This is the latest installment of Kevin Brooker’s journey into the land of Biathlon. Kevin has documented his experience over the course of his first summer of trinaing and has now finally gotten up the good part – getting on snow….
The summer biathlon season was over right at the end of September. Rollerskiing was the next transition or transformation in my yearly training schedule. Athletic activity in Vermont during September and October is magical. The temperature swings from a high of 80 with clear skies and light breezes to the initial frost and occasional flurries. An hour before dusk, during the height of foliage, the mountains take on a purple hue offset by the reddish sunlight intensifying the color of autumn leaves. The fuzzy jacket takes its spot on the most easily grabbed coat peg in the mudroom, and the fingers of lightweight gloves poke out from pockets. The smell of wood smoke lingers in the valleys, and the sound of wind in the trees becomes raspy as the hard leaves brush together before falling to the earth. When the sun disappears below the horizon, the chilliness of the air feels sharp in your nose and invigorates athletic endeavors.
All in all, rollerskiing went well and the pre-snow season had me put in almost 650 km. On several occasions the aforementioned leaves became caught between the fork and the wheel destroying the serenity of the workout. Worse yet, wet leaves reduced the lateral friction of the rollerski wheel to zero and only luck and quick footwork kept me off the asphalt; most of the time. There were a fair share of crashes resulting in nothing more then bruised ego and small tears in already worn clothes. My 4-year-old son made a habit of asking if I had crashed seeming disappointed when I had not and sympathetic to my wounds when I had. Rollerskiing was enjoyable but the ability to see how and if the training was going to pay off was the bigger draw for making the effort. The first snowfall requiring sanded roads effectively killed off the rollerskiing and my fingers were crossed for an early snow season.
Besides the direct training benefit, rollerskiing was a great transition from the out-the-door immediate gratification of running to the additional headaches of having to travel for proper conditions. A half hour run took thirty minutes door to door. A half hour rollerski required sixty. The round trip drive and time needed to gear up once the training venue was reached was tough. Suddenly the schedule was much tighter and fitting in a workout much more difficult. Groomed skiing was further still so relearning to train efficiently was going to be important if this biathlon fantasy was going to work.
The first skiable snow arrived in Vermont sometime around Thanksgiving. Four inches of fluff supported by green grass and unfrozen ground. The crash potential was high and so was the probability of trashing the bases of my new race skis. The local airport is a kilometer long grass strip without any dirt patches or P-tex eating rocks. The first glide of the 07-08 season was 100 meters of double poling before light skating to propel me down the runway. Too hard a push drove the ski into the grass which grabbed the base and caused me to stumble. The over exuberance of the first day on snow did bring a few crashes. Sliding on snow sure beat the hell out of grinding my skin on the asphalt during the previous eight weeks of rollerskiing. The first day out put 10 k into the training diary and wet my desire for more.
The early snowfall was a blessing and I picked the right year to get back into ski sport. Just as the training diet was getting a bit stale the weather changed and brought in the ability to transition and build on my activity. More snow fell and I had the feeling I went to sleep after Thanksgiving dinner and awoke with mid February snow.
The extra time traveling to ski added an hour to the requisite time for a workout. As my fitness improved so did the time I needed/wanted to work out. The longest race on the schedule was 15 km so the decision was made to become comfortable skiing 20 km on consecutive days. The weekly goal was set at 100 k which I figured should take eight to ten hours of “on-snow†time to complete. Couple this with the hour round trip drive time to the groomed skiing, optimistically five days per week, and my training just for skiing would eat thirteen to fifteen hours. Fortunately, marksmanship training can be done at the house by dry firing which is using the rifle without releasing any bullets. For live firing, the local range is a little over a mile from the house. Two hours of dry firing and an hour of live per week should suffice to get started. My training would optimistically occupy twenty hours each week. My hobby was turning into a part-time job where I poured money and time into it and took nothing but satisfaction out.
Fortunately, both my family and employment situation allows me to fit in the training. My wife Jill and I have always put a priority on physical activity. She also noticed my mood was elevated when some sort of physical activity is part of out lifestyle. My workday can vary from very long to rather quick so keeping the skis and workout gear (not the rifle) in the truck in order to be opportunistic became the standard operating procedure. Fortunately, it works and on days where 45 minutes was available to ski, the time was grabbed.
December 9th brought my daughter’s 7th birthday and also the Craftsbury Opener 10k freestyle race. Liv was gracious enough to let the old man race on her birthday and the family headed out before 7:00 AM for the 90 minute drive to the event. We stopped at the local diner to pick up the take-out order of scrambled egg, sausage and cheddar cheese on English muffin sandwiches, home fries, juice and hot chocolate for consumption in the car. The multitasking made the trip an adventure for the kids and saved a bit of time making breakfast. The adventure was more for Jill than me since I was driving and unable to deal directly with the chaos of having two kids (aged 4 and 7) eating messy and dripping sandwiches in the car.
The race went well and overall I was pleased. My goal was to break the hour for 10k. Not very ambitious but achievable. My finish was 48:17 almost twenty minutes off the winning time. I had to figure out how to close the gap by examining the race. Where did I leave seconds (in my case minutes) along the course? Smart race management and confidence can pick up valuable time regardless of fitness.
One area worth minutes is proper dressing. The temps were in the mid twenties with moderate sunshine and very little wind. I made the mistake of forgetting my wind briefs. Half way through the second lap a sharp pain developed in my nether region. Yes, the nightmarish c**kicle (rhymes with clock-cicle) distracted me from skiing. Uphill I was going slow, and generating enough heat things weren’t too bad. On the flats and downhills the poly pro underwear covered by the lycra racing suit offered no resistance to the heat stealing wind. On moderate downhills a full tuck was not needed but used to shield the wind. I skied with one hand firmly clamped to my groin trying to push already cold shrunken genitalia into my thigh looking for heat. While slow, this tuck offered some protection. On the flats where I needed to pole I had just enough speed to send a breeze through the clothing removing any previous caloric gains. The pain was similar to that of a paper cut. Sharp and defined. The only benefit to the hurt was knowing pain signified no long-term damage to my flesh. I am now the owner of three pairs of wind block undergarments.