Off the Couch...

...and up north I go!  

I've been feeling pretty down the last couple weeks due to my lack of activity.  Due to family commitments and work over the last couple weeks my skiing has been limited to the weekends.  We have a ton of snow and great local grooming and I have been forced to do a few bike trainer rides during the week :(  It will be nice when the kiddies  are a little bigger and I can drag them along for a ski :)

another awesome photo from www.teamtoday.org

Anyway...teammate Yvon emailed me today and asked it I wanted to head north for the Hanson Hills classic race Sunday.  I've been going back and forth for the last 2 weeks about it, so I asked the "boss" and she gave me clearance to race the next couple weekends.  So with very little fitness I will head for the hurt locker over the next couple weekends...for fun!  My main goal is to just get out and score a few points for the team and enjoy some "man-time" with the boyz.

So their...I'm committed over the next 2 weekends to do a classic race and a skating sprint race.  I won't reach my goal to do 5 races this year...but I will have at least 2 plus the relays at the end of the season.  Improvement over last year for sure, when I did zero races.

So get up off that couch and get up north for some XC ski racing!!  You'll be back in time for the big game...

2009 Michigan Cup...

...wow is it really almost 2009!?  The 2009 nordic ski season is shaping up to be an awesome one.   Is everyone on snow already?  I think the whole state has been skiing for a while.  I know here in SE Michigan we have been sliding around for close to a month, is that right?  Are we getting back to the winters of the late 70's??  I sure hope so...it makes living in SE Mich somewhat bearable in the winter when you can actually get out and ski :)

Well....onto to the 2009 Mich Cup predictions.   Its going to be one of the greatest Cups ever.  Everyone is on an even playing field this season as their has been a fair distribution of the white stuff all over the state.  I say winter is here to stay and we have a battle on tap every weekend for the new few months.  Lets get ready to rumble!!!

OK...on the men's side we have a bit of the same ol' same ol'...will these old guys ever give way to the youngsters?  Doubtful...the kings of the cup will not give the crown away. The kids on the tour will have to fight for it if they want it.  Wait a sec....do we have any "kids" on the tour?  

2009 Men's Mich Cup

1. Milan Biac(tie, but Milan wins the tie breaker)
2. David MacLean(tie)
3. Todd Vigland
4. Denny Paull
5. John Gravlin
6. Andrew Triebold
7. Cliff Onthank
8. John Morgan
9. Steve Smigiel, Jr
10. Dave Fanslow

I hope all you guys have been training!?  Others I see close to the top 10....Yvon DuFour, Dell Todd, Mike Muha, and maybe Christian Byar??  

Now for the ladies....  Last year I missed the boat with a very fast lady and I hope I don't repeat that again this year.  

2009 Women's Mich Cup

1. Tracy Hardin
2. Kellie Kirk
3. Emily Flynn
4. Kelly Mikolajczyk
5. Amy Todd

The team standing will see the cream rise to the top with a new face coming out on top at the end.

2009 Mich Cup Team Standings

1. Hanson Hills/CCSS
2. XCSkiHQ
3. GRNST
4. NSR
5. SS

Hanson Hills will have the numbers as well as the speed to take the 2nd edition of the Brumbaugh Cup.

Remember this is all in good fun....no offense to anyone that I left off the list.  To all thinking about doing a race this season...just do it!  Join a team, get in 5 races and have a few beers at the relays with some of the greatest people on the planet....NORDIC SKIERS!!

Be safe and train hard...see you on the white stuff!

Pssssss.....

....that's the air hissing out of my training for most of November :(  I was rolling pretty well up until the time change then I went into hibernation mode.  So, not too much excitement to write about.  We have had snow for close to 3 weeks now, so that has been great to get out on the white stuff on a somewhat regular basis.

