2 steps forward, 1 step back

Did I use that title before?

Lots has happened since the last post.
I joined the local (quite active) track&field club. The mid-speed longer distance road running group. I went on 4 training evenings with them, which was fun, and seemed to have my running makes large leaps forward.
However, already before this, there was a silly seemingly innocent incident on a sports day, where I jumped into an Olympic long jump sand pit. It was like beore I did it, that I was going to hurt myself, but then, I could not help myself. My right ankle's been sensitive since. Least so in the middle of a running practice, when properly warmed up.
As a kid, til I was 12 or so, I did track&field too. I remember it as something I'd always limp home from, perhaps even my right ankle yes.
Last winter XC skiing in Davos, on a simple first day uphill I slipped, and my same ankle hrt badly since then. A few hours rest could help, for a moment of two, but I did miss out on some precious snow hour because of this.
I've come to the conclusion that this ankle had just since my childhood been my alternative Achilles' heel.

Now I skipped some running practices, hoping the ankle will mend itself, but it's testing my patience now.

Bought some really nice shoes over the past months, to focus my atention on something running :
- Web buy : Fresh Asics Landreth 4's, I had 2's which are done
- Saucony Grid Tangent 3's, to encourage pose technique running, which aids my speed so much. Ran them shortly, and they're just light feeling, less energy sucking.
- Saucony ProGrid Exodus. From the web, because it was so well reviewed, editior's choice. $80 in stead of $100 and EUR120. Extremely nice product, and barely heavier than my Landreths, 15g each.
- Also from last mentioned web buy : Mizuno Kaze 2 cross-country (and track and indor) spikes. $28 on clearnace, a joke for such a nice product.

I do intend to so some XC running the coming years. The track trianing with the group was fun, I'll try to set PB times on some distances once in a while to log my progess.
On the Landreths, running my new forefoot landing, I did a 407m lane 2 lap in 1m15, on the last training. No max effort, just a quick lap to have some fun with warm painfree ankles. Once at peak fitness, a lap will have to go under 60s I suppose, like 5s. Good XCers should manage that? And I take longer strides :-)

The Tangents will be to help me improve techique, and help me run a quick 10km should I enter one. A good 100g less per foot than the super-cushy landreths, but supposedly better for forefood landing.
The Xodus are to have another pair of stable shoes, and the option to take it offroad.
It will be fun to fine the optimal use for the Mizuno's :-)

Slow, but long!

Only one day rest this time, 49 hours after the last run, I was out again. Still sore, really. At first I though it might turn out a short run...or a long walk back.

I kept my cool though, didn't overcook.
10.22km (my roommate's now usual lap, I just cut some street corners shotrer)
49m48 (longest solo without extensive walking in 10 or 12 years)
12.31kph average
2 bridges, but overall better pavement.

I took a short break after 24min16, just before commencing the second bridge. My right ankle was feeling funny, so I really took my time stretching, while I also cuaght my breath.

Bad decision : wearing hip no-ankle socks. My footsoles will be all blister tomorrow, I'm afriad. Next time it's cheap cycling socks again. Socks felt like they creaped up, while they really didn't. Just creating lots of friction.

In the last couple hundred meters I practiced tip-toeing again, and it was sooo much faster. Just my legs are deeefinately not up for it yet.

My trianing is going somewhere, quite slowly!

One week further already, just did another run...

A week with just my usual short bike commutes, and a bit of socializing. Hard work at times. And I can only really work out with a good dose of Ventolin, so no races to look forward to, to train for.
9.36km (~+2.5), 46min11 (+14min), 12.18kph (~-0.4).
Totally different route, and I pauzed halfway to take a breath for a couple minutes, but otherwise non-stop. To me, that's quite good, all (extra pounds) considering.

When I was 18 or 19, 12 years ago, I did (as I remember it) 10km every day, always a record attempt. I was 8kg lighter, and took 45mins at max effort. A cycling "career" was in between then and now, but still, odd how relatively easy it goes.
Relatively I say, as my intended pace on such distances is +5kph. Less and I won't stand a chance in winter triathlon or even regular XC.

