I suppose I'm again looking at 46 weeks until high-season on snow. Not that I ever really had a "season" on snow.

Some updates on my progress:
- My running coach just mentioned that I look slimmer.
- And, although I've not done a solo run to mention, the 2 track practices a week do seem to be getting better. My times are not world shattering, but I've been off this pace for some time. And when I was on it, I seemed to be working harder for it. I'm running with, and away from faster teammates (girls mostly, to be honest).

This winter I spent 2 weeks on snow. One in Reit im Winkel (Germany), one in Leutasch/Seefeld (Austria). Some 14 days on skis. 2 of them with a bit of classic in there. One classic lesson and bits before and after, and ~15km on renatal the last day in Seefeld. No big love just yet. I sort of like it for recovery training though, change of pace and muscle groups. I just can't deal with classic skis on downhills. Slow seems like it would make it easier, but the things are just SO sketchy...

It's really time to pick up:
-longer easy runs outside of the practices.
And weight work, push/pull-ups, etc, etc. I'm terribly weak now, a miracle I can run.
And regular rather than incidental street skating
And actual bike rides exceeding the 7km to work and back again.

I'm contempleting the huge investment of a SkiErg trainer. Made to train double poling. Half the skating muscles or more, I suppose. I'd prefer to be able to do skate-leg work at the same time though. Please tell me if you know this to work. No SkiErg in shops here to try it out before purchase. Apart from the price and my nitpicking over it's workings, there is the reputation of indoor training equipment, especially when noisy. People look at it, try to ignore it, and then feel weaker than before they bought it.

Oh, now that I feel like my balance is better, and I carry around less excess weight, little reason to keep from trying the Skikes again. First time ever, at a club test practice, I liked them. Second try, I owned my own pair, sort of liked them, but shitted my tights on anything pointed down. Disappointed at the off-road rolling capacity, or utter lack thereof. Third try, I was standing there, feeling very unstable, skates tipping laterally like a small pendulum clock. Shin straps seemed to turn around, making for very sketchy "hold". I want it to be without movement!
Skikes, as limited as they are, should make touring from home much better, by rolling over old pavement better, and having actual brakes.

I recently broke a carbide tip off a pole, that sucked. I stuck it between 2 bricks that made up the pavement, and the leverage did the rest. Sucks.

Now I have 180cm Skike One4You poles. Heavier carbon ones, really, really stiff. They are so heavy, it's uncomfortable to freeskate them. They jerk in the hand. Considering to try counter weights on the other end, so they'll just be heavier, bu better balanced. I skated the longer poles ones, for the Inline they are definately better than the ~172.5 Fishers and Rossignols. The former should be 175cm, I bought them such, but they work out smaller.

Another issue I have, even rand new pole ferrules slip out on asphalt. Is that normal? Should I make them sharper still, or add the rubber socks to make transitions smoohter? I do dislike the loud sound of the ferrule on the street...

On www.xcskiforum.com I posted a review of some new top-end Salomon and Atomic skate stuff. And a full trail desciptionf or Seefeld/Leutasch. Check it out.

I just want to mention that Ziener gloves are great value, scored a pair for €20 that worked out well for may XXL square hands with pianists' fingers.
And, I still have a brand new pair of Carbonlite 187 Cold stiff skate skis for sale. Won't break the bank for you.

Run, Bike, Skate!

That's what winter triathlon is about. The skating can be on ice or snow. While I like ice, I am even more of a rookie there than on snow. Plus, you know where my heart lies...

Today, in between being lazy, I spread 3 little workouts.
Run : 30mins net, before brunch
Bike : 90mins gross, after late lunch
Skate : 60min messing about after diner

Non of the outings were particularly long or hard, but I'd never actually done them all on the same day. And, I did it all solo, which is a great mental effort for me.
Hopefully tomorrow a friend will feel up to going for an easy bike ride with me.

