Racing ahead

Ski racing season didn't wait long into 2015 before getting back going. On new years day I mad emy way up to Theodore Wirth park for the Ahvo Klassic. Since the race was only a 12k I figured it wouldn't hurt to work out a couple more times along the way, so I went and joined the Band of Ten Thousand Aches, Northfield's most prestigious running group, for their annual new years day run and brunch. I have been to a couple of events put on by the band and knew many of the runners, but this was the first time I had actually joined the group for a run. It was a great way to start out the morning. Nate and I took turns pushing Greta during the run.

After the run I headed up to Hyland to meet Jeff for a ski. Unfortunately he decided to sleep in and didn't make it out, but when I had finished up my first lap I ran into Craig Stolen. He pulled me over to give me a case of Fulton "Worthy Adversary" and some hats to distribute to the Vakava skiers who were part of the winning team at the Fulton team relay race earlier in the week. I skied with him for a bit before continuing North to the race.

This beer is true to it's name. Nate and I shared a bottle and it almost got the better of us both.

There is only a 1.5km loop of man made snow at Theodore Wirth, but the race organizers decided to use a few km of natural snow trails as well. They warned racers to use B skis, which for me meant skis that I hadn't waxed since ?? and that had a pretty heavy accumulation of kick wax as well. They weren't fast, but I threw a little VR50 on and they kicked quite well. Andy Brown and Tyler Gilbert got away right from the gun and I settled into 3rd all by myself. I could hear a pack of about 4 skiers not too far behind me, but decided I would rather ski by myself so I could pick my line through the thin natural snow sections.

I paced things well, but was tracked down and passed by a hard charging U of M skier in the last km or so. I didn't quite have the herringbone speed to keep with him over the last couple steep hills, so I ended up in 4th. One advantage of being an old fella though is that I still handily won my age class. I won a pair of U of M ski pants, that were unfortunately too small for me, so they will be a late Christmas present for Jeff instead.

This week has been quite cold, and I've been taking things pretty easy so I'm at least a little rested up for my first ski marathon of the season this weekend. I'm racing the classic race at the Sisu Ski Fest, a race I haven't tried before, so I'm excited to see how the course is. There has been enough snow for the groomers to get out in the Arb; it has been really convenient to have skiing right in town, especially just to get out for easy skis. Otherwise I've mostly been running during the week still, trying to keep the weekly mileage up for as long as I can. Last year once I started ski racing regularly I wasn't recovering well if I ran during the week, but this year I have a much bigger running base, so I'm hoping to keep some miles up all the way through the winter.

Onward and Upward

Another year is in the books. Since this is mostly a training/racing blog, and because that is what I spend a lot of time doing, much of this year end post will be athletics related. I'll start with the non-athletic events though, for anyone not interested in that stuff.

Touring the Purdue Campus

I had a couple of fun trips this year. In the spring Nate, Nichole, and I carpooled out to Indiana to try out our snazzy pink arm warmers pacing one of Nichole's athlete's Sharon to a half marathon PR.
In May Nichole hosted the first TNC (Team Nichole Coaching) camp and a fun group of folks all spent a weekend up at the Porath cabin near Hayward, did a lot of running, a strength competition, ate lots of good food, had a bonfire, threw around a frisbee, and did other fun cabiny things. I won the strength contest mostly due to cleaning up bonus points for an epic 15 minute wall sit segment.

TNC Training Camp

During the summer I helped crew/pace for my friends Jeff and Rob for the Voyagers 50 miler and the Sawtooth 100 ultramarathons. Rob had an amazing race at the 100 miler, finishing 12th in under 27 hours. Jeff survived his first 100 miler, finishing in a little over 34 hours.

Jeff on the Sawtooth course - Photo: Todd Rowe

I joined some co-workers of mine on a bicycling bar tour around Rice county and had a good chance to try out my new headlamp for the later part of the ride.

EMVC Rice County Brew Tour

I also joined my friends Jallie, Kevin, Joe, and John on a tour of some craft breweries around the Twin Cities.

Tour de Brew

In the fall I made a trip out to Ohio to join Sharon for the Columbus 1/2 marathon and spend a week with my friends Garrison and Kristen and their new baby Maggie. The day before I left I was also able to meet Nate and Nichole's brand new baby girl Greta.

Nichole teaching Greta how to do a proper pushup. Important life skills.

Kristen, Garrison, and the Moogle in her Halloween costume.

I had an adorable, fuzzy housemate named Mozzarella.

Unfortunately I found out this summer that she had cancer, and she passed away in November. She was a lot of fun to have around and the house seemed pretty quiet without her. That didn't last long though, because after Thanksgiving my brother and his cat Oryx moved in. He is house hunting and living with me until he finds the right house.