Perhaps what got me through it tonight was that I was NOT pushing myself to go as fast as possible. Odd you may think, but usually I cannot be bothered to run sub-maximal.
I was messing around with my breathing some, at time I had to catch back up to not get stuck walking, but I managed.
Seriously contemplated going for ~12km already today, but when I tried to complete the 2nd half in the same time as the 1st, when it was alrteady too late, I pretty much cut off my legs, and called it quits. There will be other chances, I think.

Oh my shoes lately are Asics Landreth 4's, still with laces for now, and the usual Fisher replacement sole for extra support. Like the shoes aren't there, I suppose that's as good as it gets.

I tried for the first time tonight the pro runners technique of landing on the forefoot, tapping the heels, and then springing off again. It felt realy awkward, seemed really fast for the same heartrate (there's hope), but it also felt like I was going to injure myself within a few kms. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of that before the winter comes.

I'm still looking for a coach who'll take my money for getting me on track. Who some someone for such a job?

Don't forget to celebrate minor victories

Another overdue report from your louzy excuse for a cross-country skier.

Work, life, moving homesm and not even TV, have been providing me with excellent excuses to not work out.
I do like how I now commute twice 6.8km to work om my bike, I think I can tell the difference over 2x2km by my gut.

My roommate ran her first 10k+ today, so I had to do something too. I ended up copying her route, but skipping the ~3.6km across the brigdes around the Nothern Island. She's been doing this more considently then me, and she's carrying around a relatively smaller over-weight penalty than I :-)

I took 2 good inhales of Ventolin, I forgot those last week and got stck within 1km from home walking was all I could. Now I knew better, and only too a short breathing break at 12min. Or maybe it was my heart not feeling too hap about this running thing.

Of course my first goal is to match my roommate's non-stop route with the next 2 or 3 weeks. And before I'm properly fit, I should be able to round the island a second time before making it home well within the hour.
Toninght, I took 31m56, the longest almost non-stop I've run in half a year I think, one of my pre-breakfast runs before I got lazy and moved houses.

I did it!

A new lady friend, who knows as much about running fast as I do riding bikes, told me what I of course knew: "You need to start with slow, long runs, and only after that build up speed. An accelleration at the end of a run is okay".

I got up with fresher legs today than I started yesterday's run on, a good feeling to be able to walk and not move like Donald Duck.

Tonight's run started with a boringly slow 12kph, for 15mins on end. Near the end, breathing got harder, I tried some rythm variations to not get too far behind my breath. I was pretty beat after 15min, so I walked a couple mins, and stretced shortly. Then it was time for one paced 300m lap, which again went in 56s despite it feeling disoriented. There was more power on tab, but my breath catches back of with me like an elastic band...
I found my way in 5 mins and that was that, plenty of running for today.

Once I reach intended fitness level, I should be able to do 400m on a wide turn track in the time it now took me to complete a tight turn 300m concrete track.
And that easy 12kph jog will have to be a 16kph one without the breathing difficulties.

I don't know why, but my lungs are not reacting allergically to this hard summer breathing, YET.

So, anyone know of a good XC coach who'll take my money for some guidance?

Marker : absolute zero point

It's been strange times. Lots on my mind, work, soical calls, etc.
No sports whatsoever, well expect a couple of days, really not more.
I'm now in the middle of moving to a new appartment, one that needs work and lots of my energy.

Last Saturday and Monday, I finally went out again, and ran. Or what was supposed to be running.
It consisted of not more than a couple km of jogging, lots of walking, and a couple 300m "fast" laps around a local 300m track. Hopelessly out of shape, but it feels good to have my blood flowing again.
Best lap yesterday : 56s. By far the least slow of the 2 sessions. Yeah, that bad...

First objective : lose excess weight, and not waste time on that.
Next: get back MTB'ing. Starting with a race I can't cancel anymore, Sunday already.
Then get re-acquainted with skating, and try out my new poles, running and skating.

As Jean-Jacques Goldman once sang : "Long is the Road"...