The things I learned today:
- My outer upper hip muscles really need a lot of strenghening for the skating
- I seem to never ever use my abs while skating. Making a point of that though, gives a great speed boost. I know my abs are weak from being unable to keep up with anyone with situps at the running club. I used to do those to get through a long boring afternoon. Need to pick that back up. Shrug...
- Need to get me good rollerski pole tips, and sharp ones at that.
- Some semi-nice nearby cycling paths and roads for skating with low traffic after dinertime.

New gear!

I scored an awesome deal on ebay, and it wasn't even an auction!
Adidas Carbon skate boots. Made by Salomon in Romania, basically an RS Carbon with Adidas refinements. EUR65, shipped to my door, including matching overboots. Awesome kit. No-one will ever need better.

Also, after a long legal struggle with a web vendor, I got in the Swedish style skates I bought 2 years ago. I mounted on the the Profil Automatic binding s off a pair of cheap classic skis I shouldn't have bought (luckily little more expensive than their bindings). As it turns out, the Automatics are the not-so stiff variety, due to the campling being spring-powered, not a clamping mechanism.



Anyway, I got it all put together, wore my new Adidas boots, and tried them on the frosen field that is the ice club. I never ice skated worth much, but these skates make it easy! The clap mechanism of the bindings makes all the difference. Such a natural feeling... And, no cold or hurting feet or ankles!
I never even considered long-distance ice skating, but with this setup, it will just be a fun outing, just like an XC trip over fast flat snow, yet faster still. I can do this for hours, in any shape, I think.

When you shop, such swedish skates are just great to have, especially if you already have XC skate boots, of course.

Yet a new start, and more counter pressure

Interesting how defensive and even offensive the XC ski community responds to free thinking. People to get more out of their sport, people who dare to differ.
I know many kind and wonderful people in skiing, but all too other they'll think you're weird or even bad for skiing, just because you have a mind of your own.
On the web, they make a point of miss-spelling my nickname to try and ridicule me (I can do that fine myself, thankyouverymuch). If a name is hard to spell, copy-paste it, right? Lack of personal respect can never lend credibility to what you have to say, however heartfelt or well-intended.

OK, about tme then.
I'm back from a week of skiing. The Noords Festival in Reit im Winkl, Germany. Packed with skating tours and lesson, and I even took a classic lesson I sortof enjoyed. It's still not all for me, but at least I know I can sortof make forward progress and at times get my movements roughly in tune. I see it as a change of pace when I want to be out there, but take a break from skating. In weeks such as last week, I can ski until I drop, just too good to be out there. Next day can be a bit hard then.

In the races I didn't fare as well as I'd hoped. Not that I was all prep'd and fit for it, not at all. I just hoped my improved technique owuld get me to the finish line somewhat quickly. Turns out, I lack muscle endurance to stand up steadily, let alone ski properly, when I attempt race speed. The 7.5km skate race felt like a marathon after a beer drinking session. Not that I've ever tried that.
The sprint races were pretty fun, just the soft fresh snow doesn't exactly favor my stature and overweight. Again, it was fun anyway.
The 20km skate "marathon" was really tough on me. More soft snow, and lots falling as we struggled alone. My skis sank way deep each half-stride, where I saw lighter built racers just glide along, which made me quite jealous. I was skiing non-stop (after for some breathers on the big hill) for 93 minutes though, a new first.

Now home, I trying again to pick up my training. Just finish a pre-lunch jog, after having attended the 2 track practices already this week. It feels good, in the tiring way. Planning to get a bike ride in this afternoon, and some skating (slow inlines and poles) tonight. Tomorrow more cycling. Unique for me, but it will need to become normal. Thursday I rode my bike to work as usual, just with a 50km+ detour to pick up something in The Hague. You don't know how out of shape yo are, until you do something that used to be almost daily routine. Yep, very much out of shape. Still, it felt good in the degrading kind of way. Reason more to get fit.