On to the racing review. This was by far my best ski season yet. The extra rollerski miles, a December trip to Silver Star before the race season started, and actually learning good ski technique paid off. I won my first ever Dala Horse at Mora, my first axe at the Minnesota Finlandia, and I finally jumped over to the Birkie classic race and won my first ever age group award and got a top 10 finish! In most races I was in the lead pack for a good portion of the race and got a lot more comfortable there as the season went on.

Nikolai - my first Dala Horse

After the Pepsi Challenge and a fun weekend skiing at Giant's Ridge it was a quick transition to running season for the Sam Costa half marathon. I was pacing for someone, so it wasn't a full out effort, but ramping up for a 1:30 half marathon 3 weeks after ski season was a good way to get back into the running groove.

After doing a couple gravel races in 2013 I had big aspirations for some more bike racing in 2014, but racing part of the Ragnarok 105 before dropping to head to my friend Sam's wedding was the only one I actually got in. It was a good excuse to go explore some gravel roads in the spring though, and the only reason I had over 1000 miles on the bike this year.

By and large my spring and summer were consumed by running. This was partly due to the wet, cold, rainy weather not being conducive to much else (it wasn't fun running in 35F and rain/snow, biking would have been worse) and partially because running was probably the most enjoyable it has ever been for me this past spring and Grandma's marathon was a big goal. Ever since my first miserable marathon experience at a very wet and cold Twin Cities marathon I've been a wimp about running hte rain, but this spring if I didn't run in the rain I would hardly have trained at all, so I embraced the discomfort and got my workouts in, often dragging Nate out with me.

A soggy crew out for a 17 mile training run before Grandma's

The highlight of the training season had to be the TNC Training Camp which included perhaps the hardest workout Nichole and I used to do. 20-15-10-5 minute tempo. Nichole was nice for this camp and included some easy miles between the 15 and 10 minute sections. There had been times where this workout crushed us, and times when it went so well you felt like you could accomplish anything. The training camp also culminated for me in my first 100+ mile week of running. In years past I always felt like higher mileage and consecutive days of running beat me down, but this year I actually recovered on my recovery runs and just kept getting stronger. This was by far my biggest year ever in total hours trained and in miles run, and it paid off!

TNC almost sweeps the Maple Syrup run awards

I had a string of race wins throughout the summer including the Maple Syrup 10k, a win and new half marathon PR (1:14:28) at the Stillwater 1/2, the Lift Bridge 10 mile, Ngede Challenge, Urban Trail 1/2 Marathon, my first Marathon win at the Birkie Trail Marathon, and the Arctic Commando 5k. My best race however was the one where I placed the worst. I set a new marathon PR by 13 minutes at Grandma's Marathon (2:38:47). I also dusted off my speedy legs to throw down a 4:46 at the TNC invitational mile.

First new PR of the year, Stillwater 1/2 Marathon

I found new paddling partners for both of my adventure Triathlons this summer, paddling with Erik Pieh for the Chippewa Triathlon and Dave Rowe for the Tri-loppet. Because these races were the weekends before and after Grandma's neither of them were my best effort, but they were too fun to pass up. There were big waves at both races, but I didn't flip the boat at either, a fact I'm rather proud of.

Dave and I at the Tri-loppet - Photo: Kevin Corrigan

I had my coldest ever running race at the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot in November (8F) before having my warmest ever ski race a few weeks later at the Hoigaard's Relays (42F), which Vakava Skier Sarah Daniels and I teamed up for to win the co-ed division. Yesterday was my last race of this year, but it is still early in the ski racing season, so expect more updates as racing continues on the first day of the new year.

2014 Running down the numbers:
611 Hours total training
1,632 Miles Run
1,156 Miles Biked
831 Miles Rollerskied
697 Miles Skate Skied
403 Miles Classic Skied
76 Miles Canoed
41 Blog Posts

Thanks for tuning in. I want to thank everyone who stopped by to check out this blog in 2014, and stay tuned for more random adventures in 2015. Happy New Year!

A Solo Birkie Journey

My friend Jeff and I have a longstanding tradition of heading up to the Birkie trail the day after Christmas for a big day of skiing. I have been going up every year since at least 2008. I brought my brother and sister up with me a couple years, and Jeff has come with the last 4 years. This year he decided going to work to feed his family was more important than playing in the snow, so I headed up solo. This year it was warm with fresh snow, so it made for slow going. The scenery was absolutely amazing though. After leaving a brown Northfield I was thrilled to get home to a white Christmas, and even more happy to see a snow covered Birkie trail the next day. Here are a couple pictures from the day.

Fresh snow everywhere

Classic Trail High Point, with a classy sign

Powerline - Where the grooming ends

North End Cabin - a vision of Paradise

Birkie Ridge, I really wanted to stop here when running the marathon this fall, so I took the opportunity now. Dropping my camera in the snow was a great way to add a blur filter to this shot.

Hanging out with the coolest cat North of OO

That's all for now. There should be a year end post headed your way later in the week. Until then have a happy new year.