. It took me over 2 weeks to finally check the results. I wasn’t last, but I was about as far back as I thought.
Day 2....the main race:
the night before as they described the course I began to get really, really nervous. They described this incredible rock climb bootpack that would be over ½ the race. It was a 5.6 degree climb with fixed ropes the whole way with each racer being hooked in by via ferrata and an ascender. They tested us out on the stairway, to make sure we knew what we were doing. I’m sure I’m not the only guy that was totally bluffing my way through the test, but I’m sure I gave myself away when I asked the assigned guide how much exposure there would be. He must have sensed my trepidation because he asked me if I really wanted to know. Sheepishly I said yes and the answer was "a lot, with sections of 1000+ feet of nothing on either side." Great.
Hopefully learning from day 1 not to go out too fast I still did. Still felt like I was having an asthma attack with legs the weight of concrete. This time though it seemed like almost everyone was in front of me. I picked it up a bit on the 100 kick turn section. Big acclimatised motors that weren’t as dialed in on skimo technique had to be passed. When I finally did get to the big rock climb section I tried racing through, but quickly realized the whole idea of a "race day" was disappearing and turning into an adventure.
The course was so bottlenecked that we spent a lot of time waiting. Like maybe a total of :40 to an hour. I was prepared with a down sweater, warm gloves with heater packs. The climbing stuff is kinda new to me and I’m glad I had some tutors on either side of me. I was almost glad I didn’t have to go at race pace, because with this serious rock climbing I think I was incapable of really moving very fast anyway. In times like this it’s best not to dwell too much on results, how much you trained to get ready, etc. Go with the flow. It was a new and life expanding experience. I truly was glad to have been there-done that.
Again, it took me weeks to finally check the results. I couldn’t believe how few people I actually beat. I heard that with the back log on the rock they had to pull several people off the course as they would have taken too long to complete the race.
Day 3:
The next day, Monday, there was a CO cup race at Winter Park as part of the Denver ski show. I was pretty bagged, but what the heck, I’d travelled a long way for some racing and racing is what I was gonna do.
We started the race with this cool promenade through the vast city of trade show ski booths, then it was let ‘er rip up the hill. Asthma attack #3. Sometimes you just can’t believe who is passing you. We went up a downhill run, then funnelled into the woods for a series of switchbacks. I got trapped behind 3 kick turn challenged dweebs. I was happy for the rest though so didn’t make much of a fuss. Maybe my previous days adventure took the race spirit out of me, but one by one I politely asked them if I could go by and when I finally did I realized how much they were slowing me down.
The first downhill was a nice mogul steep face, but not nearly as steep as Norquay where I do my downhill training, so I let ‘er rip. At the bottom a cute 30 something gal skied up behind me at the transition and said something like, "Dude, you were flying!!" I was so pumped it propelled me up a couple places on the next downhill. I could see teammate Ian ahead, not too far ahead, but couldn’t reel him in. Kinda made me wish I’d not lolly-gagged so much earlier.
Flying home I reflected on how wonderful this experience was. It made me glad I’m not an asthmatic, but more significantly I got to see some really good friends. I have 2 friends, both named Phil that live 4 miles from each other in Monument CO. 2 days before I left an old friend I hadn’t talked to in 23 years contacted me by email. Turns out he lives in Crested Butte. We had a tremendous reunion. We were hosted by a really cool guy named Sean that opened up his home to a couple of strangers. We couldn’t stop talking. It was really fun. Finally, Janelle Smiley (who won the women’s race) gave me and my friends a generous welcome. Hope to see her and husband Mark again this summer in Canmore. I realized it was the friends, not the racing that made the trip so unbelievably special.
Day one (Sat.) Was the sprint, a handy little course that should only take 6-8 minutes. The skin to the start was about :45 and started in -30C temps. The guy next to me quickly developed frostbite on his nose, so I clued him in. Once at the race zone, it was a cool course. But let me say this, the base elevation was 9400'. Just skinning easily left me out of breath (heck, just walking from the parking lot did that!). When you race at this altitude it feels like you’re having an asthma attack- not that I’ve ever had one, but if I did I’m sure this is what if feels like).
I started fast, died 2 minutes into it and staggered to the finish. I also crashed, hitting a rock on the first downhill. It threw me off so much that racing into the transition zone I did a slow motion fall over that I was hoping that no one witnessed. By the time I got to the final bootpack my legs were so full of high altitude lactic acid that they felt like concrete blocks.