 All the talk of the "Big 3" "bailout"/"loan" has been rather entertaining.  Working for GM, I can tell we have made huge changes in our product line and cost structure since I started in 1999.  If we were still at those levels of employment and structure we would be done already.  All the talk about how inept the leadership is just plain false.  Sure, we have made some really bad decisions but people need to look at the cars on the dealer lots TODAY and tell me we are not as good or better then the transplants.   The thing I love the most is how their is ZERO coverage of the huge mistake Toyota made in launching their brand new BILLION dollar Tundra plant in Texas at the exact time gas prices skyrocketed this year.  Why is that not plastered on the front page of every newspaper?  Why is Congress not calling for Toyota's CEO to step down for such a terrible business decision.  Man if a US company had made that move we would have been cooked by the media.  Well...maybe nobody, not even the mighty Toyota could see the gas price rise on the horizon??   And if you want to talk GREEN, take a look at GM's hybrid bus's that are in many US cities....that save way more in emissions than all the Prius's ever made.  GM made a choice to go after bus's first with our hybrid tech to make the biggest impact on the problem...emissions.  I guess that's really not newspaper selling news though is it.....do some research, check out the facts.   Anyway....my rant is over.    If any0ne is looking for a vehicle I can give a GM discount to 2 people...

Next up I'll have to think about the 2009 Mich Cup predictions...

Testing...1....2...3...

Friday October 1oth was test day on the old NSR Duathlon course.   It has been about 8 weeks since my last test on the same course.   I have mixed emotions about this test as I felt slow and not 100%.  I did the test after work and did not do a great job of keeping up with my hydration at work today.  The good news is that I bested my time from 8 weeks ago by 40 secs on the run and 45 secs on the ski.  That is pretty impressive for not feeling very good during the effort.

another great photo from teamtoday.org

Training has gone pretty well over the past couple months.  Not impressive by any means but acceptable for a dad, husband, and full time employee.  I've been trying not to worry about missed workouts and just try to focusing on getting in some training whenever I can.  That usually works out to around 4 days a week.  Lately I've been hitting it pretty hard when I do get out due my low volume.  It's fun getting out and going hard and trying to best times from the old days on way less training.  The main thing I have been missing from the schedule has been a longer run or ski workout.  If I do get out for 2hrs its usually on the bike.  I'll have to work on that this fall as the snow gets closer I need to build up to some 2hr skis and maybe a run or two.  I've done well with intensity over the last couple months, now I must focus the next 6 weeks on endurance and then in December turn the focus back to intensity.  I was going to race a few cyclocross races in the next month but I'm wondering if that will distract me too much from my main goal?  We'll see...

I'm hoping for a good winter as I'm looking forward to my 5 Mich Cup races I have planned for the 2009 season.  Need to stay healthy and focus on the goal in the next couple months.  Work stress and uncertainty in the economy will also play a factor in the next few weeks.  Need to focus on diet and sleep.  

My planned races for this season are:

1. Holiday Classic

2. Chestnut Valley FS

3. Garland Classic

4. Hanson Hills Classic

5. Mich Cup Sprints FS

6. Mich Cup Relays

My goal is five races plus the relays.  These races fit in the best with my training.  They are short and outside the first 2 they are easy day trips from home.  The first 2 fall into my 2 week X-mas break and this should make getting to the races alittle easier.  We shall see...now get out and SKI!

Keep the eye on the prize...

I've been really having trouble focusing on what I want to do in the next year when it comes to skiing and cycling. I want to get back into racing in both but that is just not practical these days. One week I'll commit to skiing totally then the next I switch back to wanting to be a bike racer again. I wish I could make up my mind. Eventually I will...this past week I have been a skier! I got out rollerskiing(mostly double poling) 3 times in the last 8 days. It has been nice and I feel stronger already. Its definitely more work than riding or running as my heart rate shows when I'm skiing.

I'm really having fun with my Garmin Forerunner 305 this summer. The picture above is from a screen dump from Motionbased.com. It's from the "Dot Race" function they have. It allows you to take 2 workouts and conduct a virtual race. Check it out. That's one of the cool things about the Garmin. The one thing I do not like is too much feedback. I'm always checking it to see my pace, my average pace, my HR, etc. Instead of going out and skiing for an hour I find myself trying to best my times from previous workouts. I need to start using my old watch and just record my time out, but what fun would that be!

