Paula and I just published some video clips on YouTube that she recorded during the Tour of Anchorage. Here they are:

• 25K Tour of Anchorage - Start: Steve Mezak and Team in Training teammates in wave 6 of stride skiers at the start of the 25K Tour of Anchorage at 9:40am on March 8, 2009.
• 25K Tour of Anchorage - Aid Station 2: Paula videos Steve going up to aid station #2 on the Tour of Anchorage at about 10 kilometers into the race.
• 25K Tour of Anchorage - Third Aid Station: Steve passing through aid station #3 and stopping to briefly rest and chat with Paula at about 15 kilometers into the race. Only 10 more to go!
• 25K Tour of Anchorage - Finish: Steve crosses the finish line and talks about his race.

And a couple more clips of Steve’s teammates on the course:

• Lisa Minn at Aid Station #3: Teammate Lisa Minn passing through aid station #3 on her way to a medal-winning finish!
• Coach George at Aid Station #3: Coach George Mageles passing by an aid station during the race.

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The jet airplane screamed overhead on takeoff as I made my way along the ski trail that passes the Anchorage airport runway during the Tour of Anchorage ski marathon. I was a well past the halfway point on the course that started at Russian Jack Park and then wound its way through the middle of the city. By now I was on the coast, heading around the outer edge of the city and well on my way to the finish line. But there was still a long grueling hill to go.

Earlier that morning a bus took us from our hotel to the start line for the 25 km race. The 40K and 50K skiers started at a different part of the city and left on an earlier bus. The temperature was 12 F (-11 C) according to the thermometer in the SUV that my wife Paula drove over to see me off. She was armed with video camera and cowbell. Paula had her own “tour of Anchorage” as she drove to the start and two of the four aid stations along the course to video tape my passing and cheer me on.

It was cold but I was dressed warmly with thermal underwear (and my padded sliding shorts, of course!) two shirts, ski pants and coat. I also wore two hats and Team in Training tattoos on my face. My heart rate / GPS monitor was also on me and I even remembered to press the start button at the beginning of the race to accurately record my time and distance.

By the end of the race my coat was unzipped to dissipate body heat and to display my race number–1972–which was pinned to my shirt underneath and to the Camelback pack on my back.

And off we went! I was in the sixth wave of stride skiers that left at 9:40am. Up a hill, past the parking lot and down the trail to the center of Anchorage; we were on our way. There were several teammates in my wave but I soon pulled out in front of them.

A few minutes later my heart rate monitor chimed. My heart rate went onto Zone 5 when it hit over 170 bpm – too high for so early in the race. Coach George’s admonitions to relax and go slow echoed in my head.

But I didn’t feel like I was pushing myself or that I was going too fast. The course was fairly level with a few low hills for some ups and downs. Skiing at sea level was definitely easier than in the Sierras at 7,000 feet! But I didn’t want to wear myself out in the first five kilometers.

It was so cold that soon after the start of the race, the mouthpiece on my Camelback froze after only a couple of sips. I was careful to blow the water back into the bladder after each drink but enough water trickled down to freeze and clog the hose. Luckily I had a sports drink bottle inside my warm coat that I was able to refill at several aid stations. Later I heard another teammate say she was able to thaw her Camelback mouthpiece by putting it inside her coat. I wish I had though of that!

My Clif bars also froze, or at least were extremely hard to chew. I had them in my right coat pocket and ate only one during the race. This was not a big problem since the Aid stations along the way had lots of orange slices, banana pieces and Fig Newtons.

At least my Gu packets in my left pocket stayed gooey and easy to eat. The packet directions say to eat one Gu packet 15 minutes before the race. I selected one with a double caffeine dose which seemed like a good idea for the start.

I had three goals in joining Team in Training to ski the Tour of Anchorage:

1. Raise some money for the LLS
2. Actually finish the race
3. See a moose

I am happy to say I accomplished them all! In fact I first saw part of a moose right after leaving the starting line. After a few minutes on the trail, I saw a few skiers stopped ahead of me. They started moving again as I approached and I got there just in time to see the tail end of a moose go off into the woods.

About 5 km later I saw a whole moose. I was approaching one of the short tunnels the trail goes through under several streets of Anchorage (snow is spread in the tunnels so we can ski through) when I saw several of my fellow marathon skiers banging their ski poles together to make noise. Skiers backed up as we watched the moose through the tunnel. He moved on but not before I snapped his photo you can see in my previous post.