Ok, so day 1 was over. It took me over 2 weeks to finally check the results. I wasn’t last, but I was about as far back as I thought.
Day 2....the main race:
the night before as they described the course I began to get really, really nervous. They described this incredible rock climb bootpack that would be over ½ the race. It was a 5.6 degree climb with fixed ropes the whole way with each racer being hooked in by via ferrata and an ascender. They tested us out on the stairway, to make sure we knew what we were doing. I’m sure I’m not the only guy that was totally bluffing my way through the test, but I’m sure I gave myself away when I asked the assigned guide how much exposure there would be. He must have sensed my trepidation because he asked me if I really wanted to know. Sheepishly I said yes and the answer was "a lot, with sections of 1000+ feet of nothing on either side." Great.
Hopefully learning from day 1 not to go out too fast I still did. Still felt like I was having an asthma attack with legs the weight of concrete. This time though it seemed like almost everyone was in front of me. I picked it up a bit on the 100 kick turn section. Big acclimatised motors that weren’t as dialed in on skimo technique had to be passed. When I finally did get to the big rock climb section I tried racing through, but quickly realized the whole idea of a "race day" was disappearing and turning into an adventure.
The course was so bottlenecked that we spent a lot of time waiting. Like maybe a total of :40 to an hour. I was prepared with a down sweater, warm gloves with heater packs. The climbing stuff is kinda new to me and I’m glad I had some tutors on either side of me. I was almost glad I didn’t have to go at race pace, because with this serious rock climbing I think I was incapable of really moving very fast anyway. In times like this it’s best not to dwell too much on results, how much you trained to get ready, etc. Go with the flow. It was a new and life expanding experience. I truly was glad to have been there-done that.
Again, it took me weeks to finally check the results. I couldn’t believe how few people I actually beat. I heard that with the back log on the rock they had to pull several people off the course as they would have taken too long to complete the race.
Day 3:
The next day, Monday, there was a CO cup race at Winter Park as part of the Denver ski show. I was pretty bagged, but what the heck, I’d travelled a long way for some racing and racing is what I was gonna do.
We started the race with this cool promenade through the vast city of trade show ski booths, then it was let ‘er rip up the hill. Asthma attack #3. Sometimes you just can’t believe who is passing you. We went up a downhill run, then funnelled into the woods for a series of switchbacks. I got trapped behind 3 kick turn challenged dweebs. I was happy for the rest though so didn’t make much of a fuss. Maybe my previous days adventure took the race spirit out of me, but one by one I politely asked them if I could go by and when I finally did I realized how much they were slowing me down.
The first downhill was a nice mogul steep face, but not nearly as steep as Norquay where I do my downhill training, so I let ‘er rip. At the bottom a cute 30 something gal skied up behind me at the transition and said something like, "Dude, you were flying!!" I was so pumped it propelled me up a couple places on the next downhill. I could see teammate Ian ahead, not too far ahead, but couldn’t reel him in. Kinda made me wish I’d not lolly-gagged so much earlier.
Flying home I reflected on how wonderful this experience was. It made me glad I’m not an asthmatic, but more significantly I got to see some really good friends. I have 2 friends, both named Phil that live 4 miles from each other in Monument CO. 2 days before I left an old friend I hadn’t talked to in 23 years contacted me by email. Turns out he lives in Crested Butte. We had a tremendous reunion. We were hosted by a really cool guy named Sean that opened up his home to a couple of strangers. We couldn’t stop talking. It was really fun. Finally, Janelle Smiley (who won the women’s race) gave me and my friends a generous welcome. Hope to see her and husband Mark again this summer in Canmore. I realized it was the friends, not the racing that made the trip so unbelievably special.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Dynafit Evo boot review
Well, here they are--Dynafit Evo boots. If you're living and racing in Europe, they're old news...if you're living in North America, you probably haven't seen 'em yet. I first saw a pair at last year's world championships in Italy. Javier, a Dynafit sponsored skier from Spain, had the only pair. He graciously offered to let me give them a try, but being a 1/2 size small and immediately after he'd raced on them I declined. Not that I have anything against Spanish sweat, it's just that I'm not into sharing footwear.
