"Try to get in 1-4 long (2-4 hours) distance session this month...it's important to get past the barrier where you start "feeling it" in long races." - Torbjorn

How to best describe my first 50K rollerski of the season?

• Mile 0 (Breakfast): Cinnamon raison bagel with "light" cream cheese, double espresso.

• Mile 8: Carb Boom Vanilla Orange Energy Gel (caffeinated)

• Mile 16: Cliff "The Ice Series" Cool Mint Chocolate Bar (caffeinated) - yummy!

• Mile 24: Cliff "Mojo" Honey Roasted Peanut Bar

• Mile 32: Power Bar Lemon Crisp Bar

• Water consumed:190 oz.

• Bathroom breaks: Miles 8, 24 and 32.

The first 50K session is usually a matter of survival, so I made every attempt keep the pace easy, stay well fed, keep hydrated, and finish strong. It was a great opportunity to try out some of the different sports bars and gels I recently purchased. I hadn't realized at the time I bought everything that some were caffeinated. Better to learn in training than on the race course.

Speed Session + Distance
I combined two sessions in today's workout: a doublepole speed session and a classic distance session. The speed session was two sets of intervals. Each set consisted of :30, 1:00, and 1:30 intervals with :30 rest in between, and a minute rest between sets. The goal for the interval was two-fold: Doublepole as fast as my arms and body allowed, and try to maintain good technique. I figure I was averaging about 80 doublepole strokes a minute (I was counting). I've been building speed during my strength session, especially when doing tricep presses (dips using a chair). My biggest worry was not having any strength left for the distance session. No worry - I took the next several miles easy and was able to recover with no problem.

The distance session was really fun. Greg Worrel and I skied easily, talked about skiing, starvation diets, and the fall dryland camp. Kensington Metropark's bike path seemed less busy than usual. It could have been a little cooler, but it wasn't bad. And I finished strong. It only took 4.5 hours...

Of course, I wasn't supposed to do the doublepole speed session until the following week (I misread my training plan)... 

And my triceps were sore for the next two days...

And I decided to take the next day off to recover...

The August Plan
The number of "quality" sessions has increased each month by two, starting with two in May and building to eight in July. In August's plan, one additional quality session is added, for a total of nine. For the most part, each session starts easy and finishes hard. Two big differences this month: the running and rollerski time trials / pace sessions are for a personal record (PR). Time to go hard! Just not hard enough to peak in September.