Eric Nevalainen's Blog (6)

It's time to start getting serious again--we're approximately 16 weeks from ski able snow here in the mid west, and time to start focusing on winter goals. I've always found June and July the hardest months to train, with things getting more focused once August is underway. Maybe it's the number of weeks, maybe it's some noticeable early signs of fall (or at least really late summer), who knows. The Grasshoppers are out, the Sumac is starting to turn red, the oak trees are shedding acorns, fall… Continue

I was a DNF. Here's the breakdown-- Conditions: Temperature -12F with winds out of the WNW, wind chill approaching -40F. Course consisting of dry, windblown snow from previous week. Clothing: No real problems with clothing--I got this part right. Bottoms were mesh lined windpants w. silkweight longjohns. Top was light weight polypro shirt under fleece lined windbreaker, had a windbreaker vest over the top for added protection. Balaclava, Lobster mitts, and wool cap, with copious amounts of va… Continue

I did my first race of the season last year (my first since 2006) last weekend, the Governor's Cup 25k Freestyle race at Camp Ripley MN.

The course consists of a combination of riverflats, rolling hills, and quite a bit of heavy-duty climbing, utilizing every piece of elevation along the trail to its limits. The layout is an "out and back" from the Rec Center, to the biathlon range , and then back to the rec center. The Biathlon range, the middle 8K, contains the majority of the hard… Continue

Here's what I have been able to piece together about the Gov Cup Trail. Route is out and back with a loop through the biathlon area. The biathlon loop represents the most difficult terrain and is 8k in length. The easiest terrain is the 3k along the river (the first 3k, and the last 3k)

Here's how I see it:

1-3: Mostly flats to the range gate
3-9: Moderate terrain on the Viking Trail
9-17: Biathlon Loop (bleah! 8k of climbing)
17-22: Moderate terrain back towards ca… Continue

It was a weekend for the books---the coldest weather that we have had so far this season. Highs yesterday topped out at -5, and today we hit +5. Since racing starts next week, getting out this weekend was pretty important as it would be some of the last major workouts I would be able to do prior to the Governor's Cup.

Destination was key yesterday. Battle Creek/Winthrop was in the cards. The trail has a nice selection of hills, but more importantly, is mostly out of the wind with… Continue

I was able to get back out onto the lake yesterday for about an hour. I had forgotten what a grind lake skiing is. It didn't help that the temp was about 5 degrees and the snow was nice and slow. Fortunately the wind was minimal so once I got moving and warmed up things weren't too bad. I'm starting to see some other signs of use out there as well. I saw a skater out on the lake when I was coming back from the office, and there was a classic skier sharing the lake with me during my laps.
… Continue