Endurance Path – March 2014

March was a pretty decent month.  I started feeling better, we had some nicer weather and I was able to get outside more.  We also took a road trip to Moab, Utah to do some mountain biking and hiking.

Lessons Learned

1)  Time flies whether you are having fun or not.

2)  I should have started cross country skiing years ago.

Training

March was definitely a better training month for me than February.  I was feeling much better and kept up on a short morning workout for most of the month.  We have also started to have a few days of warmer weather, making it a little easier to get outside for some exercise.  Not to mention, I took my family to Moab, Utah for some hiking and mountain biking.  In general, I’m feeling pretty good right now, but have a lot of cardio work to do before the Lutsen 99er in June.  I came up with another short workout to do in the morning before work to focus on leg and core strength.  I will share some of these workouts in the future as I get this site developed.

Cycling

I’ve been wanting to visit Moab, Utah for years and it finally happened.  This was a great opportunity to see how I was feeling on the bike at this point.  I only got a couple of hard rides in, but they were a couple of hours of riding.  I can tell that I have a little better leg strength than I did last year and was able to make some pretty good climbs.  I rode with my wife and kids, but was able to break away to do some riding on my own a few times.

Trails ridden:

Dead Horse State Park – Moab, Utah

Intrepid

Big Chief Loop

Pair

Whiptail

Twisted Tree

Prickly

Sand Flats Recreation Area – Moab, Utah

Slick Rock

Porcupine Rim

Klondike Bluffs Area – Moab, Utah

Jasper

Agate

MOAB Brands Focus Area – Moab, Utah

Lazy

EZ

Rusty Spur

Cross Country Skiing

We also made a weekend trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan where I was able to do some cross country skiing.  It was extremely frigid that weekend, but I am really enjoying the skis.  I was also able to hit another trail here in Minnesota as well.  I only have a set of beginner classic skis right now, but I plan to get a set of skate skis as well for next year.  I may even try to enter some type of event.

Trails skied:

Swedetown – Calumet, Michigan

Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids – Hancock, Michigan

Big Rock Creek Farms – St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin

Running

I didn’t get much running in, but the weather has started to warm up and I did manage to get out a few times for a short run.  I felt really good and was running the same pace that I ended up finishing last year with.  I don’t really have anything on the agenda as far as running events go this year so far, but I will continue to mix a little bit of running into my training.

Nutrition

I have started to get my nutrition back on track during the month of March.  It really is nothing more than a decision to eat better.  My wife also found some good dried fruit and granola packages that was very helpful for the between meal snacking.  I have moved back to the smaller meals and eating more often.  I’ve also cut down on the starches and fats and upped the protein foods.

Events

I did not sign up for any new events this month, but have start looking at a few others that I could use as training events or that would just be good events to compete in.

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