Although I'm no Lars Berger nor will I ever be, I am satisfied with my skating progress on snow. I've found (outside the racing that is) some better balance, and my climbing seems to be quicker and more efficient. I learned for the first time to make a side slip at (some) speed without long snowplowing first.
I still suck at pretty much everything but straight line flatland skiing. Turns, downhilling, bad side poling, etc. Quite content on my freeskating efficiency though, I found myself just leaving the poles hanging in the air, relaxed following other that were poling their way forward, even on steep hills. That suits me well, as I'm all-legs anyway, and they're certainly more used to intensity sports. My long twiggs for arms will need serious weight lifting to put any real pressure on the poles. My abs barely give me a sit-up, let alone an abs workout. No idea how that has gone so bad, pushups never went away as badly.

Amazing! Snow in Holland , and lots of it!

Leading into the weekend, we had some snow. Unusual about it: the temps were actually be low freezing, so it remained on the ground.
I started out doing some skating (and much more crahsing) on 4-5cm snow over asphalt, just where it seemed to have piled up a bit due to wind vorteces. This marked the first skiing I did on home soil, actually on the way to work.
Friday we got some more, and I cashed some more, although at times I was skating just fine, albeit carefully to not scrape pavement too often.
Saturday, I took the train to some hilly forrests (Kaapse Bossen) reported to have good XC skiing snow. They didn't, even after additional snow. At least, for the skating I do. Messy trails. Just the wheel chair accessible walking route (as tame as it gets in hilly forrest) offered pretty reliable snow cover, and relatively few crashes from hitting the soil underneith. A bit of a let down, for hours at -8C.

Then, Sunday. Great snow coming down. I only went out the afternoon, to a recreational area I know well from having grown up nearby, and cycling the lame trails there a lot. A hellish half-hour bike ride to get there, this country is just not set up for 8-10" dumps during daylight.
There was TOO MUCH snow for decent skiing. One with forrest side path, where people at times walk over, I got down to being decently skiable after hours, by the time I was too tired to really take advantage and work on my technique.
At night I went out again, a little park near my house. I left the house, DOWNTOWN Rotterdam, ON SKIS. I skied to the park quite easily. Crazy fast side walk conditions. I got the same at the park. The kids having Christmas holiday ensured lots of sleighing action had taken place during daylight. The little (non-Dutch people wouldn't npotice them) hills were in tip-top condition this time. I found myself skating at full power, just like in Austria or Switzerland on the best of groomed trails. A wide cycle path transversing the park lined with street light was great for practicing straight line skiing. Not one crash from suddenly haltin skis this time. Skiing in Holland!
When I could no more, I added about another hour of catching breath and skiing some more. Words do not descibe it.
Monday after work, I went to the park again, again on skis out of the door.
Conditions were slower it seemed, but cover was still good or better. A bit too loose again even, as we had been blessed with a bit more snowfall still. I didn't manage more than 1.5 hours or so, I was just BEAT from the 2 days before. Too beat to get proper sleep even.
Thurday I didn't ski although surely conditions would have been OK. Wednesday markt the start of my 10-day leave, but I'm at home, trying to get rested.

I'm torn between booking a flight for tomorrow to go to the snow, and just getting a break from it. I may have gotten an overload of skiing, and don't want to be put off by it. I also have a week booked for the last week of January.

Gear :
I did most of the skiing on my Atomic Pro Skate skis. Sounds fancy, but really they are the cheapest skate skis Atomic offered in 2007-2008 or so. I got them at an eBay auction for a joke. The matching Pilot bindings cost me the same, to give you an idea.
Slightly wider than the fanicer Atomic I've got, and 190cm for the largest size vs. 192cm. The base is of lower quality, and for the better. Because the first attemps to ski, wrecked the base beyond repair. Yet, the skiing remained acceptable, to my surprise. Only on really nice snow, my Atomic Race Skates seemed to be a tad nicer/faster.
Somehow, the Pro's seem to be really natural feeling. Taking turns feels easy. Or maybe my technique and guts have improved since I last skied earlier this year.
Anyway, I love(d) these skis. They are wrecked, although they still "ski". I think I'm going to try and fine more of them. As I get better at skiing, this pair may still have a purpose for the increasingly stupid skiing I might do.
Perhaps I just got lucky to get a pair of skis perfectly tuned to my (over)weight, but I'm going to try and find more of them. Something about dirt cheap skis that work...