All Alone on The Tour of Anchorage

For most of the race I was skiing alone and I concentrated on “throwing” my center of gravity up the trail, one leg at a time. Skate skiers were passing me all the time but none of my striding teammates caught up. Occasionally I would pass some other stride skiers and sometimes they would get ahead of me when I stopped for food or water at an aid station. Then I would pass them again. The funniest thing I saw were some young women skate skiers dressed in ski clothing and tutus. I felt underdressed.

It was terrific to see Paula along the trail. Hearing the cowbell and the encouragement from her was a real motivator. Even a few other spectators and passing skate skiers would shout Go Team. Very cool!

My heart rate alarm went off a few times especially when climbing a few hills. During training my average heart rate was around 154 bpm. The average during the race was 167 bpm. That’s the power of adrenaline and double caffeinated Gu. And I needed it on that last hill of the marathon. It was a slow and steady grind for several kilometers before the end of the course.

Steve’s Heart Rate, Distance & Elevation During The Tour of Anchorage

At the pasta dinner the night before the marathon, our team manager Julia described how she had trouble finishing a Century Bike ride a couple years ago. “It was mile 99 and I just bonked. But another teammate came up behind me and started reading the names of the honorees I had written on the back of my jersey. That gave me a second wind and the strength to finish the race.” Julia said.

I am happy to say that I only had to think of our honorees once during the marathon and it was on that last hill. It wasn’t very steep—just a long climb. When stride skiing, you can climb hills in the tracks by quickly moving each ski forward in the tracks. It’s like a combination of marching and jogging while wearing skis. On short distances it’s not too strenuous. But on a long gradual hill it is tiresome to say the least.

Up the Last Hill to Approach the Finish Line

I finished 107th out of a field of 123 men and 19th out of 21 men in my age group (age 50 to 55). My official race time was 3:43:42.1 according to the timing chip I wore. The fastest time was 1:24:41.7 which I would like to have seen! Wow, that’s more than twice my speed on the course.  The slowest time was 5 hours and 15 minutes for the men.

Teammate Lisa Minn finished 64th among the women with a time of 3:29:57.5 and about fifteen minutes faster than me. Lisa left the starting line two waves before me and I never caught up with her! She was second in her age group and won a medal at the award ceremony.

We were all proud of Lisa but winning these races is not that important to us Team in Training participants. We were all in the bottom half of the standings and usually at the very bottom. I certainly had no illusions of winning the race. To me the most important things were getting in shape and to actually get across the finish line alive (and seeing a moose).

A more serious competition amongst my teammates is being the top fundraiser on the team. At race day I was at number five. That means only four of my teammates have had more donations so I am close. I met my goals of finishing the race and seeing a moose. I even exceeded my original goal of raising $5,000 for LLS. Maybe I aimed too low? You can help me and our team go even further.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a good cause and 75% of your donation goes toward finding a cure. Make your contribution online until the end of March with this link: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/touranck09/smezak

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I completed the 25 km Tour of Anchorage ski marathon today. It took me about 3 hours and 45 minutes. I think that was a pretty good time since I thought it would take me over four hours based on my speed during training.

Steve Approaching the Finish of the Tour of Anchorage

And the actual distance according to my GPS device was almost 27 km.

I kept a pretty good pace but did not feel overly tired. About 15 km into the race a muscle in my right thigh started to get tired. But no excuses - this is a race!

The most exciting thing that happened was seeing a moose on the trail. I got a pretty good shot of it before my fellow skiers shooed it away.

The 25K course for the Tour of Anchorage trail first went through the middle of the city. In the photo, the moose  is on the other side of a tunnel under a two lane road in town.

As I approached the tunnel, I saw the other skiers banging their ski poles together. What the heck? I thought. Then I saw the moose on the other side.

That was my only brush with massive wildlife. Although one of my teammates that skied the 40K course said she saw a wolf on the trail.

I’ll provide more details later about the race later. Thanks to all who donated! And for those that have not - it’s not too late!

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I’m in the hotel room and will head down to the lobby in about 30 minutes to get on the bus with my skis. I’m a little nervous but was able to eat a good breakfast and take my vitamins. I’m ready to go.

Before getting on the bus with my teammates to ski the 25K marathon

About a month ago there was a race at Lake Tahoe that some of my teammates participated in. “Are you skiing in the race?” One teammate asked another.

“Well, I’ll be skiing with a number on.” Was the reply. That’s my attitude about today’s race.

