3 days

Less than three days till the Birkie, and I wake up this morning with a horrible sore throat and stuffy nose. Perfect.

I've been chugging Airborne, sucking on Cold-Eeze, hydrating, taking copious amounts of Vitamin C and praying that this cold kicks it. I filled my entire trash can at work today with used Kleenex.

I probably should get some sleep too, right?

Smiles and dream jobs

This video made me smile.

Then it made me wonder.

I mean, that's a lot of places to travel to and a lot of work for approximately five seconds of video per place. And where did he find the people to dance with him?

Luckily, this youtube sensation has a website that explains it all. Stride gum sponsors Matt Harding's trips around the world, where he contacts his e-mail list of fans in every corner to show up and dance with him.

Dream job much?

Weekly workouts update

Let's see how this week in workouts shaped up. First is the plan, followed in bold by what I actually did...

Monday: 1 mile run (test the knee) + 30-45 minutes strength. 30 minutes strength at home.
Tuesday: Ski 9 miles. Ran 3.5, walked .5, 30 minutes core and hip strength.
Wednesday: Body Pump. Rest.
Thursday: Bikram Yoga. 1 hour strength at home - lots of core and pushups.
Friday: Bikram Yoga. Finally made it to Body Pump!
Saturday: Strength. Planning on running 3 miles outside too.
Sunday: Ski 3 black loops. Plan to make good on this if there is snow on the trails.

This wasn't exactly the week of workouts I envisioned (because I am a bear in the morning) but it actually had its strong points - like lots of awesome core work and a RUN! Hadn't gone on one of those in weeks.

Tonight I'm also meeting Elizabeth to ski 9 miles after work. I'm nervous about the trail conditions, but we'll see what shapes up.

Changing it up

It's back. The pain. The right leg. My IT Band!

That 20-mile ski did me in. I rested on Saturday, then skied about 6 miles slow with Peter on Sunday (and had an emotional breakdown on the trail for no apparent reason) and my leg has been in discomfort the entire time.

I tried to foam roll it out, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

So now I curse myself for not doing all the strengthening exercises I learned in physical therapy all this time. And I hope hope hope and pray that my leg feels better by the end of this week, because we've got less than two weeks till B-Day (Birkie Day).

So here's the plan for working out this week:

Monday: 1 mile run (test the knee) + 30-45 minutes strength
Tuesday: Ski 9 miles
Wednesday: Body Pump
Thursday: Bikram Yoga
Friday: Bikram Yoga
Saturday: Strength
Sunday: Ski 3 black loops

Changing it up big time to aid recovery, hopefully. :-\

20 miles on skis

20.13 miles. 4:15:55.

Longest ski ever! Second longest workout ever! (Longest was 16 seconds longer - Chicago Marathon '09.)

I was solo and (relatively) speedy for this 20-miler at Lapham Peak. Glee/Michael Buble/Across the Universe Pandora station kept me motivated to do two black loops including the Stairway to Heaven (which doubles back on 1/3 of the course, making it almost exactly 10 miles).

It was tiring. It was brutal at times. But when my body wanted to give up, my mind took over and pushed me through to finish strong.

Celebrated with a fish fry and two beers at Red Mill with P and friend Luke. :)

Cold snow = slow snow

I got 10 of my 15 intended miles in today at Minooka Park. I would have done 15, but I ran out of time! That has happened every time I've gone out for a long ski -- I've either been chasing daylight or having to be somewhere.

And every time I intend to go earlier in the day. This morning I was supposed be out there by 10, then by 11, then by 12... eventually I got to the park at 1 and started skiing at 1:15. Sheesh.

The single-digit weather didn't phase me until 1) I realized it was making the snow really slow on my waxless skis and 2) My fingers got really, really cold.

Despite the slow snow, I kept a decent pace (averaging somewhere in the mid-14s per mile). My form got quite sloppy by the end and I literally face-planted into the snow twice.

My body may or may not be yearning for rest. I'm on my sixth consecutive day of working out - 4 days of skiing, 1 day of Body Pump, then today's ski. That's unheard of for me. And yet I'm still planning on going to Body Pump tomorrow.

Stupid? Maybe. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, let's just hope it's 30 degrees and sunny on B-Day (Birkie Day).

Birkie time

I'm back.

Back to blogging (although I have been all along here).
Back to running (although I have been doing a lot more skiing recently).
I guess that's it. ;)

What started as a tipsy admission ("I want to ski the Birkie someday!") ended up intriguing my friend Elizabeth, and somehow we decided to register for the ultimate ski ultramarathon. 54 kilometers. 33.55 miles. 17 days from today. YIKES.

Here has been my training plan thus far. I've followed it less than religiously, and we've had our share of challenges already, but I'm motivated to keep pressing on.

Race day should be magical, as long as we don't kill ourselves. It could take us quite a long time to finish, but I'm okay with that as long as we're having a blast (and there's a burger and a beer waiting for us at the end).

I'll fill you in as my training continues to progress.