I know that not all of you reading this blog will care too much about training for this that or the other thing but I like to geek out on this topic sometimes and tonight feels like a perfect time; with the help of a couple of Ray's special double rye & cokes and now finishing it up with a beer or three. The nights are quiet here, I just hope I don't turn into a drunk by the time I leave. ;-)
I'm training for a trail marathon in Napa on March 24. Marathons are hard - full stop. Trail marathons are harder. Exactly how much harder I'm not entirely sure. If the 5 Peaks Half Marathon race in Canmore is any indication of effort then adding an additional 21Km will be nasty hard. At least that's what I keep telling myself for motivation as I train for this marathon.
I can't do exactly the type of training I would have preferred which is hill running up the long 13km Ormand Lake trail which I've hiked and ran in the summer. The snag on this plan is that I'm alone and mom doesn't want me in the bush by myself. Cougars are out there. I can't really be sure how real the threat is from cougars, it depends on who you talk to about it. Ray doesn't think cougars are a problem, it's a mild winter and there are plenty of deer. But if mom doesn't like it I don't see why I should do something that makes her nervous. Twisting an ankle out there by myself or something else happening would have consequences, I don't believe they would be life threatening but would give my folks stress and that's not why I came out here.
Instead I get my work out in other ways. Primarily I run on the roads out here and have been steadily increasing my speed and mileage. Right now I'm running about 19km in about 2hr15. I'm slightly off my race pace at the Canmore Half, which I'm pleased with given that these roads have some significant inclines. Running on snow and ice also add some difficulty for sure.
I think the magic bullet (if there is one) in my training will be that I can cross train easily. My brother Cyril and sister-in-lay Brenda were out for the weekend. We got out on snowshoes the day they arrived. I pulled a sled of wood for added resistance so I could get a good work out in as well as be sociable. The next day we cross country skied and that was plenty of fun too. It was a shame the snow was sticky and collecting under our skis even with wax. During our tour we encountered a kid and his grandpa out by their ice fishing hole. The kid pulled out a 3Lb trout. This is a note-worthy endeavour regardless of one's age. We oo-ed and awe-ed over his fish as fisher-people are want to do. You could see him beam with pride only to be matched by his grandpa's grin. I couldn't help but think of how lucky they both were to have such a deep bond. Ice fishing with your grandpa? That sounds darn special to me.
Getting back to running: I had had a fantastic run yesterday. I figured today would make a good cross training/rest day. Perfect to get out for a longer ski. I headed out for the lake only to find that the temperature was rapidly warming and the snow was wet which made the snow conditions on the lake not good, crappy in fact, annoyingly un-ski-able for my skis. I scolded myself for not getting out earlier, I dawdled and now the snow was bad.
After thrashing around for about a half hour I decided I needed to go to Plan B. I figured that the roads would be good for skiing as it would be soft smooth ice rather than the snowball snow found on the lake that clung tenaciously to the bottoms of my skis.
I would be skiing past Mary-Ann's place so figured I'd swing by in case she wanted to come out with me. She was outside lickety-split! I had a plan (I almost always have some sort of a plan) Mary-Ann has so far been enthusiastic and game for all my plans. Although she falls and hurts something, then I fall and hurt something and we usually end up talking about how we're lucky we didn't get more hurt. Flash back to BIG moose hitting us. (cringe!) But that hasn't dampened her enthusiasm for agreeing to my next plan. I like that Mary-Ann, she ain't no complainer. :-)
With the snow being in such crap and slow condition I figured this would be the best day to practice going downhill and hopefully not falling... so much. Along Clearview road snowmobilers have tracked and criss-crossed the sides of the road. I'm trying not to develop a negative attitude about snowmobilers even though I find their machines noisy and brutish. I use their tracks on the lake on occasion, but more often than not what I'm doing is crossing their tracks, slowing down and navigating slowly through the dredged up snow and crap that spews from their tracks. I didn't say I was successful about my negative attitude concerning snowmobilers. I'm the first to admit that most likely if I ever got into trouble I'd probably be saved by a snowmobiler before anyone else so I'd like to avoid looking a potential gift horse in the mouth too much. Still...what a lazy-ass sport. :-)
Snowmobiler-bashing aside, we headed along tracks to an area along the road that has always attracted my attention. I see it as a snow ski park with ups and downs and a cool sort-of round-about area that the sleds use to spin about it in. Normally it's a wee bit treacherous for the neophyte cross-country skier such as myself but today it was made gentler by the evening's snowfall and safer by the slower sticky snow.
Part of my Plan B included SHREDDING it up in the ski park which I named "Crash Park" in homage to our near fatal Moose incident which was only about 30 metres down the road. The full name of the area according the namer (that would be me) is "The Moose Crash Park". But "The Crash Park" has a pithy ring to it. Shredding amounts to Mary-Ann and I awkwardly pointing our skis downhill and hopefully not falling down in the process. Then we'd ski and herringbone back up to try it again and try different runs. It was fun.