What I noticed about Javier's boots was the incredible lightness. Mine weigh in around 680g. Lighter than my xc skate boots! Apparently Dynafit mapped out the boots in square cm's and adjusted the plastic (grilamid) for each segment in order to minimize the weight and put it where needed. Last year I skied on the Dyna's (980g)and I thought those were light. Evo has definately raised the bar in lightness. This is why I really wanted to get these as now they're in the lightness category of an all Carbon boot (racers never like to give any advantage to the competition!).
As for stiffness, there's nothing lacking. They got those sq cm's dialed in and with the carbon upper cuff, the boot is as stiff as it needs to be. I haven't skied the Gignoux al carbon boot or LaSportiva, so I'm not sure how the stiffness would compare, but with the Evo it's certainly adequate.
One heads up, the wheelbase is about 9mm shorter than the D.y.n.a.'s. An advantage for the boots in skiing feel and lightness, but if you're planning on using your older model race boots for training and saving the Evo's for racing it can be a problem with our race bindings. When I remounted my Trab WC race skis I laid down a layer of carbon fibre to strengthen the ski with the additional binding holes (I remember seeing my team mate Ian Gale break his WC's in the last race of the season due to the multiple holes in his skis). For my training Trabs I've installed "quiver killer binding inserts". Another option would be to mount with an adjustable plate (ATK or Plum make these).
So how do the Evo's ski? My first impression as I strided uphill was how much quicker I could move my feet due to the lightness. The stiffness made it feel very efficient (I've also used Scarpa F1 race, with the bellowed sole). But overall I felt like I could fly effortlessly. On the descent I'm still evaluating. I've only taken them down one somewhat gnarly downhill. What I did notice was that with the lightness, any thicker windblown and cruddy powder tended to "kick" them around a bit. But after all, with a ski-boot-binding combo this light, what can you expect? My skis and bindings together weigh only 850g and with only 680g on your feet there's not much there to push back in tougher snow conditions. I kinda feel like good skiers learn how to ski on anything. Maybe that's why when N. Americans show up in Europe with our big mountain fattties, the Euro's kinda sneer and look down their noses.
Dynafit has a unique race tour/alpine closure system. For the most part it works seamlessly. When I upgraded to Dynafit over the Scarpa F1 race boots I immediately felt like I was getting a stiffer, more efficient alpine mode. The Evo essentially employs the same system as last year's D.y.n.a. boot.
In tour mode the flexibility is quite amazing. I don't think a running shoe would give you more unencumbered mobility. The feel is truly amazing. Evo liners are 20g lighter than last year's Dyna but they retained the neoprene flex zone at the achilleas. Again, I haven't skied on the PG's or LaS....but I couldn't imagine these being as flexible as the Evo's.
I finally get to race on these babies this weekend in Whitefish MT, then next week head to CO for the N. American championships. ' Can't wait to see how they help my performance.
A special thanks to Chris Clausen at Dynafit for letting this Canuck have the only pair up here in the Great White North!
Brrrrrrrrrr!!!
Blog deadbeat that I am...it’s been awhile-sorry. Yesterday’s hi temp hit a not so balmy -27C (-15F). Tough to get motivated to train in that. But I had a change of mind that made getting out exciting. I decided to make a challenge out of the weather. "Could I bring all my cold weather outdoor training experience together to master even this unbelievable chill and have a comfortable, safe experience?" Old man winter threw down the gauntlet, now it was up to me to see if I was up to the task.
I have been having a hard time getting out for my long skis and couldn’t neglect yet another one, so a minimum 3 hour ski was the plan. I decided to go up Healy creek as the parking would be Sunshine DH area and in case I couldn’t restart my car I wouldn’t be stranded in K country without cell service.
Venturing out into the backcountry totally alone in those temps you don’t want to make any mistakes. I decided to go around the backside to Sunshine ski area, a trip I’d once gotten counfused in a white out and had to turn back arriving 4 hours late in total darkness (returning to an extremely panicked wife). This time as I hit the cliff band...the only avi hazard in the tour, I made the choice to turn back as the conditions seemed a bit "slabby". With a partner it wouldn’t have been any big deal, but alone I needed to be ultra safe.
So, how did I do in the cold? Primo!! I was totally comfortable and safe the entire time. Here’s some of my tricks:
-recently I purchased foot insole heater packs. You know, those chemical things that give off heat. These new models look just like an insole you’d put into a shoe. My feet were totally toasty
-I put 2 heat packs in my pockets in case my hands needed them later, which they did. The heater packs take ab out ½ hour to really get going, so if you only break them out when you’re cold they don’t help you for quite awhile. I got ‘em going on the drive over.
