(See past “Training with Torbjorn and Gordon†postings in the archives for more articles from this long-running series of training articles).
At 7.30 AM last Sunday I called Gordon Lange and asked what he was doing.
We had discussed the possibility of doing a long classic rollerski session today earlier in the week, so my call was expected.
“Eating breakfast – pancakesâ€
-So, are you ready to go?
“Go where and do what?â€
-Classic long distance rollerskiing!
“Ok, Torbjorn — I’ll go with you if you are absolutely 100%, positively convinced and sure that that’s what would be the best for us to do today. Then I’ll go with youâ€.
Gordon is currently coaching Nordic Combine skiers, who only compete using free technique (skating). He has not done much classic skiing this year.
, so let’s wait until it warms up a little. I’ll pick you up behind the liquor store at 9.30.</p>
<p>“That fine with me as long as we start after the church rushâ€.</p>
<p>Sunday morning is a great day for rollerskiing in Utah. Most of the country roads are empty. That is if you avoid the 9.15-10 church traffic. Before and after that you pretty much have the roads to yourself for the next four hours or so.</p>
<p>We know how dangerous the “church rush†can be. Last year we were abruptly cut off one Sunday morning by a (nice) elderly woman in a small town called Woodland. She didn’t only cut us off, but drove in to and took down the entire Stop sign and put roughly $1500 worth of damage to her door and driver’s side bumper. She was late (for church) and didn’t have time to stop and access the damage, but walked straight into the church.<br />
Her son, who arrived in the next car and had seen the incident, was yelling: “Maaaa, didn’t you see the Stop sign?†Ma didn’t hear. Ma was late for church.<br />
I have always slowed down for “late for church goers†after that. </p>
<p>So Gordon and I were ready to roll from a small town called Wanship at 10AM.<br />
Two gas stations, an old diner called Spring Chicken Inn, numerous pig and horse farms. That’s it for Wanship. You blink when passing by and you’ll miss it. A sleepy town, but great for rollerskiing.<br />
The plan was to ski down on the country road on the East side of the freeway to Coalville, the next town. There we planned to cross the freeway and ski back up again on the West side, for a loop of about 25-30 kilometer.</p>
<p>So off we went.<br />
Nice and easy level 1 pace. Sunny and 53F already, on October 12, 2003!<br />
Gordon’s first comment came after 10 minutes:<br />
“I can’t think about anything that I want to do less than classic rollerskiing. I love doing classic on skis but this is so monotonousâ€.</p>
<p>I tried to be positive and reminded Gordon about how well he was doing in last year’s Colorado Pursuit Championship (10K skate and 15K classic), but lost two places the last 4 kilometer of the final classic leg to younger skiers that were “killing him†in the classic double poling.<br />
Gordon agreed and commented that we are probably not doing enough double poling on rollerskis in the winter either. Utah ski courses are mostly up and down with few flat sections.</p>
<p>At that point I could feel Gordon’s attitude change. His skis were rolling a little faster than mine. He was using fast rolling “skied in†PRO-SKI C2 and I was on a new “slower rolling†PRO-SKI Tech model. The pace was starting to pick up and we were discussing the start of the hunting season, women’s soccer World Cup, the upcoming ski season, the war in Iraq and the upcoming week’s training. The pace was now intensity 2(+).</p>
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