Rainy Day Run and an Early Christmas

FasterSkierOctober 5, 2011

I so often associate fall with beautiful colors, hearty stews and shooting deer. But when it arrives I remember that fall also means cold, rainy days. Not that I mind too much; if you bundle up and never stray more than a few hours from a hot shower and a trusty espresso machine, it’s all good. This morning Scott had planned for a high-intensity anaerobic workout on the Chewuch with some motor-pacing involved. However, when I woke up a little before 7am and saw the sheets of water running off the roof, I knew we’d be changing plans. Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later Scott called and we re-scheduled the day to include a 2-hour distance run and some hill power sprints in the evening. Believe it or not, skiing at top speed next to a car in the middle of the road and swerving back and forth across those REALLY slippery painted stripes in the road is…a bit sketch.

Besides, getting out for a run this morning meant I got to train with my favorite (sorry, Mr. IPod) training partner:

We took a moderate route from our house in Mazama and jumped on to the Methow Community Trail, which in the winter runs as an unbroken 16ft-wide skating platform with two classic tracks from Mazama to Winthrop (30km). In the dry months, it offers a 10km out-and-back plus an alternate 10km loop from Mazama. We opted for the out-and-back to Brown’s Farm and set off with Nikki prancing happily beside us. Upon turning around I got a good look at the mountains and was PSYCHED to see snowline barely 2000ft above us:

A bit hard to see in the photo, but that’s snow on the hills amidst the fog on the left-hand side. Sure, it’s going to melt tomorrow, but we’re getting closer! However at this time of year I always have mixed feelings about the onset of winter. I’m excited for it to arrive and to get on snow, but I also balance that with thinking that I’m not ready yet, training-wise. I still want another full month of solid pre-comp training before I’m ready to sail in to West Yellowstone with an anaerobic Hemi under my hood.

Today was also great to go running because it was an impromptu Christmas for us here at 33 Graceland Road – big packages arrived in the hands of that ever-jovial FedEx guy, from Scott Shoes and Hammer Nutrition. Boom!

The new Scott men’s eRide Grip trail shoe – SUPER lightweight and grippy, perfect for fall trail running.


Hammer Nutrition care package- those boys in Whitefish, MT can sure concoct a madly effective cocktail of high-performance goodness!


The plan I’ve been working off for training right now is following a 16-day microcycle; Scott thought this would be the best way to lump in all the key workouts while still maintaining enough rest between each. So far it’s been successful; I’m halfway through this block and am really noticing the gains which are coming from an increase in anaerobic workouts, especially when I go out to do the aerobic workouts we’ve been hitting all season. And there’s still more work to be done! Seven weeks until West…

FasterSkier





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