Please do email telling me I'm a sissy, it will only help me.

Skipping the summer?

My now-favorite ski resort Davos in Switzerland (1500m+) is now finally closing all XC trails. There's still 80cm of snow though, 10cm of which fell the past 24h. It's just 1ºC. The winter doesn't seem to be going there just yet. Will they have to shove the snow away to allow summer to make a one-day-fly appearance this year?
For the past 5 months, there has been valley XC'ing in Davos, up till the last day with "good" conditions. 2006/2007 was very different, but I SO want to go live there now...

A good fetish if one must have one, or a serious problem that requires professional help?

Keep in mind, the fist time I saw a person doing XC skiing was mere minutes before I first got on them myself. My March 2007 trip to Austria, specifically to get some tuition. I didn't own other equipment than boots, as I figured size 13 would be hard to rent at times.

Today, I own many pairs of skis. 1 pair of which, I have used this winter in Switzerland.
One unused pair I have, was the Salomon Equipe 10 Skate. I now got a second pair, as the deal was so good.

I read all the time about the need to have a second pair ready for racing when the wax conditions work out differently than anticipated. And I do plan to race, as clumsy I may be.

So, need help? Or a better way to spend less money than I used to on bikes?

It's a start, not much more yet

After several weeks of no sports other than easy commutes and errands, I finally felt up for it again.
A sore throat, directly after a week of eating out pretty much every day, checking out houses for rent, kept me from any kind of action. Even my old eating habits started crawling up to me. Like a Tsunami.
My abs (tummy seems to fit the situation better) have already softened back up.
I got in some 150cm alu Rossignol poles. 22.5cm shorter than my snow skating poles.

I bought them they'd fit me for running, or at least be on the tall side. Off of German eBay, brand new. €20 split between poles and shipping, not bad. Decent baskets, just a thicker kind of soft metal tips.
Should be okay off-road and on snow, bad on pavement.

My throat didn't demand my every second of attention anymore, I started noticing beautiful women again this week, and sports ambitions slowly came back to me.

I did not do much, but I did go out and test my running poles. Short bike ride to the local (small) park. No hills, but a 2m tall dijk running across it. Gravel paths mixed with asphalt.
Asphalt socks for running, I knew the first step.
Keep in mind, I never ever did classic technique, anything. The striding thing is new to me. At least I supposed stake-like running was not going to work. Is it?
I knew I had to pole right with the left foot and the other way around. But it was not that easy. A couple timed I did right+right/left+left, which oddly sort of worked as well.

I was amazed by the speed of running steps. Really hard to keep up with!
How do you guys do this? It's really tough on the hands and wrists when gripping the pole non-stop. I tried letting go of the poles, but the recovery just seems WAY to quick to catch the pole back from the air in time to put it down straight again.
The Rossignol poles have the basic no-thrills loops, which may not help, but should also not be this bad.

Are poles impractical for flat land running, just useful for hills? Or is 150cm just too long for me?

The straightline speed I got felt great. OK, it was very dark in the park, but I seemed to shoot through it. My bad shape did require me to take a breather after every couple of dozen seconds of pole running.
Everytime I got back up to speed, I had to really consciously time the poling. After that, it just felt so efficient, and I didn't even get to tire my arms.

I'll really have to bring the poles to the big recreation hill we have 13 miles down the road. 40m and all gravel roads. I could even work up to completing a full 7km MTB course, 178m vertical. My goals sheet though, says I'm going to design a much shorter lap witha similar amount of climbing.

Anyone have skating stability dryland drills to suggest me, with or without poles?

Thanks,

J
-Nearly on the way back to schedule.

Slow times, failed ski plans

A late winter in Europe, and logistical problems are keeping me from taking advantage of it. It just try to use this bummer as a boost for my snow feaver for my next actual trip.

Since my last post, I've been crazy busy looking around for houses, meeting friends, seeing more houses, and dining out with more friends. No workouts for my logs, to my big shame.

Also, I'm developing an inflammation. A really dry and sore throat, whatever I throw or suck at it.