Some good news!

After all the messing with my right ankle (pain when running) I seem to have figured it out 75% or so.
I have flat feet. Huge, I knew that, but apparently my arch can't support my weight anymore (95kg not too long ago). The causes severe pronation, and apparantly I only notice it as ankle pain (it moves a lot inward).

I bought some €80 insoles. Really stiff, high arch support. There are meant for racket sports, very rough surface (need slippery socks), but they seem to fit me well.
All at once, much less ankle pain!!
The next step was to buy some Saucony Stabil-SC shoes, for severe over-pronators. I think they really work, but I have yet to find the perfect insole for them. A thick, huge support insole seem "too much" correction, I get strained shins/calfs. Without a supporting insole, I distinctly feel the arch collaption, like a rope bridge.

Anyway, since a few weeks, I am able to show up for Tuesday and Thursday running practices, distance track team. I don't yet feel comfortable to join the long distance road group, afraid of injury (and boredom).
I can't say my time are improing, but at least I feel pretty OK by the end of a practice, rather than hurtfully impaired before we get to the main program.

I find that I can be surprisingly smooth running near the end of a practice session, even with long escalator intervals (18 metres up from a river tunnel).

Yesterday after 10PM I managed to drag myself outside and do a sort of fartlek run of 25 mins total. There is this bridge 3 mins from my house, 5-6m tall, with grass lawn on the side. there may be some dog activity there, but the grass is short and the lighting sufficient. Next time I'll have to wear my SpeedCross shoes there. Great ankle stability training. And, I can do short hill bounding intervals up the tallest steepest slope. Many little trees littered over the lawn, to make an imaginary winding running course. It's not much, but better than nothing. Hope to go there more often.



I'm looking to get some snow end Jan/early Feb. Hopefully contest the Dutch Nationals this time, the real race. i won the men's non-race this year, behind the first lady...

I don't foresee a wintertri happening this winter (always postponing), but I don't feel bad about it. I am progressing, and hope to include more cycling and skating into my life over this winter.

Return of the slacker : first proper run in 7 months

See my August 21st 2008 entry? I did a similar run yesterday, totaling the same.
Since August, I've been attending some track trainings, but never done long solo runs. Twice a 2x3km to a mate where I'd have a long break, otherwise nothing.

Out, around the island, and back the same route. 10.2km in 50min06s.
I ran both as slow as I can bear, and as fast as I can breath. All landing on the heels, at times focussing to be smooth, which seemed to only cost more energy.

I stopped only for a few traffic lights, and to quickly stretch atop the second bridge.
Usually when I run 10k's (I never did more), I get in trouble on the way home. Only along the water after the island I was strugling (some fat guy overtaking and leaving me), but after the island look I got in a nice rythm, actually aerobically comfortable. I could have run a couple k's longer at that pace, although my left thigh was complaining a bit.

Today: oddly, no soreness. I took it easy though.
Glad I managed a "non-stop" 10km again, and losing only 5min over my ancient PB, without trying to go fast for a second.

On another note : I may have found a couck. Residing across an ocean, but he seems to know his stuff. Hope to confirm a deal soon. I still really want to get in shape, and I need someone to make my schedules to reach that.
There will be lots of (b)logging if I do half the hours I'm hoping for, and reporting on only half of that :-)

Keep believing,

J

Another 52 weeks

Hi all,
Obviously, I didn't make it.
Well, not taking tart in a Winter Traithlon.

I did "win" the Dutch non-championships race on the Ramsau WorldCup course, sans real hills.
In January, I enjoyed 7 days on snow there. February, another 8 days in the Leutasch/Seefeld region.

My total of snow days now stands at 24. I no longer am a pityful rookie that doesn' know how to go from standstill to forward movement, or to keep from sliding down a hill - backwards.