-polar fleece 200. I made myself a jacket of this stuff a couple years ago. It’s wonderful in cold -20C and below. I only wear one thin base layer underneath. The 200 has an incredible wicking ability. You finish your workout and the outside is coated in sweat frost, but inside you’re dry. The only drawback is it’s really permeable to wind. So when I was in the woods, no problem, but when I hit the alpine I put my new RAB team jacket on over the pf200. Our Canadian team jacket is super duper light, but I only needed it to stop windflow in.
-no skin can be exposed in these temps, so I typically wear my favourite mask...a cotton ski mask with a mouth hole. Breathing the cold air isn’t that big of a deal as air warms up tremendously fast and before it hits your lungs it’s at a safe temp. having the breathing hole helps to keep all that breath condensation from totally icing up your mask.
-over my mask I wore my fur bomber hat. With a warm head your body stays warmer longer.
-ski goggles. Though I didn’t use them too much on this trip, they can be really important. I’ve seen a couple of my friends frostbite their eyes during xc races. It’s not a pretty site. You basically go blind for a bit and for a week or two have "dog vision" only seeing in black & white. Crazy...isn’t it? Not something to mess around with.
One of the keys to comfort is temp regulation. If you dress too warmly, then overheating sweat becomes an issue. If you slow down and are totally wet, you’re in for a big problem. Hitting the right layers and skiing at the right exertion level are really important. Later in my ski, as I slowed down a bit and the terrain was more downhill, my hands and feet started getting cold. Popping my heat buzzing heater packs into the hands totally did the trick and for my feet I loosened up my boots for better circulation and consciously worked my legs a bit more to generate heat and get the blood moving.
Well there you have it...a couple of my tricks for staying warm and comfy in real cold. I guess you could just cancel your workout and stay on the couch, but it’s more fun to see if you’re up for the challenge!
I have been having a hard time getting out for my long skis and couldn’t neglect yet another one, so a minimum 3 hour ski was the plan. I decided to go up Healy creek as the parking would be Sunshine DH area and in case I couldn’t restart my car I wouldn’t be stranded in K country without cell service.
Venturing out into the backcountry totally alone in those temps you don’t want to make any mistakes. I decided to go around the backside to Sunshine ski area, a trip I’d once gotten counfused in a white out and had to turn back arriving 4 hours late in total darkness (returning to an extremely panicked wife). This time as I hit the cliff band...the only avi hazard in the tour, I made the choice to turn back as the conditions seemed a bit "slabby". With a partner it wouldn’t have been any big deal, but alone I needed to be ultra safe.
So, how did I do in the cold? Primo!! I was totally comfortable and safe the entire time. Here’s some of my tricks:
-recently I purchased foot insole heater packs. You know, those chemical things that give off heat. These new models look just like an insole you’d put into a shoe. My feet were totally toasty
-I put 2 heat packs in my pockets in case my hands needed them later, which they did. The heater packs take ab out ½ hour to really get going, so if you only break them out when you’re cold they don’t help you for quite awhile. I got ‘em going on the drive over.
-polar fleece 200. I made myself a jacket of this stuff a couple years ago. It’s wonderful in cold -20C and below. I only wear one thin base layer underneath. The 200 has an incredible wicking ability. You finish your workout and the outside is coated in sweat frost, but inside you’re dry. The only drawback is it’s really permeable to wind. So when I was in the woods, no problem, but when I hit the alpine I put my new RAB team jacket on over the pf200. Our Canadian team jacket is super duper light, but I only needed it to stop windflow in.
-no skin can be exposed in these temps, so I typically wear my favourite mask...a cotton ski mask with a mouth hole. Breathing the cold air isn’t that big of a deal as air warms up tremendously fast and before it hits your lungs it’s at a safe temp. having the breathing hole helps to keep all that breath condensation from totally icing up your mask.
-over my mask I wore my fur bomber hat. With a warm head your body stays warmer longer.
-ski goggles. Though I didn’t use them too much on this trip, they can be really important. I’ve seen a couple of my friends frostbite their eyes during xc races. It’s not a pretty site. You basically go blind for a bit and for a week or two have "dog vision" only seeing in black & white. Crazy...isn’t it? Not something to mess around with.