Well...things are pretty darn good on the training front. I started September off in style as I rollerskied for 45mins and then rode the Mtn Bike trail at Island Lk afterwards. I felt really solid throughout the workout. I'm finally starting to feel like I have alittle base again. If I can keep it up over the next couple months I should be in good shape once the snow flies. My biggest problem will be trying to stay away from all the fun cyclocross races in Michigan this fall!

Testing...Testing 1, 2, 3...

Don't ask me why, but as I got ready to go for a road ride today, I changed my mind and decided to do a test on the old NSR Duathlon course. I packed my running shoes, ski boats, rollerskies and poles, and some post workout clothes and headed to one of my favorite local training grounds Island Lake State Park. I arrived at the park and drove back to the River Bends parking area and got ready to run. I did a short warm up loop and tried to remember the TT loop...it took a few moments to recall how the course actually went but after a few minutes it all came back to me. I felt OK on the run, not great but I kept a nice steady pace. On the second loop I could feel I was going pretty slow on the climb, so I need to work on the hills and endurance over the next few months. I finished pretty strong and came in with a 22:12, not too bad. My best time from 2004 was 20:51, so I was happy I wasn't way slower. Room for improvement as the fall training progresses.



I took a 10 minute break and got dressed to rollerski. After the run my ambitious plan to follow it with a rollerski wasn't sounding like that great of an idea, but I stuck with my crazy plan. The fact that it was only my 2nd rollerski of the summer didn't help with my confidence. I finally geeked myslef up thinking of old Gunda Svan quotes and clipped into my ProSki C2's. I actually felt pretty good once I got rolling. My HR was high but that is to be expected since I have very litttle upper body work in so far this summer. I kept a nice even pace and crossed the line in 20:52. Not bad since my only other time on the same course back in 2004 was 20:52?! That's pretty encouraging since it was only my second time out on the skis. Back in 2004 I had rollerskied a fair amount before I put up that time. I did a lot of skating that summer and fall on my fast ProSki S2 rollerskis, maybe those are too fast to give the upper body a good resistance workout? This year I plan to do mostly double pole on my rollerskis, so maybe that will help come winter?

Good news from the Farmers Almanac for this winter -
"The Midwest and the Great Lakes will see above-normal snowfall, especially during January and February, the almanac predicts."

I hope they are right!

Well, I plan on doing a Run/Ski TT every 4 weeks as a test this fall. The next one will be on September 21st, so come on out and test yourself.

Finally...

....got out for a rollerski this morning, and it felt good, really good for the first time out this summer:) I parked at the new mall at Lee Rd and hiked into the back of Island Lake State Park. I arrived at 6:35am and was skiing by 6:45am. The park is closed at that hour so the road was quiet and free of cars. I took it easy and tried to work on good technique. I was surprised I could stride out on each leg with pretty good balance. I worked on "shooting the foot" and complete weight transfer. I spent 85% of the time double poling, which I'm sure I'll feel tomorrow. It was a positive day and I'm actually looking forward to rollerskiing?! Look out this could be dangerous :) I may actually up my plan from one day a week in August to 2 days a week?

I'm pretty happy with my training lately, still lacking in the upper body department but overall my fitness is improving. Usually I don't run in the summer due to the heat, this year I have kept up running 1-2 days a week and I think that has really helped keep the engine "tuned" up. Cycling is fun but you are sitting and not supporting your body so its not as taxing on your aerobic system. Dropping down to 170lbs(from 180+) has also done wonders for my running as well. I have 5 more pounds to go and I'll be as close to race weight.

So, the big focus for me over the next couple weeks will be sleep and hydration, as well as rollerskiing! I've been staying up too late and not getting my 7-8hrs of sleep a night. I also have not been keeping up with my fluids at work lately. This will have to change....I really need to refocus on my diet as well. I have done really well over the summer months but I'm starting to get lazy in my food preparations. So, on top of trying to keep up with my training I must focus some attention on the little things and complete the package.

Only 20 weeks until the Holiday Classical race, time to bust out the rollerskies!!