Month: July 2017

North American Vasa -194 days

11.3 km; 59:24; 22 m

average speed: 11.5 km/h; maximum speed: 21.6 km/h

[LITTLE GIRL]
[onbike with training wheels, pulled by a parent on each side]
[bright, light and clear] Hi!

[ME] Hello!

[GUY ON TRAIL] It’s a little too hot for that, isn’t it?
[ME] It’s WAY too hot for this.

T: -195 days (yesterday): ski was rained out by tropical storm Emily. I did a 2 1/2 hour Spirit of Triathlon workout, instead (in miles): bike 15; run 2; swim 1/4;

Very impressed with Hótigris‘s 387 kilometers in July. And very jealous of his Sommar Stuga in Sweden. #Chanterelles

North American Vasa -196 days

Saturday roller ski, am: 19.2 km
lifetime PR roller skate distance;
really felt those extra 3 or 4 km;
84 F (29 C) is too blasted hot for skiing, and this was the cool part of the day; bleccch;

So many kids like my roller skis. “I could have those.” or “I want those.” I was one of the first to ride a recumbent bicycle in Pinellas County, Florida and now I am the first on wheeled skis. I actually started 10 years ago, and back then there was also an “old guy” from Scandinavia I saw once or twice, but I think he returned to the Old Country. So, I am even further ahead of the roller skiing curve, just as Dad and I were ahead of the Nordic skiing curve (on snow) in the Thumb of Michigan. Back then, they asked, “Where’s the hill?” Now, it is, “Where’s the snow?” But I forgive them. Their children will one day make roller skiing as common as recumbents are now. One young man called my activity snow boarding. I had to correct him. If I am going to inspire countless future athletes, let them at least begin by googling the correct sport!

North American Vasa -197 days

Friday morning: 10 km

Friday evening: 10 km

Is this 2 two-a-days in a row? Pretty sure 20 km is my highest ever distance in a single day. Break out the chocolate!

Finally got my new Windows Phone stable with the Striver app uploading to Strava.com. So, now I know my average moving speed tonight was 11.3 km/h. I won’t bother with posting a map. It is a straight line out and back. The good news is that someone will be adding up the distances for me.

Susan commiserated to her sister over the phone about all the sweat I dripped on the living room floor as I took off my ski boots. Her sister recounted how her husband dampens her kitchen floor after his workouts. I suggest that every house should have a Wet Room, especially in the North, where snow is inevitably tramped into the house from outside. I think the room should have tiled walls and a drain. You should be able to clean the room with a garden hose, ceiling to floor. It should have great ventilation.

Susan reminded me that I could enter through the back porch directly into the bathroom, using my regular house key. Hmmm. Good idea.

 

North American Vasa -198 days

Thursday morning: 4 miles;

Thursday evening: 5 miles; Pretty fast for how dark it was out there, and until I experienced micro sd card failure (see below).

Got my replacement phone from the Microsoft Store after Sunday’s Gulf swim double zip-lock failure. I will review the WinPhone Striver app for recording and uploading workouts to Strava. Strava does not have a Win Phone app of their own. The old phone was recording my first workout for uploading to my new Strava account when it was destroyed by salt water. Have to make sure my micro sd card is working fully (same one that went swimming).

New Fisher Combi boots should arrive any day. Need to install the new tube on my V2 Aero split rim ratcheting  wheel.

North American Vasa -200 days

with resolve I roll
on skis under moonless sky
sparks fly from pole tips

© paulGuernseyPlayer haiku
2017/07/25

14.5 km after watching half of an instructional youtube video recommended by Hótigris here. The instructions were for CLASSIC, but I believe the polling technique should carry over into SKATE. My main concentration in tonight’s workout was this:

The polling action is a pull, not a push.

I noticed very little strain on my arms, compared with previous workouts, where I was most definitely pushing. Tonight I felt (and still feel) my trapezius muscles. I was not following through they way the video demonstrated. I remained much more upright.

And, as always, the intent was to glide as much as possible with all my weight on one ski. I do not try to push this too rigorously, or I will fatigue my balance muscles and likely fall. I rather believe that the repetition of thousands of strides with mere fractions of seconds longer each day, will slowly, gradually increase the necessary strength. There is no rush and the primary target of every workout is to remain injury-free.

Comments from the Gallery

[Pedestrian in Downtown Dunedin] Wowwww! You are doing so great!

[bmx biker on trail] Looking good. Keep it up.

North American Vasa -201 Days

After two rainy days off* I got out for an 11 kilometer sunset roller ski this evening. Not much distance and not blazingly fast, but perhaps I will double up with a few two-a-day workouts this week.

Yesterday, I ordered a new tube for my flat ratcheting front wheel from “my” Grayling, Michigan ski shop, and I ordered a pair of (used) Fisher Centrix 5000 Combi boots off of eBay. Each purchase is about $30 and I should have them in about a week. It will be fun to be back on the Classic side of Nordic. My old Solomon combi boots were SNS, so I needed NNN boots to work with my new bindings. I think I got a great deal on the Centrix 5000s.

*Days Off they were not, since each included two hours of Spirit of Triathlon workout. But they were days without skiing, which for some reason is significant when it comes to clamping into the bindings and climbing and descending that first hill. After two days off, the fronts of my ankles feel weak, nearly to the point of failure. Tonight, I almost went down after the first 1500 meters during the first descent. Then after a kilometer or two, I can start to lean back onto my heels more and everything feels more relaxed, with no attention on tibialis anterior, or whatever is so involved.