Well, after another 8-hour drive last afternoon/night I am finally all home and settled in VT ready to enjoy a good block of training at home in preparation for US Nationals in Anchorage, Jan. 2-8.
Yesterday’s 10k C wasn’t quite what I hoped for, ended up 6th (basically finished right with 4th and 5th), 52 seconds from 1st. I was definitely feeling pretty beat from the sprint heats yesterday and the travel / no-sleep etc. I’ve been struggling to really find my groove in classic races this year. I think at least part of the problem is skis…I still haven’t really found a classic pair that feel really good, that I can kick confidently and that aren’t draggy (meanwhile I have 4+ pairs of skate skis that are great!) So that is one of the things I am going to be really working on the next week and a half…testing and testing and testing and more testing of the classic skis and playing with different wax pocket lengths and thicknesses at different points of the ski, and testing kick and glide between the various pairs that I have right now…and asking for some classic skis with different characteristics - particularly skis that have a “soft finish” or a very easy-to-close second-camber.
All in all though it was not a bad weekend. 5th (2nd in qualifying) and 6th (4 sec. out from 4th) is by far the best I’ve ever done in these annual Eastern Cup openers, which are probably the most competitive races in New England all year long, other than SuperTours when New England hosts those like they did last year. So I know I’m doing a lot better than I ever have in the past 5 or 6 years…or ever, probably. And that was all despite some horrendous travel and stress and lack of sleep in the few days leading up to those races…on top of the just-came-down-from-elevation, first-races-at-sea-level factor. I fully expect to get a lot more up to speed over the next week and a half by doing a lot of short, max intensity.
The plan for this week and through Nationals:
Mon. (today) - off (I actually did a super easy 30min. recovery walk with a little jogging…even better for recovery than an off day!)
Tues. easy distance
Wed. distance and specific strength (double pole or double pole and single pole)
Thurs. 10x1min. max speed intervals (2min. rest between each one.)
Fri. easy distance with 15 or 20x10sec. speeds
Sat. Craftsbury time trial / negative split 10k: first 5k controlled level 3, second 5k all-out/race.
Sun. - easy recovery ski
Mon. - off or easy jog/walk
Tues. - 8x1min. max speed intervals (2min. rest between each one.)
Wed. - fly to Anchorage.
Thurs. - get ready to race
Fri. - get ready to race
Sat. - US NATIONALS SPRINT F
Sun. - off or easy / get ready for 15k possibly
Mon. US NATIONALS 15k F (not sure yet whether I’ll do this one)
Tues. off or easy / get ready for 30k possibly
Wed. US NATIONALS 30k C mass-start (not sure yet whether I’ll do this one)
Thurs. off or easy / get ready for classic sprint
Fri. US NATIONALS SPRINT C
————————-
