Category: Athletics

North American Vasa 2018 -390 days

10.2 km; 59:41

[Biker1] (passing northbound): Cool!
[Pedestrian1] Wow! He’s cross country…treking.
[Biker2] You’re working hard.

[Paul] Has only fall of the day at the 1k mark; clean fall, no injuries. Got my weight too far out over my left ankle. What was I thinking? … Biker2 reminded me (in tone) of the comment from [Driver1]’s “WHERE’S THE SNOW?!” circa 1973 when Dad (Victor M. Guernsey) and I became the first cross-country skiers in the history of Tuscola County, Michigan. #PaceSetters #AheadOfOurTime #MissMyDad]

[Biker3] The snow is good today.
[Pedestrian2] That’s good exercise, lots of work up top.
[Paul] And the ankles, suprisingly. I just started a week ago, so I’m not completely stable.
[Pedestrian2] You’ll get stronger. Keep it up.
[Biker4] That’s hard work. You’re making me tired just looking at you.
[Pelaton Leader] OUT OF CONTROL SKATER AHEAD![#roadies]
[Biker1] (passing southbound): Still cool.
[Pedestrian3] What is that?
[Paul] Roller ski’s. For cross-country skiing when we have no snow.
[Pedestrian3] I’ve never seen those before and I’m from Vermont.
[Paul] The pros, like that first Olympic skiier from Vermont use them all summer long. [Bill Koch]
[Pedestrian3] We have good snow for skiing this year. Looking good!

North American Vasa 2018 -391 days

distance 6.7; moving time 39:17

[biker] “That looks like hard work.”
[pedestrian] “That looks fun.”
[pedestrian] “That looks challenging.”
[café sitter] “I haven’t seen that before, That looks fun.”
[pedestrian] “You’re working overtime today.”

Was I going faster today? Not sure, but a few times my pace, which would have felt fast on day 1 and 2, today felt slow. Not that I wanted to go any faster today, but the awareness of being able to was there.

No falls.

I recall back to my speedskating days when I was not counting falls on a daily basis. #confidence #competence #strength #balance #technique

North American Vasa 2018 -392 days

distance 6.6 km; moving time 46:02

Comment from biker: “Wow. Look at that!”

Velcro failure on one of my ski boots forced me to ski without the top buckle – just the shoe laces holding the boots on, pretty much like a regular pair of shoes. A little less stable, but not unlike my low-cut Viking speed skates. Forces the skater to really be on top of the blade/wheels. I had to concentrate. I remind myself of a child learning to skate for the fist time – timid. I look forward to when I am stronger and can just glide and push. At this point, I can’t go very far on just one foot.

Just one fall. #scrapedKnee

North American Vasa 2018 -393 days

Distance 7.1 km; moving time: 45:54

No falls. The Full Moon helped keep me vertical.

Ankles more stable. They initially (after 500m) felt sore, but there were times when that went away, as if the various leg muscles were firing more in sync with each other with less effort-counter-effort.

A couple women I passed on the Pinellas Trail called out, “You must be Canadian.”
I answered, “Michigan!”
“oh, yeah.”

At some point brakes on the V2 Aero roller skis would be nice, as well as a pair of ratcheting front wheels, but I’m good, for now. Rolling down the slight slope to the stop sign at Sunset Point Road is the only place where stopping gets IMPERATIVE. #HeadForTheGrass

North American Vasa 2018 -394 days

Distance 6 km; moving time: 40:25

Day 002 of 395. A bit less wobbly than day 001, with half as many falls. It was a hard one, though hyper-extended all the fingers on my left hand and smacked my chest pretty hard on the pavement, scraping my right elbow a bit. But forget that.

My balance was actually significantly better than yesterday, relying less on the poles and feeling more of the beginnings of a rhythm. Also covered more distance in less time. That’s good, right?
EQUIPMENT: As yesterday, the skis work better with a particular ski on the left foot. I think I got one of the bindings slightly not straight – front to back.

North American Vasa 2018 -395 days

*distance 5.8 km; moving time 43:31

VASA 2018 T-395 days

Day 1 of 395 XC ski training. Target: Traverse City’s 2018 North American VASA 42nd Annual Festival Of Races.
This was my first Nordic ski outing in several years, since my old ELPEX Team 610 skis broke. I spent the early evening transferring my Salomon Active bindings from the old 610’s to my new V2 Aero XL 150S roller skis. Finally clipped in at 23:00 and headed North (of course). It was not pretty. Ankles wobbly, arms weak for double poling, balance WAY off; only two falls, thankfully. My ankle balance muscles were the first to complain and have not let up, since. I will not be able to exert much from the Large Muscle Groups until the lower legs can keep my feet on top without rolling. Dropping some weight will help.
But I made 5k, though; 5 of 50 with 54 weeks of training to go

.naVasa2018 -395days.map

*Finally found my strava.com account from before I changed my email.