Coming out of Davos, December '07, I didn't quite have the progress I would have wanted. COuld barely climb, and shitted my pants on the slighted sight of a downslope.

Arriving in Ramsau, Austria, I skipped the opening classic lesson (and all the following). Went for some pure XCsperience, checking out some local trails.
Testing my new Salomon Equipe 10 skate skis. I found them to make it easy to make a turn, albeit in my usual V-slide. At least crashing was becoming optional rather than a given.

The skate lessons (part of the VasaSport Dutch Champs program) were good, but I learned most from doing longer tours, and dozens of repeats on too-tough-for-me hills. I still struggled with fast downhills, finding them just way scary. I worked on that though, and made (some) progress.
By the end of the Ramsau week, I had won a medal (being the fastest man (8th) to not take part in the real skate nationals. Of those who took part in anything, that is.
Oh, and a girl beat me actually. A fit one though, reigning European Champ of sorts.



My own fitness was still pityfull though. Running has been scarce.
So, I made it up maybe 10 vertical meters, before needing a breather. Chasing Kazakhstan national team members helped keep the speed up, but didn't nett me more meters per effort.

All in all, Ramsau was a great re-acquaintance with snow. I learned (mostly myself) to get up some of the steeper hills that XC courses can throw in my way. In Davos, I struggled like an elephant on a green soaped waterslide. In Ramsau, I worked to get my steps up a particularly steep WC hill down to 20. The national champ, did it in 14... Number 2 in 16, numkber 3 in 15. NOt sure anyone in the main feature ever took 20, but I had a goal set. Some day, I want to fly up that little bugger in 13 or less steps, without really forcing it.

Arriving in Leutasch, we were treated to lots of snow, and often soft trails. Careful with the poles. I got to improve my feel on the skis, a lot. Lots of hills, and zero lessons, made it about the steepest learning curve I'd had since snow day 1.
Braking and downhills got better and better. Loving the Salomons. Many crashes, resulting in only minor injuries, oddly added to my confidence.

Stepping through turns is still one of my weaker points, but doesn't really cost me a lot of time compared to my climbing or endurance and wax speed.








Join me! Sub-optimal phone cam angle. Care for your neck:


Better recording, not upside down. Head bands work for phones!


Nice downhill:


A few more on YouTube itself. I'm Cloxxki there.

No WorldCup grace, just yet. Well, just blind rage on skis really. But, I'm making it up the hill, in somewhat of a hurry (near max effort really). In Ramsau, I was definately less agile. In Davos, I would have looked for other routes to the summit.

So, progress, yeah!

Still no luck finding a coack. Even the world class wintertriathlete that lead the Ramsau groups didn't know anyone for me. And I really can't even get started by myself. All that can get me off my lazy ass now is a whole lot of snow, and a pair of skis.

My goals are far from being reached, but my progress, especially in speed and technique, hint me that I just may not end up the world's worst skier. It's clear I don't have natural motoric talent for this, but as I hoped and expected, I CAN learn this, with time. One day I WILL be proficient enough, to let my ski speed be a direct reflection of my physical fitness compared to the race winners, not my level of experience.
When I find a coach, and get working towards being the fittest man I ever was, I will not need to be a backmarker in wintertriathlon who loses another half hour on the ski leg.

Next year I hope to be ready to truly contest the Dutch Champs in skating. I did register this year, but back out for 2 reasons.
2- really sore left ankle, likely from bad edging technique (my right ankle was fine, but was my wrrry due to running pains)
1- the downhill after the steep uphill was actually steeper still, and ending in a right turn. I got down it safely 2 attempts in training, and crashed it many more times. After Leutasch, I may have been able to slide through it at semi-decent speed.
15km of non-stop racing though...a very long hour. I just was not that kind of athlete. Twice 7km on a city bike to work each day, and once in a while a running practice. That doesn't make a National XC racer, also not in Holland. Those guys were FIT! Half of the participants actually lived in snow countries.
Will I move to Austria? I just might, if the occasion presents itself to me...

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.