Then some personal displeasures, and it's really not my time of year now.

The way these things go with me, I'll likely be ill for the next week at least, yippy...

Still a long road ahead

So, yesterday was my first MTB race since November. A very wet course, asking the best of my bike, which (me to blame) it did not have.

I got close to the lead early on, but found myself bored with surroundings, the slippery conditions, and cycling in general. Also, cycling hard was like new to me, not a pleasant experience. I rode my laps lazily, dropping to 15th or so position out of 50. Couldn't bring myself to dig deep. When my brakes failed, I gave up for my own safety, although later in the day I learned these brakes were easily adjusted to work again.

I learned that 3 weeks of careful training does (no longer) make me a race winner. However, I also could tell that the (known to be serieus racers) competition was not all that faster than me, physically. Once againt that conformes to me that I do have athletic talent. It just obviously doesn't mean I am always faster than everybody.

End of next week we'll enter summer time, with longer evening light. MTB practice will become part of my weekly schedule then. Fun as it can be a social event, and it easily sneaks in 3+ hours of excersize on an evening. 2x20km commuting, and full club training over XC-style hills.

By June, I hope to win or come at least close to winning in such lowest-level national races. That would indicate that I'm on the right track. June will be packed with races. The Zoetermeer one I just learned will be 60min on both Saturday and Sunday, they call it a "stage race".

Question from a reader : upper body strength training?

Biff made a good comment to my last update. What do I do for the upper body on top of the Nordic Blading?
Right now, not much. I've commented on my slight progress in push-ups (one-set 11 to now 17 and even 18). Not much else.

The reasons for my under-performing there (after a week or 3-4) have been multifold:
- My famous laziness/ lack of self-motivation
- Lack of knowledge
- Timing

Timing? I've got all of the world to write these silly posts! Fair enough, but that's not my point.

Biff may be under-estimating the situation I'm in. I am not only out of shap, I am also totally screen in the department of skating.
I'll try to sum up everything I've done for skating motions, this lifetime
- Ice skating : perhaps 2 months worth, but mostly before my 13th birthday, back when we still had winters. Mostly hockey skating, and a couple dozen kms of "speed" skating.
- Crosskates : a couple weeks worth, spread over about a year, a year ago. At the end, I had a fast Open Field skate, for up to 5km, and nothing else.
- Inlines : Owned them for less than a year. Under 100km on them. The last couple dozen on slow wheels with poles.

Point being : I'm a rookie. A newbie. trying to get SOME forward motion going.
Using my abs to push down on the poles, (as is apparently the idea), brings me out of fore-aft balance. The inlines are short (a tight 4x90mm), and I'm usually tall for this sport.

I have read some on upper body fitness, but honesly: apart from the first hour on the Crosskates, it never has been the limiting factor. I've done some (careful) double poling. Bending my too flexy poles all over the place, and especially out of balance. I'll be building it up, but it's not a priority right now. I need to learn to apply the little force I have now first, and then get stronger.

Right now, I'm giving as much upper body input as I'm comfortable with.

Limiting factor right now is the intense lactate build-up in my hip/bum, whatever it's called there. I feel disco-ordinated and clumsy because of this. My first few skate pushes, when the soreness is not there yet, can sometimes be the best of the day.
Since I commited to this program, I have yet to have sore arms or abs.

But sure Biff, I'll have to do some serious work before mid-January, to get the abs and arms in tip-top shape. If anything, I can use a good double-poling as a back-up plan when I find myself out of control when skating, and in need for some propulsion I can put some muscle into.

Two in a row, and more new firsts

Can two BE a row?

