Bonking...a Bit Early!

Today I skied my longest stint of the season. It was difficult. As I write this I am questioning my sanity. I am truly concerned that I am not going to be able to complete this race. By the time I finished I was completely tanked. I had little energy, a stomach ache, and could go no further. One might even call it a bonk.

For the day I made 31 kilometers...a good amount...but the Birkie is 50 kilometers and the terrain, especially the first half, is much more challenging than Mirror Lake. So my doubts creep in.

Mirror Lake State Park is a great track. Probably my favorite place to ski in the area. There are enough uphills to challenge the legs and the heart, and a couple of screaming downhills. The trails meander through a decent size forest--with a good mix between hardwoods and pines. And it is possible to ski over 14 miles of trails while only repeating .4 of a mile. Fun stuff. Good training grounds.  Lots of varied scenery is good medicine for the tired skier.

The Birkebeiner is three weeks from today. Next weekend is the Pre-Birkie--a 42 km race going uphill from Hayward Lake-- back to and around OO. With these two races coming up I knew that I needed to begin pushing harder...pushing for more distance. I knew that my current level of training was not enough. Still,  I really didn't expect to have this much trouble today. I knew I would tire, but not to the level that I did.

Reflecting upon the ski raises a couple of flags for me. First of all it appears as though I only drank about 8 oz of fluids. Not very smart. I also know that my food intake before the ski was not nearly as thought out as it should have been and that I also chose not to eat an energy bar during the training, even though I knew I was losing my strength. Again, not very smart.

The moral of the story is that next weekend is all about diet and toughness. All week I will need to monitor my food and drink. Stay away from the sweets; eat carbs, protein; drink to stay hydrated. Then I will eat a good spaghetti dinner the night before and drink enough fluid and electrolytes during the ski. If I can physically prepare my body then I can put my body in a situation where my mind can carry me through.

I know next weekend is crucial. Not just for confidence, but also for building momentum. If I can complete 42 km's next Saturday I am certain that I will be able to grind out 50 km on February 26th. Elevation gain be damned.

Good Snow = Better Skiing = Better Skier

January has been a tough month for cross-country ski training. After a New Year's thaw we were left with only a bit of snow, and any snow that could be found was at least an hour's drive away. But last week the weather finally began to cooperate a bit.

Throughout the week we had several Alberta Clippers come through. Then on Martin Luther King Day we finally got ourselves a nice little front-dropping about five inches on the Madison area throughout the day. All total we saw about nine inches for the week. Not a ton, but at least enough to reopen the Madison area trails. So last night after work I grabbed the skies and hopped over to Elver Park.

It felt really good to be back in the woods. Back on good snow. Over the past couple of weeks I skied at Lapham Peak over near Milwaukee-a short loop covered with man-made snow. I also made it to Blue Mounds State Park-beautiful trails, although a bit bare and icy in places, and then I spent a couple of days over at Mirror Lake State Park-the best snow in the area. But even the best snow in the area left me feeling anxious about my ability to train effectively. Last night however lifted my spirits once again.

Skiing on bad snow seemed to challenge my skiing abilities. I tired easily, wasn't able to hold a flat ski very long, and always had to worry about scratching the bottoms of my skis. It seemed as though I never got comfortable, and once again began doubting my abilities to ski 50km. Last night however the snow was fantastic. Its freshness allowed for some strong skating. My strides were long and confident, and I actually felt like my skis were working with me. I was able to hold my striding techniques for long periods of time. The uphills held plenty of snow, and the new found base allowed from some good climbing, and then the downhill stretches were an absolute riot-fast and smooth. And most importantly, I felt like I could ski again. In fact I felt as though the two and half weeks of skiing on lousy snow actually helped me as a skier.

Over the next couple of days we are expecting some very cold weather, temperatures going below zero at night and only reaching single digits during the days. But what I am learning is that cold weather after a good snow makes for some fast trails. Just in time for some serious training. And so with 38 days to go before the Birkie we will likely have some strong snow for the duration.

Mirror Lake Mirage

Yesterday I spent the day romping around the woods and hills of Mirror Lake State Park. Great fun! Silence sports rules the way around here. Mirror Lake is near Wisconsin Dells, and is a little known year round gem about an hour north and west of Madison. Because it sits so closely to Devils Lake State Park, Wisconsin's signature park, not a lot of people are aware of what Mirror Lake offers. The Madison skiing community however raves about it, and drives right by Devils Lake to go skiing. And yesterday I learned why.

The trails are wide, well-groomed, and cut right smack in the middle of a southern Wisconsin forest. Other than a couple of small open fields, the rest is all wooded. There are challenging climbs, fast and long downhills, and plenty of flats to hold a stride. Two interconnected loops, The Turtleville and the Fern Dell Trails, total about 5.4 miles. And after paying the price of a 2011 State Park sticker ($25 yearly) all the trails are free.

I parked away from the crowds at the far western end of the park. This meant that my ski began with a climb up and over the back side of the park. However after this short intense climb I cruised quickly amongst the trees, eventually hitting a screamer of the hill at the end of the Turtleville loop. After connecting with the Fern Dell loop I began to really work my stride for the entire 3.4 mile loop. Nice rolling hills, with an occasional steep climb added to the tour. I then finished the 5.4 mile loop by bringing the other side of the Turtleville Trail back uphill to where I started. This last mile and half tested the legs and the lungs. I skied the loop three times in 2 hours and13 minutes for a total of 16.2 miles.

Quite the enjoyable ski. Lots of mixed terrain; lots of beautiful snow, and lots of trees to silence the chaos. After my ski I sat in the car, surrounded by Wilco, and enjoyed a well deserved lunch: some yogurt, a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, a couple of clementines, and a jug of chocolate milk. Good nourishment for a tired body. Then, deciding to continue on with the mid-week winter getaway, I threw on my snowshoes and headed out towards the shores of Mirror Lake.


The path began just across from the where I was parked and headed northwest along the edge of Dell Creek. The hike brought back some youthful memories. The place where as a ten year old youth I caught a huge brown trout in the opening minutes of Trout season. Our neighbor Charlie Phillips got my brother and I up way before sunup and drove us over to Dell Creek. After a short hike in, he put a night crawler on my hook, and told me that when the sun comes up I should float the worm down into the hole just below me. When I saw the sun arise through the trees I carefully dropped the worm into the creek. Within seconds the stillness of the dark hole exploded with the thrashing of the hungry trout. A few minutes later Charlie was standing by my side, holding the big fat trout beside my grin. Too dark for photos, but never too dark for my memory.

Today was a bit colder, and a bit whiter than that May morning many years ago, yet still I am happy to be wandering around this late December day. The hike is a short out and back. Along the way I make a path through the woods to try and get close to water. I don't really have the time or the energy to bushwhack my way to the lake, but I can easily manage a trip to the edge of Dell Creek.

After a short saunter along its banks, I turn to head back to the car and then to Madison. To my delight the winter sun sparkles on my face. A simple finish to a wondrous day in the Wisconsin winter.