One of the keys to comfort is temp regulation. If you dress too warmly, then overheating sweat becomes an issue. If you slow down and are totally wet, you’re in for a big problem. Hitting the right layers and skiing at the right exertion level are really important. Later in my ski, as I slowed down a bit and the terrain was more downhill, my hands and feet started getting cold. Popping my heat buzzing heater packs into the hands totally did the trick and for my feet I loosened up my boots for better circulation and consciously worked my legs a bit more to generate heat and get the blood moving.
Well there you have it...a couple of my tricks for staying warm and comfy in real cold. I guess you could just cancel your workout and stay on the couch, but it’s more fun to see if you’re up for the challenge!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
ON SNOW AND READY 2 GO!!
Though we’re having an unusually nice and warm fall, the skiing is up and running (Oct. 15)! The Canmore Nordic Centre has opened its “Frozen Thunder”- a 2.5 Km loop consisting of snow they stored over the summer. I personally watched the process of moving the snow onto the trail last week while mtn biking....it was an amazingly complex process. Not just the building of the trail, but how they dug a massive pit to blow the man-made white stuff into last winter, then insulating it with sawdust and now moving it with multiple dump trucks and loaders . It must have cost a lot of money.
This is the 3rd or 4th year of early October snow at the Nordic Centre. The new director Mike Roycroft has done a wonderful job of meeting serious skier’s needs. Our nat’l team would normally be somewhere in Europe training, but they’re all here looping around Frozen Thunder.
It’s kinda cool to be skiing when the temps are still hitting between 5-10C in the afternoons. You can go for a real nice mountain bike or run in conjunction with your ski.
In addition to the xc skiing I’m meeting some of my Canadian skimo teammates at the Farnham glacier this weekend for some early season turns and vert training. Winsport Canada previously had set up a summer training site for alpine skiers, but it became too much of a “money pit” according to a friend of mine that formerly ran the camp. Mike told me that it’s a very “active glacier”, so they were constantly having to fill in crevasses and mold the run to the racer’s expectations. A good friend of mine, Jan Hudec, used to train there but as one of Canada’s super elite downhill aces, got to sleep at Panarama resort just over a line of mountains and then they choppered the guys over every day (after their massages, etc.).....we’re sleeping in our cars.
We’re also bringing avi gear (for those crevasses). Ropes, prusucks, atc’s, harnesses, ascenders, etc. Hopefully we won’t need them, but you never know when it comes to glacier travel.
I spent way too much time yesterday scoping out the whole scene on Google Earth and my GPS software. I wanted to make sure I didn’t get lost on the many forestry dirt roads out there (and be another GPS casualty lost in the wilderness).
I guess all this to say that winter is just about here and it’s time think snow!
This is the 3rd or 4th year of early October snow at the Nordic Centre. The new director Mike Roycroft has done a wonderful job of meeting serious skier’s needs. Our nat’l team would normally be somewhere in Europe training, but they’re all here looping around Frozen Thunder.
It’s kinda cool to be skiing when the temps are still hitting between 5-10C in the afternoons. You can go for a real nice mountain bike or run in conjunction with your ski.
In addition to the xc skiing I’m meeting some of my Canadian skimo teammates at the Farnham glacier this weekend for some early season turns and vert training. Winsport Canada previously had set up a summer training site for alpine skiers, but it became too much of a “money pit” according to a friend of mine that formerly ran the camp. Mike told me that it’s a very “active glacier”, so they were constantly having to fill in crevasses and mold the run to the racer’s expectations. A good friend of mine, Jan Hudec, used to train there but as one of Canada’s super elite downhill aces, got to sleep at Panarama resort just over a line of mountains and then they choppered the guys over every day (after their massages, etc.).....we’re sleeping in our cars.
We’re also bringing avi gear (for those crevasses). Ropes, prusucks, atc’s, harnesses, ascenders, etc. Hopefully we won’t need them, but you never know when it comes to glacier travel.
I spent way too much time yesterday scoping out the whole scene on Google Earth and my GPS software. I wanted to make sure I didn’t get lost on the many forestry dirt roads out there (and be another GPS casualty lost in the wilderness).
I guess all this to say that winter is just about here and it’s time think snow!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Norquay Time Trial
This weekend the Nordic Centre is unveiling their 2nd annual “Frozen Thunder”. It’s a short xc ski loop utiliizng snow they store through the summer. Even though it’s mid October, we’re getting close to skiing! The challenge at this time of year is to keep the hours and intensity up. The days are short (especially with “daylight killing time”), it’s cold, roller ski tips slip a lot, etc.