In the great scheme of thing (my high-set goals) is nothing out of the ordinary. However, getting up before 7, and having a 40-minute working, let alone 2 days after another, is quite a new level of commitment to me.
Last night, with the pretty fierce winds, I could not bring myself to go outside and nirdic blade. I have to confess to myself, I also did zero push/situps.
This morning, skies were clear, the wind down to a mind breeze. I stumbled my way around some cyling paths and parking lots for a good 40 minutes. I noticed I take more time to cover given stretches than jogging. These blades really go slow when you stop giving very explicit input. Skiing on level snow may well be faster in the <10kph range. I was overtaken by lazy scholars riding their bikes about as slow as I can imagine while still reaching any destination.
there was another first : a tumble. I had just made way for a group of scholars on a narrow cycling path. The path sloped up slightly, and there were cracks in the asphalt. Perhaps I also tried to improve my technique at the same point, as I just lost balance. Contrary to my expieriences on rollerskis, my clothing survived this time. I was shaken for quite a while, managed only short proper skating intervals.
I need to get more glide from the left (non-pole) leg when open field skating. The short glide makes the technique more of a V1, not good. I just feel uncertain with my left skate, it feels left stable, like it tracks differently from the right. Open Field on the left side also is far from proper. V2 is a fight to keep up with myself, hmm. If I look at it from the bright side, it can only get better...
Does anyone knwo where the muscle soreness in my (especially) left outer upper hip / bum could come from? It makes me feel really clumsy all the time, and won't go away. Comes to me on the first minute I get out on skates, and it annoys me greatly.

Picking the wrong shoes for the right job : blisters!

After 2 days "off", we have really depressing rainstorms going on here, I managed to get out of bed with an hour to spare to breakfast.
I jumped into jogging gear, and once again picked the Salomon CrossSpeed shoes, with the MySole inlays which seemed to work so well in the mud last Sunday.
I set out to run 8km in total, which was going to take me about 40mins. Yet, it's a scary distance to commit to. I ran to the recreation area, and there did a loop of 5km, all asphalt, which I used to time trial with a friend back when we both had just one somewhat decent MTB.

So, the wind was mostly in my face (under my hat raher) on the way out, back it was somewhat benificial. Damn I catch a lot of wind, headwinds are just not my thing.

I now remembered the low weight of the Salomon shoes, and their lack of damping. Brain wave, these babies are made to be used on soft muddy soil. Humping over asphalt is hurtfull. My heel were grabbed by the insole, and I developped a blister especially on the inside of my right foot, halfway. Yet, apart from 2 traffic lights, I managed to run the full distance, in 40m50. Way slow for me, like 12kph, but it's a little step. Especially in conquering the pain and the dislike of going out to train solo.

This evening it's still very windy. I'm setting the alarm early, hoping to do my first nordic blading session before breakfast. Meetings at work all day, and then dinner. I'll have to jog Friday mornign I'm affraid :-)

Less than one week to race

I just woke up to satisfied feeling legs. Not too beat up from the off-road jog yesterday. It's good to now know my muscles can take it, and I'll be able to sit at my desk comfortably the days after a jog :-)

As a "retired" MTB racer, I don't plan on racing much more than the National races I can ride my bike to as a warm-up. Still, that's 4 of them within 25km, 3 of which in June, on top of another cool event, also in June.
But, the Honselersdijk race, traditionally pretty good for me (I even won it once as part of a local series), comes really early this year.
I haven't ridden a bike off-road since November, 3rd place in Rijswijk. And on-road, it's been limited to the 2km commute to work, and some weekend the 39km commute to visit friends. But the last of those was many weeks ago as well.
This should be interesting. Lower level of racing, record low level of cycling hours in the legs.
The June races I intend to try and win as part of my schedule towards greatness next winter. This one, I hope to not look too stupid. The (elite races) promoter jokingly almost refused to put down my name for the Fun (hobby) class, I as beat him in November, that last day I rode off-road.

2 years ago I had a similar situation with the first event of the MTB season, a 45km beach race. I'd only been on Crosskates the weeks before it, but I seemed to be about as strong as ever. Like the body weight loaded training help build some cycling muscles as well. I'd welcome that, of course. It felt quite easy to race a bike that day, having a seat to sit on. I rode alone for 25km in 4th and then started the usual route back down the field, to finish 12th. For October, you'll see another beach race on the calendar. I hope to have the guts to take part there, I've never done it. Praying for tail winds which suit me so well...

Somewhat lazy day...BUT with 2 firsts!

