Ski2Sea 2013

A somewhat last minute decision I was lucky to toe the line at the 2013 Re/Max Ski2Sea as my first race of summer.  A iconic world class event only in the Okanagan with six legs teams of up to seven people (or as a solo) race from the slopes of Big White to the waters of Okanagan Lake. The race consists of Alpine and Nordic skiing, Mountain and Road cycling, Running and Paddling.  Three weeks ago Ski2Sea veteran and dear friend Dustin asked me to be apart of the Trashletes as the Nordic skier.

I was fortunate enough to get a lots of skiing in this winter thanks to friends like Bradley and Travis giving me rides to the trails.  I have no never felt so strong on skis.  Physically I felt strong because of two weeks in the lab as a participant for a research study.  I haven't skied so hard this year, hands down.  Firstly, this was in part because of the soft snow conditions.  Like uber soft.  I wish had a pair of Salomon S-Lab SG (next year... next year).  Also I was skiing at 5,000ft as opposed to the typical 2,000ft of Edmonton Alberta as very noticable.  So in an attempt to remedy these things I want to improve some things for next year.  Technique; needs improvement, knowing where to 1 skate, where to 2 skate, skiing offset on my weak side.  Get contacts.  Glasses fog up way too fast.  All in all I went balls out.  Next season is looking like I will have my own car to get to the trails so I will be able to see more then three times a week.

The announcement went out that the race had started so I knew our Alpine Trashlete, Cory, was going to be quick.  He was stellar and finished 3rd. Cam was the runner (running the timing chip from the Alpine skier to the Nordic Skier) and was able to jump us up to 2nd in the short distance.  Yelling our codeword he came sprinting around over the bridge and dove head first.  He slid to my legs in order to attach the timing chip to my leg.  We then learnt that it was meant to be around my wrist. two second later I was out of transition and trying to catch the kid in first.  And it was a kid, skiing for his dad's team, teachers from KLO Middle.  He was so fast and light on his feet, I didn't catch up to him.

I have never been in this position before, getting the chip in a podium spot at the start of the race.  3rd was right on my heels from the get go.  Unfortunately I went down in the first corner (soft snow, stiff skis with a short ski on my right foot going into a sharp right bend).  I stayed with this guy for maybe 1/3 of the course.  At that spot is when the taste of blood starts to creep up into my mouth and I was gasping for air.  2/3 of the course I got passed by an old dude with the most awesome of ski pants from the mid 80s with fluorescent pastels.  I felt so heavy from the lack of oxygen.  Also not having the greatest technique also makes things difficult.  On the finishing hill the snow was softer then sand.  I was past halfway up the hill and to really make things worse I stuck a ski tip into a snow bank and tripped up.  I really need contacts, because foggy glasses means you can not see anything.

As I crossed the line, I was told that the mountain bike leg had been cancelled due to safety.  We had to wait then drive down to the transition for the start of road bike.  Dustin's ride was cold and snowy to say the least.  It was snowing through out the whole Joe Rich valley.  This is when the Ski2Sea is really exciting because as you are driving down you can see how the race is playing out.  Because of the re-start, they were not able to get the positions right.  As a result you didn't really know where you were in  relation to the other teams.  But this was solved by the timing chips, takes some extra maths but all is good in the end.  Our runner Mike ran a solid 15km for 1:06 to the paddlers Ned and Cam who brought us in to the finish.

My Plan For 2013

First off, I am not going to track workouts on Blogger anymore.  I have found that Google Calendar is better for this. This is going to be a dump for race reports and notes on training.

Second off, I feel like going to the 2014 ITU Age-Group World Championships. Is it in some exotic location. Hell no. It is in my backyard.  I may be insane to keep signing up for a race that has had major screw ups in the last two years.

So here is what the summer is shaping up to be (if it ever comes).
April 4th, Ski2Sea - nordic leg
April 28th, Spring Series race - likely only 1 will happen
May 11th, 5peaks Terwilliger - trail race
May 18th, River Valley Rumble - mountain bike race
May 19th, Spring Thaw - sprint (if it happens)
May 26th, Pigeon Lake - road race
June 8th, 5peaks Sunridge - trail race
June 22nd, Devon GP Crit - road race...maybe
June 23rd, Edmonton ITU - olympic
July 1st, Canada Crit - road race
July 7th, Perogy XC - mountain bike race
July 21st, Peach Classic - olympic
August 10th, 5peaks Fish Creek - trail race...maybe
August 18th, Apple Triathlon - olympic

Block 4: Week of Mar 4, 2013

Week 1
4: rev 20min, strained knee from the 3rd, worked on TT position; stretching
5: rev 30min, knee still bum
6: sickly now; rollers 20min; knee fine on the bike, crap on the run
7: rollers 20min
8: nothing
9: jasper
10: jasper

Week 2
11: nothing
12: nothing
13: rev 30min dialed in the fit on the TT bike; rollers 30min
14: rev 1h, 3 x 10 w/ HR ~160-170bpm; rollers 30min avg 152 for 1.5h
15: run 30min
16: nordic ski 1h SK
17: run 1h

Pushing back any idea I had of doing a big block of training.

Block 3: Week of Feb 8th, 2013

Feb 18: nordic skiing 3.5h
Feb 19: rev 1h
Feb 20: run 30min
Feb 21: nothing
Feb 22: nothing
Feb 23: Nordegg
Feb 24: Nordegg
Week 1 total: 5h

Feb 25: run 40min; core 20min
Feb 26: rev 1h
Feb 27: nordic skiing 2h
Feb 28: nordic skiing 2h; swim 1.5h
Mar 1: rev 1h
Mar 2: nothing
Mar 3: run 1h
Week 2 total: 9.5h

Block 2: Week of Feb 4th, 2013

Feb 4: swim 1.5h

Feb 5: rev 1h; stairs 30min

Feb 6: nordic ski 1.5h

Feb 7: nothing

Feb 8: run 30min

Feb 9: B-day

Feb 10: nordic ski 2h low intensity

Week 1 total: 7h

Feb 11: don't remember shit

Feb 12: rev 1h; stairs 1h

Feb 13: run 30min

Feb 14: run AM

Feb 15: rev 1h

Feb 16: nothing

Feb 17: canmore ice climbing

Week 2 total: 4h?

Block 1: Week of Jan 21st, 2013

New idea: view training in 2 week blocks, I'm thinking there will be better continuity in terms of training hours; more HR data too
Jan 21: rev 1:30h (avg 155bpm, max 170bpm)
Jan 22: rev 1h (avg 160bpm); stairs 30min
Jan 23: nordic ski 2h w/ some intervals
Jan 24: swim 1h
Jan 25: rev 1h (HRM died)
Jan 26: nothing
Jan 27: Race: Apple Loppet 30k 2h (avg 172bpm, max 187bpm)
Week 1 total time: 9h

Jan 28: nothing
Jan 29: nordic ski 1h; stretching 30min
Jan 30: nordic ski 1.5h w/ 4x10min @ ~160bpm avg
Jan 31: nothing
Feb 1: rev 1h
Feb 2: nordic ski 1h
Feb 3: nordic ski 1h
week 2 total time: 6h

Week of Jan 14, 2013

Mon: swim 1:30h
Tue: nothing
Wed: nordic ski 1:30h
Thu: nothing
Fri: run or nordic ski 2h; rev 2h
Sat: run 30min
Sun: nothing
Total Time: 7:30h