Dana and I are participating in fundraising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  We're going to be doing a 25K cross country ski marathon in March.  The race is to be held in West Yellowstone Mt.  I'll be posting regular updates here.

Please help out by visiting Joe's fundraising page or Dana's fundraising page (click either to view) and donating generously to this worthy cause.  If you'd prefer, just click on the handy "DONATE NOW" button on the right side of this page.

The Snow Is Here... Wooot! (click for forecast)

Training Log:

1/30/10

We had a Team In Training session up at Bear Valley today.  It was a good workout!  We started by doing a time trial around Stables Cruise.  I went around 3 times, some went around twice, and the really fast skaters went around 4 times.

After the Stables Cruise loops we meandered over to Aspen Forest.  I fell twice coming down the steepest part of the hill on the way out... Drat!  Then I did a couple loops around Orvis Meadow and then did Aspen Forest again.  This time I only fell once at the very start of the first steep section... encouraging!

After that I went back over to the trail head where I'd left a shirt because it was starting to get quite chilly.  Then, back to Orvis meadow and up the fisrt section of the Aspen Forest trail to find Dana who was having feet problems.  She ended up with blisters on both feet which could not have been fun.

We then went around Orvis Meadow a couple times until Dana decided it was time to go back to the ski shop to see if she could get something done about the boots that were causing so much discomfort.

I went back out the Runway, and did the Stanislaus Lookout loop and didn't have any problems on the hill coming out.  It's really pretty amazing... just a few short weeks ago I would have fallen multiple times coming down that hill, now it's a piece of cake!

We were on the snow for a little over 3 hours and did almost 16 km.

You can see the route I took here.

1/27/10

Went up again this morning, picked up my new skis and put in about 12 km in about an hour and a half.  I liked the new skis, but was more tired than ususal.  I guess I should expect to be tired after having done two workouts yesterday .

Tomorrow we have the masters class up at Bear Vally but Friday I'm taking a break because on Saturday the Team In Training coaches want us to put in 15-20 km.  I need a rest day.

UPDATE:  Forgot to mention... the NATHAN Elite 2V Plus hydration pak was awesome!  After a couple minutes I almost forgot it was even there!  The way it sets and the angle of the bottles fit body contours so it didn't interfere with movement, didn't giggle or wobble, and unlike the fanny pack I was using before, the Elite 2V didn't gouge anywhere.  Even with two full 22 Oz bottles it was completely comfortable.

Please help support this event and more importantly help fight blood cancers by donating at either Dana's or my fund raiser links.

1/26/10

Went up this morning an did a little over 9 Km in about an hour and fourty five minutes.  Just a nice easy pace and a couple of good practice hills (and dang it if I didn't fall a couple more times ).  We went down to Waldens meadow and then around Orvis Meadow and the Blood Creek trail.  We were going to do Aspen Forest and Stanislaus Outlook but neither was groomed.

Tonight we have indoor workout with our local team captains.  Great workout, thanks!

Wooot!  Update... my new NATHAN Elite 2V Plus hydration pak arrived today!  I've only worn it around the house for a bit so far but it is MUCH more comforable than the fanny pack that I've been using recently.  It has a bit less storage space, but that just means a little more planning and less weight to carry around... sounds like a good tradeoff for a race.

Wooot #2 for the day... Some skis that I've had my eyes on have become available up at Bear Vally Cross Country Ski!  What wonderful people to do business with!!!

Wooot #3 for the day... It's looking a lot more likely that I may be employed soon!  Thanks so much... You know who you are!

1/24/10

Dana, I, Sandi, and Judy (Fellow TNT teammates) went up to Bear Valley this morning for another training run.  This time we took a little more adventurous route.  We were on the snow for about 3 hours and put in about 12 Km.

The route we took starts by taking the runway, a nice straight flat path that is actually a runway in the summer, out to its end.  From there we got onto Sunshine Bowl.  Wooot!  What a ride!  going in you start out at about 7050 feet and in the next 2.7 Km you go down (with a little up) to about 6740 feet.  For experienced skiers that may not sound like much, but for someone who's just starting out and has "hill issues", this was a HUGE accomplishment.  I must admit I fell a couple times, but just a week ago I would not have even tried a trail like this.  In fact, quoting from the trail guide... "Sunshine Bowl 3 km - A challenging trail with wild dips and turns.  No beginners please."  Of course, as we approached the bottom of the bowl, one could not help but think... "Dang, how the heck am I going to get back up this thing... more on that shortly.

From the Sunshine Bowl trail we took Jack's Trail which is a loop that goes out behind Tamarcak Lodge... YAW! (Yet another Wooot!).  While this trail was certainly calmer than Sunshine Bowl, it was not with out it's own up and down hill experiences (and a couple more falls).

By this time it had started snowing.  Not heavily, but it was a wet sticky snow so standing in one place was not all that comfortable.  On the bright side... we weren't standing around much as we had to climb out of that bowl.  It was at times a bit of a slog, but we all made it to the top without incident and with good humor still intact.