I woke up to the World Championships speed skating. Our proud little nation got 4 golds. Yet, we get maybe 4 skatable days per winter. Of course, indoor ice rinks are better spread than ski tunnels. Alpine though, we have at least as many venues indoors as ice skating.

So I watched that, and then the Biathlon from Russia. Awesome stuff, these super(wo)men gliding through the snow covered woods and back into the shooting stadium. Grandstands packed with people in warm clothing. Today, for the men it was worth hitting the targets. Sikora got it, the faster skiers left behind on the penalty loop.

The weather here : rain all day. Yippie. I had an hour of no-poles high-resistance skating, so the plan was to first jog and later today nordic blade. Yet, I wrote all of this blog. I've always wanted to have a blog, and now I have a reason for one. Inpsired by 6Q Biathlon , I'll admit. That's 1 First.

Before dinertime, I left on my easy chair, PC, and TV on my grocery getter bicycle, in running outfit.

My Salomon SpeedCross shoes before gave me a nasty strain in the middle lower foot, so I had not used them more than twice. And with that, still zero intensional off-road jogs. The local running store advized these new high-tec MySole inlays, with tall heel supports, and a cushion under the mid-foot. €19, I took the gamble. I'll say now, the strain oin this jog did not come.
In a bout 5mins, I arrived at the start of our local "MTB" loop in a recreational area. Can't call it a park. You need happy looking trees for that and these trees have looked miserable since I was a kid. Same for the soil. One little rain shower and it's a slippery mud fest. One week of sunlight, and it's grown over in sticky herbs. Today, of course, was the former condition.
I set out on a loop we figured out over a decade ago, some 5km over fast but slightly winding and bumpy trails. And some artificially formed fire roads. The trails were covered in tire tracks, but not a soul in sight. No runners either. And on a Sunday afternoon. This really must be pising weather then.

In advance, I decided to run up this tiny, but to our standard huge, grass hill, ca 4m tall, twice.
So I did, and I was fine. The trails were a challenge for the ankles, and I carefully walked the wooden bridges that have caught so many unsuspecting cyclist. Green tiny beings. have made a home of the wooden surface.

I managed to complete the lap (5.2-5.3km I suppose) non-stop, in 27:38. Good thing my First ever offroad jog was on this day, the conditions can only get faster, as am I. Next fall, hopefully I'll be up for running TO the course, and doing 2 laps for good measure.

This tiny workout is going to have to be the example for the rest of my year. Doing new and in some way fun workouts, to not make it too boring. Keep my motivation up.

On the easier sections, I thought about what it was for that I was running dow a miseably ugly dirt road in the pooring rain. Those athletes on TV, slicing thorugh the snowy landscapes. I tried that out of shape, and it was a no-go. At least, the way I envision it. Better work hard to get fit, and used to the breathing.

Already I'm satisfied of the tiny little step up I made today, although I hope my spirits will get me to Nordic Skate some more before bed.

Tomorrow I need to work at least the morning. Bad storms and lightning will be our part. No more skating at least tomorrow, I'm afraid. It would a good death though, struck by lighting making a connection through the hard steel pole tips ont he soaking streets...

The past 2 weeks

The past 2 weeks I've been minding my diet and picking up jogging and skating.

Last Thursday, the first time I jogged before breakfast AND went for an hour Nordic Blading late in the evening. I proved to myself that I survived. This body will not die from a bit of workout.
I kew that, but got out of the self-punishing mood long ago.

Tuesday night, I ran 7.6km non-stop, a new mile stone. Pace was a bit over 12.7kph, and more importantly : a negative split. I turned around after 18:00, and did the way home 17s faster. Near the end, I started feeling the burning in my throat from the breathing. It felt good.