One of my new workouts is timing myself roller skiing up the Norquay ski area access road. It’s several Km’s uphill. It takes me around :20 on a bike and :30 on roller skis. To do this workout I drive to the top with a bike (or a couple-for multiple runs). I then drive down, park my truck, warm up then set up the watch to time myself gong up.
Last Friday my plan was to do 2 runs at anaerobic threshold, timing myself on both. As I hurriedly loaded my truck (battling eventual fading light) I noticed I had a flat on one of the 2 bikes I was going to use. I then quickly grabbed another wheel from my tri bike. However, as I unloaded the bikes at the top of the run I noticed the replacement wheel also had a flat. “Ok, I reasoned, it must be the Higher plan for me to do just one run” (my 9 year old daughter was waiting in the truck watching a movie on my I-pod until we could go see daughter #2 play volleyball in Banff when I finished). So I was going to give ‘er on the 1 run.
Hoping for a personal best I went out hard, but reserved. For some reason on sustained uphills in classic skiing my back really tenses up... and it’s painful. I don’t know if I have to stretch more, strengthen it more, or just be tougher.
There’s 7 switchback turns on the way up and I call out the number as I complete each turn. On #4 the mountain sheep grazing on the roadside grass looked up when I did this and they had this look of panic on their eyes like they were about to stampede over me. Fortunately they herded each other the other direction. Then on the final switchback when I decided to really push hard to the finish there was a load of Asian tourists in a van that stopped right in the middle of the road to take pictures of me. I would have smiled, but with all the heavy breathing I decided to drool instead. I figured they’d have fun showing that picture around.
At the very top the light was starting to fade so much I had a hard time seeing the time on my watch. When I eventually got my delerious state under control I could see that I’d set a PR of 27:34. That always feels good. To get a little faster. In endurance sport (or maybe any sport) progress comes in increments. Athletes, like anyone I guess, are always looking for that magic bullet that’s going to lop off a huge chunk of time, but that usually never materializes. Instead, the real champs know that consistent chipping away....little by little improvement over time brings real and lasting results.
Now If I can just get ‘er under 27 minutes!
One of my new workouts is timing myself roller skiing up the Norquay ski area access road. It’s several Km’s uphill. It takes me around :20 on a bike and :30 on roller skis. To do this workout I drive to the top with a bike (or a couple-for multiple runs). I then drive down, park my truck, warm up then set up the watch to time myself gong up.
Last Friday my plan was to do 2 runs at anaerobic threshold, timing myself on both. As I hurriedly loaded my truck (battling eventual fading light) I noticed I had a flat on one of the 2 bikes I was going to use. I then quickly grabbed another wheel from my tri bike. However, as I unloaded the bikes at the top of the run I noticed the replacement wheel also had a flat. “Ok, I reasoned, it must be the Higher plan for me to do just one run” (my 9 year old daughter was waiting in the truck watching a movie on my I-pod until we could go see daughter #2 play volleyball in Banff when I finished). So I was going to give ‘er on the 1 run.
Hoping for a personal best I went out hard, but reserved. For some reason on sustained uphills in classic skiing my back really tenses up... and it’s painful. I don’t know if I have to stretch more, strengthen it more, or just be tougher.
There’s 7 switchback turns on the way up and I call out the number as I complete each turn. On #4 the mountain sheep grazing on the roadside grass looked up when I did this and they had this look of panic on their eyes like they were about to stampede over me. Fortunately they herded each other the other direction. Then on the final switchback when I decided to really push hard to the finish there was a load of Asian tourists in a van that stopped right in the middle of the road to take pictures of me. I would have smiled, but with all the heavy breathing I decided to drool instead. I figured they’d have fun showing that picture around.
At the very top the light was starting to fade so much I had a hard time seeing the time on my watch. When I eventually got my delerious state under control I could see that I’d set a PR of 27:34. That always feels good. To get a little faster. In endurance sport (or maybe any sport) progress comes in increments. Athletes, like anyone I guess, are always looking for that magic bullet that’s going to lop off a huge chunk of time, but that usually never materializes. Instead, the real champs know that consistent chipping away....little by little improvement over time brings real and lasting results.
Now If I can just get ‘er under 27 minutes!
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