Once we tired of those games we transitioned into Lise's Plan C which meant skiing along the road to my next point of interest; Oona Rd. I run by Oona Rd, sometimes I park my car by Oona Rd. I like Oona Rd. The name strikes my fancy. No idea why, it just has a ring to it. There is another characteristic to Oona RD that I noticed on numerous occasions; It has a steeper-ish downhill which continues into a gentle decline for quite a ways. Once I owned my skis, I would run by and wonder what it would be like to ski down the road. Pretty fun I reckoned.
We skied along the bank of Stella route enroute to Oona Rd. It was rather easy travelling since much of the road is in the shade so the snow bank on the side wasn't as warm as the snow on the lake. The travelling was good with nice snow. We were off-road cross country skiing. It reminded me a little bit of travelling along a mountain path having to avoid boulders. Now we were getting good glide but still having to avoid snow chunks left behind by the grader.
The fun thing I'm finding with cross country skis is their length, and the complications derived from that. The hill that would bring a yawn to a downhill or backcountry skier can be quite terrifying to the unschooled cross country skier.
One snag we encounter is when Mary-Ann tells me that there's a dog on this road that likes to bite. A big dog that likes to bite. We ski along and sure enough I see a big Ole' Rotwieler sitting in the yard. Dogs freak me out a wee bit. I love dogs, but not big, running, biting dogs - not really. We decide to keep skiing along the main road to hook up to the other entrance of Oona road.
Eventually we found ourselves standing at the top of the road and I realize that what I'm really looking at is a wide luge track. Mary-Ann is wisely positioning herself close to the side of the road where the soft snow is in case she has to bail. I point my skis downward and quite quickly start to snow-plow as it is ridiculously easy to pick up speed.
Crazy fun my friends. I named it the "Oona Ski Hill" We and some thrills, chills and crashes. Good value!
This is a rather long winded account to bring me back to my initial topic about training. Today was technically a rest day but overall I think I worked quite hard, using different muscles than when I run so in that regard it was a rest day.
I ended up being out there for 4 hours and I'm definitely tired but not horrifically so. Earlier this week I had what I call "Threshold Days" A threshold day by my definition is the point in my training when I hit my endurance limit. When that happens I feel heavy and tired. I know its a threshold day so I have to slow down but I keep moving. I want to take a rest day but I know this is when I need to push myself. I will usually have two threshold days in a row. They aren't fun but the body needs to establish a new-normal. After 2 threshold days I'll do an easy day. Snowshoeing and pulling a sled with wood was a workout but short in duration - about an hour, so essentially a rest day as I didn't run.
The next day I started out on my run and I knew that I was going to have what I call a "Break Through Day" I have energy and I feel good and the running doesn't feel hard. I've read about entering the "flow" or "zone". I think that's my break through day. The running was sublime and I increased my time by 15min.
I think the differences between the running, skiing and snowshoeing provide an excellent training program. Now I do need to concentrate on running distance which will take some effort.
I've also incorporated my 10Lb weight vest into my skiing. I'm surprised that trainers haven't incorporate weight vests into their workouts for their clients. It is a very effective training device to gain endurance and cardio capacity. If someone is looking for an edge to their training then strap on a 10Lb vest. Or start with 5Lbs and work up to 10Lbs. Whatever works. My point is that I've noticed a big difference in fitness requirement to lift weight in a gym as opposed to carrying weight outdoors. Seriously; who cares about how much you can lift or how many reps? It seems far more practical to be able to CARRY weight over a distance. This involves more strength and cardio and translates very well to other sports such as running, mountain climbing, skiing and mountain biking.
I'm also a big advocate of liquid nutrition. Specifically the Vega Sport products. They really are the cat's ass in terms of cutting edge research. And all the products are vegan. I developed an allergy to Whey after a couple years of drinking protein shakes and needed an alternative. The Vega products aren't cheap however so in that sense they're a luxury. They aren't necessary if one is committed to their nutrition but I find that all the guess work is solved for me regarding what will maximize my workouts and recovery. In other words, I find it definitely worth the money if one can afford the products.
In the morning I have the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer. I chugg it with water. It's what I do, I don't expect it to taste good - that's not the point. I do it because I know it makes me feel strong. On a workout day I take the Vega Products in the following manner: Pre-Workout Energizer before exercise / add the Performance Protein to the water I take with me / and finish with Recover Accelerator when I'm done.
I used to drink RedBull or the generic brand RedRain but I've grown increasingly uncomfortable with the reports about these drinks. I've decided to try healthier alternatives.
I'm technically working out every day but it feels like fun. I still have to up my mileage rather aggressively in the next 3 weeks to ensure that my body has run over 3hrs at least once before my race. I'llI have to trust that my cross training is developing a strong endurance base for my run. I won't know for sure if my training plan is correct until I test it on my race day. My thinking is that I will become stronger later in the race - at least that's what I hope.
It's a fun race but I want to give it my best shot to see what I'm capable of and enjoy myself at the same time. Here's hoping!
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