You can see the course we took here.

What a wonderful new (to me) sport!
If you haven't tried it and you've ever had even an inkling that you might want to try it, now is a perfect time.  I'd highly recommend setting up a short training session and then spend a few hours out on the trails.  There are quite a few trails that are quite tame with virtually no hills to climb (or fall down) that are great for beginners!  Call Bear Valley Cross Country Ski to set it up at 209-753-2834.

1/23/10

Dana and I went up to Bear Valley today.  We were on the snow for an hour and fourty five minutes, but our distance was a little under 7Km. 

Part of the reason for the short distance was the state of the trails.  They'd had some snow since the last time they'd groomed so the tracks were pretty much filled in unless someone had recently skied through and re-packed the snow.  In many areas the tracks were a real mess.  On the bright side though, with new powder and several feet of fresh snow, the trails were soft enough to get good bite going down hill.  We took a couple trails with significant downhill sections that would have been much more difficult under other conditions.

Another reason excuse for the short distance is the amount of time we spent with gear changes.  In the short time we were out there the conditions changed from cold still air to blowing snow to freezing rain to sunshine, and a couple more variations just to keep us on our toes.  I don't think I've ever taken off, put on, unzipped, and zipped up so many things so many times in such a short time.  At one point, I had to stop before going down a hill and put my goggles/over-glasses inside my jacket to un-freeze the freezing rain that had completely golobberd my vision just so I could see where the trail went.

Tomorrow we're going up again and I hope to put in some significant distance.

1/21/10

Had a breakthrough day at the Masters Cross Country ski lesson today!  Maybe not a huge breakthrough but it was very exciting to me.  The biggest leap forward was starting to learn a technique called herringbone glide.  It's similar to a skate style move and is a way to keep up or even increase momentum outside the striding tracks.  Up to now, every time I got out of the tracks I just sort of shuffled along until I could pick up the next set of tracks.  That was a very slow movement.  The herringbone glide is much faster!

The second, perhaps not as big, breakthrough was advice regarding my striding style.  Apparently, in my quest for speed and efficiency, I was "over-striding" which boils down to a somewhat exagerated arm motion, kind of like you see with some "power walkers".

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm going to try both techniques as well as doing some hills and distance.

1/20/10

Who would have thought that weather would get in the way of cross country ski training, but it has.  Strong winds have created some pretty unplesant conditions and while I know we may have to ski in those condtions for the event, I'd really prefer to minimize the frequency and severity of torture where I can.  I guess it's on to the treadmill / nordictrack today.  Hopefully I'll be able to get up the hill for the XC Ski masters course tomorrow.

Wanted to post today just as an fyi... since starting to think about this event, and start training, I've gone down from  over 192# to 177# as of this morning... Woot!  I've had to switch to a smaller pants size, and also had to let go of my favorite belt, having gone past the last (smallest) notch.  My hope is to get down to no more than 170 before the event which will mean that I'll have to spring for new XC ski pants / tights sometime soon. 

If I go with tights, ther will be no pictures.

1/16/10

We had another on-the-snow training session with the team today at Tahoe Donner.  We left the house at 5 AM, dropped the dogs off at our daughter's house at 7:30 and arrived at Tahoe Donner around 9 AM. 

We were on the snow for about 3 and 1/2 hours and got in about 20 KM, this time with much more hilly terrain. 

I can't believe how much I've improved on the hills.  When I first started I was intimidated by even the shortest, gentlest slope.  On this session we had several relatively long, curvy, slopes (up and down).  For the whole day I only fell once and that was just a klutzy move at the top of a hill, not going downhill.

You can see the course we took (sans a couple gaps where I forgot to turn on the GPS) by clicking here.

1/14/10

Went out today for the first of 10 cross country ski masters courses.  Just when I thought I was getting the hang of things, Coach Larry bumps it up a notch and makes me all uncomfortable again...  I guess that's what it's like when your learning.  You feel all good about what you can do with crayons and then somebody goes out and buys you  your first set of water colors. 

It was a beautiful clear day and the snow conditions were awesome since they'd just gotten a new 6 inches the  night before.

1/12/10

Indoor training with the team tonight.

Forecast is calling for 15 to 27 inches of new snow between this afternoon and Wednesday night up at Bear.  Sweet!  I start a Masters (as in old, not as in mastery) class in Cross Country siking Thursday morning and conditions should be just about perfect!

1/11/10

Yikes!  It's already time to recommit.  That means that Dana and I are commiting to provide whatever funds that we don't manage to raise through donations in the next few weeks.  We could really use your help, and this is a really worthy cause!

If you've thought about donating but just haven't gotten around to doing it, NOW would be a great time!  You can use the links in red above for Dana's or my fund raising page, or the DONATE NOW button to the right, or if you'd prefer you can mail me a check made out to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

If you've already donated, thank you very much!

For more entries, click "READ MORE" below.