A few inches of new snow combined with reasonable single digit temps and sunshine made for excellent skiing conditions this morning. Tuesdays this winter have featured a 5k open ski race series. So we normally go out in the morning and practice on the course and ski easy for a while. The course and technique change for the race each week. This week will be a classic race. Classic refers to the skiing technique but also the epic nature of the event. It has been a blast so far. All of the rowers are required to race each week. That in itself is enough entertainment for any spectators. While the rowers put a great deal of effort out on the course each week, we are not quite at the point where all of that effort is cleanly transferred into speed. More often than not it yields crashes. A total blast though-everyone has a good time. Along with the rowers, local skiing ringers show up and sometimes the quality of skiing at the front of the pack is very high. This will be the fourth race of the series. Believe it or not, I am leading the series in points. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I have participated in all of the races, but hey, the most important part of success is just showing up! I got second the first week to a former Eastern Cup Champion, first the second week, third the third week, and we will see what happens today. No doubt I am getting more proficient and am able to stick with the faster guys. In early December when I raced the Eastern Cup, I was really far out of it. Still very far ahead of the other rowers but way light years behind the top male skiers and not ahead of the top female skiers, ha! Fortunately, now I have made the jump to beating the top girls and sticking with the guys. In December I was losing to Emily Dreissigacker by a few seconds. She is very slick on skis but in no way should she beat me. In our race last week, I beat her by a minute over 5k. Which felt pretty good!
This weekend is a big date in our ski racing schedule this winter. The Craftsbury Marathon. It's one of the biggest races on the east coast and attracts a lot of the top skiers from around the area and the country. It is a 50k classic race. So roughly 8k more than a marathon. All the rowers are once again required to race! Ha! It just doesn't seem like we are respecting the race enough. I mean, 50k!? It is going to take some people 5 hours! Anyways, I am definitely excited to be a part of it and be in the same race as some US Ski teamers, but I have no expectations. It is going to quite a challenge. Fueling will be the key. Lots of food and at the right time. This takes place on saturday. We are expecting a pretty big thaw on Wednesday so its unclear on what the course will be. But we do know it will be 50 kilometers long...
As far as rowing specific training goes, we have continued to at least one set of pieces on the erg each week just to keep in touch with it. We have been doing either 2 x 10 min( 22,24,26,28 spm) or 3 x 1500 m/ 3 min rest open rate. Both are fun in their own right. Erging has been pretty fun for me this winter because I have a very clear target of what I am going for and he sits next to me on every piece. Steve Whelpley, good friend, good sculler, and I normally do these pieces together. For me, its great, because I know he has gone 5.55 multiple times in his career and he is at least that fast now. Going 6 min on a 2k would be great for me. So it's really helpful to gauge off of him a little bit and just keep pushing to stay with him. Theoretically, it should be very hard for me to stay with him on the erg. He is 20 + lbs heavier than me etc etc, but thats the goal nonetheless. Sticking with him on the erg would mean dooring him and others when we get on the water. On the other hand, I understand that he probably hates having me targeting him every single piece. But, hey, DEAL WITH IT.
So far this winter, I have been staying with him. Last week, I did pretty well to not let him go on the pieces. On 2 x 10', I beat him on the first piece and lost to him on the second. We had the same average at the end. On friday during 3 x 1500 I had my best pieces of the winter and so did Steve. He averaged 1.33.8 and I averaged 1.34.3. The next closest guy was one of the lightweights at 1.38.5. Those pieces were almost two splits faster than when we did this workout after Speed Order. What I liked most about it was that I sprinted even with Steve. He was faster than me during the base, but on the last piece we were both pinning 1.32's for the final 500. It was good old fashioned fun.
This weekend is a big date in our ski racing schedule this winter. The Craftsbury Marathon. It's one of the biggest races on the east coast and attracts a lot of the top skiers from around the area and the country. It is a 50k classic race. So roughly 8k more than a marathon. All the rowers are once again required to race! Ha! It just doesn't seem like we are respecting the race enough. I mean, 50k!? It is going to take some people 5 hours! Anyways, I am definitely excited to be a part of it and be in the same race as some US Ski teamers, but I have no expectations. It is going to quite a challenge. Fueling will be the key. Lots of food and at the right time. This takes place on saturday. We are expecting a pretty big thaw on Wednesday so its unclear on what the course will be. But we do know it will be 50 kilometers long...
As far as rowing specific training goes, we have continued to at least one set of pieces on the erg each week just to keep in touch with it. We have been doing either 2 x 10 min( 22,24,26,28 spm) or 3 x 1500 m/ 3 min rest open rate. Both are fun in their own right. Erging has been pretty fun for me this winter because I have a very clear target of what I am going for and he sits next to me on every piece. Steve Whelpley, good friend, good sculler, and I normally do these pieces together. For me, its great, because I know he has gone 5.55 multiple times in his career and he is at least that fast now. Going 6 min on a 2k would be great for me. So it's really helpful to gauge off of him a little bit and just keep pushing to stay with him. Theoretically, it should be very hard for me to stay with him on the erg. He is 20 + lbs heavier than me etc etc, but thats the goal nonetheless. Sticking with him on the erg would mean dooring him and others when we get on the water. On the other hand, I understand that he probably hates having me targeting him every single piece. But, hey, DEAL WITH IT.
So far this winter, I have been staying with him. Last week, I did pretty well to not let him go on the pieces. On 2 x 10', I beat him on the first piece and lost to him on the second. We had the same average at the end. On friday during 3 x 1500 I had my best pieces of the winter and so did Steve. He averaged 1.33.8 and I averaged 1.34.3. The next closest guy was one of the lightweights at 1.38.5. Those pieces were almost two splits faster than when we did this workout after Speed Order. What I liked most about it was that I sprinted even with Steve. He was faster than me during the base, but on the last piece we were both pinning 1.32's for the final 500. It was good old fashioned fun.
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