Sauna Training - 19
· Sep 9, 02:01 PM
The last couple days have been good training for bad saunas. Not for the heat, but for the days when someone loads the stove with damp wood, lets it smolder, and then somehow opens the door so the smoke vents into the sauna. Black Butte is burning, and the smoke is blowing in to town worse than it has all summer. Tuesday morning it was thick enough that I couldn’t see Awbrey Butte from Summit High. They must be at least a mile or mile and a half apart. The good news is that evacuees are being allowed back in, which means that they must be getting the thing contained. And at least I’m not trying to train in Sun Valley, where I don’t think breathing has been very much fun for the last 3 weeks. On the training front it appears that there is hope, and I probably won’t be stuck in recovery mode all fall.
A note on heart rates. This is the first year I’ve worn a HRM consistently since Stephen broke me of the habit in the fall of ‘99. That was a while ago. I’ve always been pretty good at knowing where I am just based on feeling, and it really bugs me when people get too in to their HRs – to the point where the monitor is dictating every workout. But, with all the ODs I’ve been wearing it, mostly just to do the occasional spot check these days, and there hasn’t been anything very revealing. Well, sometime in late May/early June my HRs dropped during OD workouts, so now on easy terrain I tend to be in the 115-125 range moving right along. Anyways, I mention this because one of the things that tipped me off to being tired (aside from feeling tired) last week was that my training HRs, especially on the flats, were way higher than normal. I don’t worry if they go up on the climbs, but when I was walking along the flats near 140, it was pretty obvious something was wrong.
Now, I don’t do morning HRs. Haven’t done that consistently since a little after I left SMS. Amy and Sverre were good about getting me to do it, but since then… not so much. The last couple of days I did my first morning HR tests (5 minutes lying down, followed by 2 minutes standing) in about 3 years. 7 minute averages for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday were 55, 52, 48. Even without a baseline, I’d say something positive happened in there. I didn’t bother doing the test this morning. Maybe again in the summer of 2010 if I’m still a ski racer then.
The training for the week…
Monday: 1:30 Classic. Felt okay. Well, I feel pretty normal, except HRs were 5-15 beats high. More high on uphills than on gradual terrain. This is encouraging? Not tired after, which is good.
Tuesday: 1.75 Skate. Easy. Didn’t do speed based intervals. Cruised around on Skyliner’s and Highlands access road. HRs low! (well, normal). 100s and 110s and some 120s skiing easy on very gradual. Smoky. But then the hail storm came and washed away the smoke. That was cold. Kinda hurt a little too. Nasty little things, hail.
Wednesday: 1.75 DP. Wow, felt like I was actually moving at training pace. Haven’t felt that since I finished up the last block, some 2.5 weeks ago! And, HRs were basically normal. At least they were on the easy terrain, which is the measure. And it didn’t really take anything out of me. All good signs. PM: 1 PT/core strength. I am going to be sore.
Thursday: 2.25 Skate. Very easy, HRs nice and low. I’m starting to feel like this recovery thing is working and that I’m ready. PM: .5 paddle. The boat is slow, legs and feet numb after 25 minutes… decent for the upper body though.
Friday: 2.25 Classic/Run. Since I can run on the Bend-area trails for more than about 1.25 without my knee getting cranky, I skied out to Shevlin the long way, ran, and then skied back. A little tired, but I think that’s more of a function of bad sleep last night (too much chocolate) than anything else. PM: .75 strength. Mostly legs/knee.
Saturday: 3 Classic. Up to Bachelor. Felt like the workload was about the same as a few weeks ago, but HRs were a tad higher. In reality the 920s might be a hair slower than the 9000s and I was 3 minutes faster, so… it’s all okay. The weekend goal is back to back 3s, so we’ll see.
Sunday: 3 Skate. Got a little tired near the end. Did some no pole after Marshall broke a pole, and ran out of food since I was out there too long after breakfast. But really, it felt pretty good. And now (a few hours after) I feel pretty good. Not at all like I’ve done an OD, which is good, because I haven’t.
So, I think I dodged a bullet at the end of last week, and am good to go again. Next week I’ll be back at it, and now I suppose the 3 week cycle thing might get a little interrupted with travel, hopefully less recovery needed after the easy week this week, getting closer to race season, etc.
YTD: 17.75/33.25/333
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