To put things in perspective : duration is okay, but I need to cover 2.4km more in just 1 minute more to meet my 10km goal by 1-1-2009. <37:00 over 10km should not be impossible though, however it will only be a part of a training scheme, not a real goal by itself. Jogging is there to increase my VO2Max, bring it higher than it ever was. for now, Nordic Blading is too much of a muscle excersize to be able to train hard into the red zone. I'm glad if I stay upright and break a sweat other than from fear alone :-)

It's been great to have these slow K2 90mm wheels, and finally having gotten out for what I'd call a skiing session again. Inlines are highly manoeuvrable, you don't just crash too easily. Downside is that you need decent asphalt to ski smoothly and not trip all the time. I need to fine me some off-road skates with air tires that are easier to manage than my Jenex Aero V2 150 SC's.

I have gotten new high-tech inlay soles for my Salomon cross running shoes, intend to go out for a jog in the park, over trails of various composition soon, to improve coordination, trength, and musclular stability.

My ski and trianing gear (suggestions welcome)

Shoes : 48EU / 12.5UK / 13US
Asics Gel-Landreth









Salomon SpeedCross













Skates : K2 4x90mm Moto size 48, now equipped with superslow K2 Conti wheels, 1 pair with braking bearings.

Rollerskis (used 2km with miserable results) Jenex Aero V2 150 SC. Lack of room for mid-stroke corrections got to me.

Skis :
-Atomic Race skate 192 Hard Warm + Atomic Pilot
Used in Switzerland. Stiff and stable. Not for soft snow at least. Need to try on hard snow.

-Atomic WorldCup Skate Hard Warm + Atomic Pilot
Not used yet. Supposedly a good soft snow ski. My lightest set.

-Atomic ProSkate 190cm + Atomic Pilot
Not used yet/
Chepaest they make, and I paid very little. Should be good for days with bad or few snow, and borrowing to inexperienced friends.







-Salomon Equipe 10 Skating 191cm, Warm Stiff + Salomon Pilot
Not used.
Supposedly very good for hard packed snow.

(( For sale : unused Fisher RCS Carbonlite 187cm Stiff Plus 2007. Super nice. Asking price well <€200. Classic : -Fisher/Splitkein Lillehammer 205+210cm.)) Boots, all sized 12.5UK, 48EU
-Salomon Active Pilot : comfortable, soft, light
-Salomon RS Carbon : racey yet comfortable.

-Atomic Race Skate : not used yet, but feel good














Classic :
-Atomic Classic Men. Not used yet, but feel good and light. To try for skating too.
Badly pictured with skate skis.

















Poles
-Rossignol WorldCup 100% carbon 172.5cm. Extremely light, good straps, but very flexy, too small baskets. Now being used for the Nordic Blading, but I want 175's for that.
-Fisher Allround alu 165cm, not used yet. To be tried for Classic.

The basic plan, and the tools

So, I'm stuck here without snow. Hell will freeze over before it stys on the ground here for longer than 24hours. The nearby sea's salt seems a part of the soil and streets.

I want to get fit for XC skiing, and learn the complex technique, especially the free style, skating technique.
A good weight, strong muscles and excellent high-aerobic endurance will be required.

Jogging
I plan to do this at least 3 times a week. Pole running will be added to that, to make the workout more full-body, and somewhat prepare me for the classic xc skiing I'll be trying next time on snow.
Perhaps I should already set some dates to do run racing, but I only consider this while I'm typing this. I just suck at running, being confronted by skinny athletes who live to run doesn't help my psyche too much.

Cycling.
Ideal for long workouts of course. Not too stressful. I'll have to pick this back up. I plan to show up for club training rides on Wednesdays again, it's a 19km commute to get there too.
Some MTB races (fun class, this time) are on the schedule to be able to test myself.


Skating
This is where I have most to learn. Specific muscles and moves to master. Skiing will be all about the outward pushes of the legs, and using abs to press down on the poles.
Logical step would be to poick up roller skiing. I tried, and could keep standing up. Falling on the knees on asphat hurts. I just cannot do this. Why do people consider it fun? You must be some sort of an acrobat for this stuff! That's a big bummer, and €300 wasted.

I tried Crosskates shortly. Two 10" air wheels per skate, free heels, disfunctional brakes, but self-steering front wheels. They ended up easy to master, as least on asphalt, and allowed me to try basic XC technique before I hit the snow forst time. Afterwards, the timing seemed off, and they turned me off.