Last night at our carb-loading pasta dinner, Coach George said we should relax and enjoy the race. “You have accomplished so much to get here. You will all do well but don’t let your desire to perform in the marathon overshadow everything else. Don’t give it that power.”

Good advice.

Weather Forecast: the temperature is about 15 F right now but the sun is not up yet. It’s supposed to be cloudy and warm up to 25 F / -4 C with a 15 MPH wind.

And there is a chance of moose. I’ll have my camera ready.

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Arrived in Anchorage on Friday afternoon and got checked into the Marriott hotel. Not exactly roughing it but it IS cold outside dropping to the single digits at night and getting up into the twenties F (< 0 C) during the day.

I did a little skiing on Friday afternoon on the coastal trail near the hotel. The wind made it it feel very cold! I went and bought a ski mask at a local outfitter shop in case I need it for the race.

Forecast for Sunday, marathon day is clear with light winds at 25 F / -4 C.  Perfect conditions!

Not so perfect is the early awakening of bears around Anchorage. The City bears awaken early article in the Anchorage Daily News describes the recent sitings. Oh well. As the article says the moose are more dangerous anyway. One of our coaches had to stop because of a moose on the freeway on-ramp while leaving the airport.  They are definitely around.

A moose was seen on the trail during a previous run of the Tour of Anchorage. A teammate smacked its rump while skiing past.  Bad idea. They will charge, kick and stomp. The moose ignored that past teammate but we have been warned to keep our distance and do not approach or touch them. “Please Do Not Goose the Moose”

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I stopped into the Bear Valley Cross Country ski shop on Sunday morning and tried to deal with the overwhelming number of choices in cross country skis available for sale. Some skis seemed designed for experienced racers and others for back country skiing with ungroomed trails. How to decide - width, length, color?I borrowed two sets of demo skis recommended by the very helpful Jody and Anna. Both pairs were on sale this late in the season and I also got a pair of brand new boots that I promised to buy no matter what I thought of the skis.

Huh? You mean I shouldn’t just buy the skis that match the color of my truck?

I tried a pair of Fischer Cruiser and Rossignol Delta classic striding cross country skis. The Fischers were shorter and should make it easier to get up the hills. The Rossi’s were longer at 192 cm but that’s a good length for my weight (which is now around 198 lbs. – I’ve dropped 15 lbs. since the start of training). And they had more camber, like the skis Jackie purchased yesterday.

Both skis had a “negative” grip pattern in the middle of each ski. I didn’t know there were negative and positive grips. Anna at the shop explained how the center of the Rossignol EVO skis I had rented have a positive grip patter that looks like fish scales. These scales or bumps stick down slightly from the ski with a straight edge on the back. They grip the snow and keep the ski from moving backward and slip over the snow when the ski moves forward.

Positive & Negative Grip Patterns on the Bottom Middle of XC Skis

The negative grip pattern is recessed into the bottom of the ski so there is less friction when the ski moves forward but it requires the skier to press down a little bit more than the positive grip skis to keep the ski from moving backward.

Both skis should make me go faster but might take a little getting used to. Will I be able to press down more and grip the snow? Will I be able to get up a hill with either pair of skis? Good questions that are best answered by trying the skis in the snow.

We had a fresh four inches of snow on Sunday morning. In fact it was still snowing as I headed to the trails with my demo skis. A couple of teammates hightailed it home before more snow could accumulate.

I tried the short Fischers first – out on the easy Stables Cruise trail and then on the short but hilly Granite Roller trail (I was careful not to accidently take the longer and difficult Equipe trail from the same junction!). Granite Roller has a few hills that I could climb and descend. The Fischers performed well and it was easy to “herringbone” up the hill and I successfully “snowplowed” my way down. The fresh snow made it easier but at least I was trying both pairs of skis in the same conditions.

Three kilometers later I was back at the trailhead and switched to longer, and more yellow Rossignol skis that matched the color of my truck. I tried to keep that from coloring my judgment!

Up the same hills and down – no problem. They seemed faster. By the time I got back to the trailhead I decided to purchase the yellow Rossis. To be absolutely sure, I skied several more medium difficulty trails. The snow kept falling and I was getting tired since I had skied over 20 km the day before.

I returned to the shop and completed my purchase. Now I have my very own skis and boots to compete in the race in Anchorage. It’s too bad I can’t drive my color-matched truck up there too.

