Straight Busted

I bailed on the Tuesday night race this week. I was just totally broken from running that 5k on Sunday -- and part of my revolutionary 2009 training plan is "don't race when you're really, really tired, because you'll do badly and be unhappy." That's right, it only took me twenty years to figure that out.

It helped that the race had been shortened to only two laps because lots of folks had done Jackson or the Gunstock Tri (and I guess one idiot did both...), but the thing is, when it's that short you actually need more preparation because if you aren't ready to hit 105% effort at five minutes in you get dropped. I actually would rather do a longer (three lap, 8k) Tuesday night race when I'm tired, where you can actually settle in at race pace instead of spiking really hard and then having to recover -- because when you're tired you can't recover worth crap.

This weekend is a raceless one, so there might not be much blog fodder for a while. But after that we should be good to go at one race per weekend until March 14. Then I might actually try getting on a bike.

Next up is some nutty rando race Justin pushed on me like the crack dealer he is. I just picked up some new-to-me tele gear so what better way to test how the boots fit than 4000 vertical feet of skinning?

Now that's it's the end of January it's time to get some nordic ski base, right? Sunday is gonna be attempt #1 of the "one-lap-no-crossovers-or-repeats-50k-challenge" at the Balsams. Tentative course map is below; we mapped it at 48k but I'm hoping there's enough turns missing from that map to hit 50k. The Garmin never lies.

Comments

pvb said…
You can get a half day lift ticket for $35 at MRG, so paying $40 to rando up is asinine.
Colin R said…
Yeah but this is a RACE!

Plus the added cost will go towards retrieving my body from the Slide Brook area between the Sugarbushes, I presume.
pvb said…
Oh a race - I didn't realize that you were into that kind of thing.
Luke S said…
I skied at the Balsams when I was maybe 10. I'd love to go back sometime. They should have a race there, except its in the middle of freakin nowhere and theres nowhere to stay other than the luxury resort.

Also, come get your ass kicked at stowe on Saturday while you're up there at MRG...at least some of the Ass-kickers will be pros
Anonymous said…
Colin, you keep posting about The BALSAMS and I'll see what I can do to get you on the payroll for marketing.

Jonathon Dodge
BALSAMS Nordic Ski Director
Colin R said…
Can I still get paid if I call it the "Balsams" and not "BALSAMS"?

:)
JB said…
sounds like a cool race. I've rando'd since i was 12 - let me know if you have any questions.

For starters, slap some glue on your skins and store them well between the first and 2nd ascent, or else they'll never hold the 2nd time up.

J
Anonymous said…
Dude, just race the SuperTour on Saturday.
Unknown said…
Hey Colin this is Ryan. We met over hippie food at the Putney Food Co-Op. If you ever get up to Waterville I'm there just about every weekend. Drop me a note ryan(dot)larocque(at)charter(dot)net
Anonymous said…
You can write The BALSAMS however you want. Your blog page was sent out to all managers this morning via one of the chefs whose wife stumbled across it. The Dixville Loppett just might be a topic of conversation at Thursday's managers meeting and you may be playing a key role in establishing our first sanctioned race. I owe you a thank you.

Jonathon

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