Next: inline skating. Man, these things roll fast. Scary.
I eventually bought some SLOW wheels, K2 Continentals. Desinged for the rain, but too slow for the inline folks. K2 markets the wheels for Nordic Blading, and the resistance sure feels similar to snow. Even downhill speeds are kept in check, which is a very good thing for the chicken me.
I'll be Nordic Blading on 90mm wheels for the rest of my life, I hope.

Air Tires.
Like some rollerskis, various Nordic Skate concepts use 150mm air tires. Those don't roll too fast, and work well on less-than-perfect aphalt. My long rollerskis ended up not working for me, too stable. harder than skiing on snow by factor 20. The Powerslides and Skike of this world though, don't seem to favour my show size 48.

I'll expand on my trianing focusses, drills and tools more later on. Open to any kinds of suggestions!

Fact Sheet

Birth : 26 October 1976, Vlaardingen, Netherlands. A cold winter followed.

Height : 1m94
Weight : has been between 79.3 and 91kg. Best was 82kg.
Body style : all arms and legs. Jeans 34x38.
Living : Single, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands
Profession : Customer Support Representative, full-time

Started MTB riding 1996, racing 1997.
Some top-10 results in Sports, mainly beach and conditionally tough courses.
3-time Dutch Singlespeed Champion
Elite amateur champion Cycl0Cross Noord+Zuid-Holland 2001.
Winner of 7 Zuid-Holland regional winter MTB races as part of CX series.

1st XC Ski experience on snow March 2007, 5 days in Austria.
2nd snow experience : December 2007, 4 days in Switzerland.
1 failed attempt to ski in Holland since, 2008. Too little snow.

VO2Max : 506W on a bicycle, off-season, ca January 2001.
Running PB : 10km 45:00 (1998), 3km 11:44 (2007), 2300m 8:27 (2007).
Running goals 1-1-2009 : 10km <37:00, 15km <1:00:00, 1500m <4:50.

Where I'm coming from (rock bottom)

My best years in MTB racing were bewteen 2000 and 2003. I trained a bit, cared for my diet (a bit), and logged several top-10 finishes in the Sports category.

Last winter was hard on me. I don't get to ride my bike to work anymore. before, it was 16km each was, every day. Work moved, now it's 2km each way.
Also, I somehow quit riding my bike. No off-road outings (require one hour by car, which i do not own)

Starting June 2003, I've been suffering of some sort of excersized enduced asthmatic allergy. I cannot take in enough oxygen to even mildly jog. Lot of coughing. In the winter, apart from teh smog, I seem to be fine, and can be a contender in the local races. Singlespeed Nationals don't exactly come easy either, the last 2 I've won were late October and Early November.

I never jogged for fun, it was always part of a (temporary) plan.
I never inline skate till recently, too scared too fall on the street. Same reason I hardly did any road racing on the bike.

Late February 2008, I was here :
Around 10kg overweight.
1 set of 11 push-ups maximum (first set in a year)
a few sit-ups
Very bad CV system
can't jog slowly for more than a few minutes without running out of breath

Here goes nothing!

This blog will mark my progress as I start from zero. An out-of-shape cyclist aiming to become fitter than ever, but in a sport hardly existing in his home country.
My country gets on average one or 2 XC-skiable days per winter. I managed zero so far, as I've only owned skis since recently.

Today, March 9th, I'm 2 weeks into my first diet and training weeks which will have to see me in top-shape by next winter.

My aims are simple, yet ridiculously high. I want to be a contender on a national (Dutch) level in XC Skiing, the skate technique in particular.
With my background in mountainbiking, and considering the successes my fellow countr(wo)men have logged in Winter Triathlon, I cannot but include WT that to my goals sheet. Running will be a big part of my training schedule, I just love riding a mountainbike in the snow, and XC Skating is my main goal in life. The perfect circle of three. I've always looked at triathlon as a possible sport for me, but the swimming scared me out. Off-road run-bike-runs were great fun, so WT should be awesome.