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To begin our training at Bear Valley on Saturday, our coaches asked us to ski around a loop of two trails as many times as we could in an hour. According to my GPS wristwatch, each lap was 2.4 km. I heard some concern expressed by the coaches about our speed (or lack thereof) and how long it would take us all to complete the marathon in Alaska. Time trials are a way to tell and I was ready to go! I was near the front of my teammates when Coach George counted down and I took off when he got to zero.

Towards the end of the first lap Coach Dave caught up with me. “Making good time Steve?” He asked.

“Yes!” I answered proudly.

“Well you should slow down. You have a full day of skiing ahead of you.” Dave advised.

Coach Dave had offered this kind of advice before. Start off slow, conserve your energy and have fun. With all the excitement and adrenaline at the beginning of a race, that’s hard to do. But it is best to pace yourself and not get worn out in the first 5 km.

My first lap took me about 19 minutes, ahead of all but one of my striding teammates (Lisa passed me about halfway) and behind most of the skaters. OK, time to relax. My subsequent laps were all slower but I finished three of them in 61 minutes.

Most of my fellow stride skiers hit the rest of the trails after finishing only two laps in 50 minutes or less. I did not see them the rest of the day. I put in my three laps then stopped to put some moleskin on some blisters I was getting on my feet. The boots I rented were “combi” boots that can be used for either striding or skate skis and they did not fit me very well.

I was about to head out on my own when Jackie, another teammate that was stride skiing arrived at the trail head with a new pair of skis. She was trying a demo pair of skis from the Bear Valley Cross Country ski shop. The demo skis had much more camber (arched so only the front and back of the ski touches the snow if no weight is applied) and promised to be much faster than the rental skis I was using.

We took off down the trail together and stayed close as skiing buddies for about an hour. Then at the top of a hill I stopped to build up my courage for the downhill and to eat a Gu packet. Jackie took off down the hill before me and I never did see her the rest of the day.

We were on a long course of trails the coaches planned out for us to complete in several hours. Many were “blue” or intermediate trails with hills. Even so, I only fell once in a controlled manner and completed the training day without injury. Except for those darned blisters!

By the end of the prescribed course I had skied 18 km. My goal was over 20 km so I kept going on a few additional trails and stopped at 20.5 km.

Lessons for the day:

• Proper pacing – I did keep a steady pace but felt tired at times. I recovered after eating Gu, Clif bars and drinking water that I carried. I need to pace my eating as well as my speed to start slow and finish fast.
• Get better fitting boots – Those blisters were bugging me. Moleskin can be used around the blisters to keep the weight off. Coach Dave also recommends using burn pads made by 2nd Skin or even nylon stockings that stick to your feet and will slide back and forth inside your sock.
• Get faster skis – ski packages are on sale at the Bear Valley Cross Country ski shop and I promised myself to try some demo skis tomorrow.

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Some of us went back to Tahoe Donner for an “easy ski” before the drive home in the afternoon. I was the only stride skier of my teammates and coaches that were there that day. But Coach Larry’s wife Nina is an excellent skier and agreed to be my buddy stride skier for the day.

My other teammates and coaches headed back to the Euer Valley for their ski. Been there - done that yesterday. One of my teammates Ron described the Crazy Horse trail a couple days earlier as having a nice gentle downhill section. OK, let’s go!

But for every down hill section there has to be an up hill. Indeed, Nina and I found our way up the Sundance trail and then made the turn onto Crazy Horse. Oy, more climbing up the edge of hill looking down into the Euer Valley.

Meanwhile, the wind was whipping up pretty good from an approaching storm. I’m not complaining because we need the snow. But the wind got up to about 20 MPH and the snow was drifting over the stride ski tracks. They were useless going up these hills anyway.

I started to worry. Will the downhill be as gentle as Ron said? Will we get blown off the mountain first? You get the idea. I stopped often to drink water and eat a Gu every 30 minutes or so. If it could get me through 20 km of skiing yesterday, maybe it could get me up the hill in a gale wind.

Nina is a very happy and optimistic person. “Look at the view!” She yelled out.

“You mean that dark cloud over the pretty mountain over there?” I responded. “Hey we’ve gone kinda far. Do you think we’ll cross Interstate 80 soon? Maybe we could hitchhike back?” She the cock-eyed optimist and me the sarcastic realist; we kept each others spirits up during the climb.

Finally started heading down hill. It was a mixed blessing. From my previous posts you know that downhill skiing on stride skis is a “growth area” for me. I did pretty well however I did take one fall. I could feel it happening so I just rolled forward with it and landed on my shoulder. Nina said it was spectacular.

I told her I just wanted to get back to the lodge. She looked at the map and said, “This way is quicker but it’s steeper downhill.”

“Hmm. Let’s go the other way.” I said.

Needless to say, we made it back but our “gentle ski” took over 3 hours and it wasn’t so gentle. Not very smart. Maybe they should rename it the Crazy Horse’s Ass trail.

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We were back at Tahoe Donner this Saturday for more team training. Like last week, we are expected to ski for a long distance without extended periods of rest. No more stopping at the warming hut for a bowl of chili!

Instead, we are to carry snacks and water to last the entire skiing day. I have been wearing a CamelBack pack that contains a 3 liter water reservoir with a drinking tube. (I have been warned that the water may freeze in these packs, especially the hose, even if you clear the hose by blowing the extra water back into the reservoir after taking a drink. My teammate Abbie lamented that she skied almost the entire race in Alaska last year with a frozen tube, not thinking to dump the heavy and useless remaining water from her pack until the end!)

For snacks we are supposed to carry energy bars, trail mix and/or some sort of energy gel. A popular brand is Gu which gives you an “optimal balance of maltodextrin and fructose delivers a quick blood sugar rise, and then maintains that glucose level for up to 45 minutes.” Some have caffeine too. I have not used it because of the blood sugar drop that occurs after the 45 minutes are up. You have to keep eating the stuff to avoid crashing from low blood sugar.

But I was ready to try it after dragging my butt around the trails last weekend. Nothing I ate that day gave me the energy I needed. Today I went for the Gu and I also carried several apricot Clif bars to give my stomach something more solid to grind on.

I skied with teammate “buddies” Patty and Beth. The coaches had us go over to the Euer Valley at Tahoe Donner. We headed up the easy green trails North Fork and Pony Express and then down into the valley on the long gentle slope of the Last Round Up trail.

Hmm, long gentle slope down means big long climb up out of the valley too. That could be a problem.  But I couldn’t believe how good I felt! We skied every green and the blue High Noon trails in the Euer Valley. I was yelling out the distances from my Garmin GPS to my teammates – 8 km. . . now we are at 11 km . . . 14 km and still going! The photo is of me and my ski buddies at about 12 km.

We were about 17.5 km into the day when we climbed back out of the valley. We can’t stop now! Let’s do Lion’s Leap – an easy trail that added a couple more kilometers to our total. Woo-hoo! We were over 20 km by the time we got back to the lodge.

Above is my distance and heart rate chart from the day (click to enlarge). You can see how my travels correspond to the trail map at Tahoe Donner below.

You can also see how my heart rate went down during the breaks we took to eat or drink and then went to the max on the way up out of the Euer Valley. My change in elevation is in green.

As we approached the lodge my heart rate went down slightly as I traversed a gentle downslope. I felt great and could have skiied some more. But I figured I would stop and revel in my long day of skiing without a single fall. I wanted to leave some energy for skiing again on SUnday.

And I vowed never to eat anything healthy from now on – it’s only Gu and Clif bars. Well, maybe just during the race.

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After last week’s team training at Royal Gorge I was scared.

Up and down the hills at Royal Gorge had me exhausted after only 14 km and I am supposed to ski a 25 km race in less than a month. So I vowed to put in an extra effort this week with my training back home.

I went to training at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco Tuesday night and we hiked 6 km to the top of Mt. Sutro and back. On the way down my heart rate was dropping to zone 1 – too low for a good workout.
You can see in the chart (click to enlarge) how my heart rate went down along with the elevation on the downhill, about 1.5 km into the hike.  Later it went back up on the downhill where I ran extra jogs down side streets with Coach Dave to keep my heart rate up.

The chart shows the information collected by my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS and heart rate monitor. I bought it a few months ago to make sure my heart rate did not go too high during training. The other day I finally installed the software that came with the device on my laptop to chart my performance. Here’s another chart from my jog on Thursday. My heart rate stayed around an average of 154 bpm for this level jog.

On Wednesday and Thursday I ran on the levees in my neighborhood next to San Francisco Bay. I jogged 8 km and then 10 km respectively. I would have run longer on Wednesday but my dog got tired. She stayed home on Thursday!

I feel pretty happy that I can run this distance without stopping every couple of blocks the way I had to just a few months ago. I just hope it gets me ready for a long weekend in the snow.

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