After the “huge baller” week last week, these last few days have been a little more low-key. Fortunately, I’ve used my time very well, including film screenings of the artistic classics “Gladiator” and “Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail.” Little to no schoolwork has been accomplished, but after the frenzied bird-gathering of recent times, my conscience has not yet prevailed upon me to stray far from the couch.

However, I did participate in a few noteworthy athletic endeavors. First among them was the “Doppio Ciclo,” or double loop for those of you who are not fluent Italian speakers. Every Saturday during the year, from March to November, the Portland Velo Club assembles for a warp-speed 30-mile group ride leaving at 7:30 from Cyclemania (Portland’s raddest bike shop). The last Saturday ride of the year, always in late November, is two loops, and the shop puts up money for the eight winners of the four intermediate sprints along the loop. You’d be amazed at how many crusty old men show up ready to rumble at 7:30 on a Saturday morning (there were about 50 this weekend); they put the Bowdoin ski team to shame. I managed to prevail upon my coach to let me get in one more ride, and I saddled up the old Trek for its last hurrah of 2008. I wore five layers on top, three on bottom, and was still really cold.

Sunday was our second Morse Mountain Time Trial (M^2 T^2). It’s about one mile of running, mostly up hill, at a nearby road/trail owned by Bates College. Most of the team shaved off a few seconds (I went from 6:21 to 6:17–not great, but sufficient), and then we ran down the hill for a cooldown on Seawall Beach, which is very scenic (we’ve been discussing a potential sand ski if snow doesn’t materialize before winter break). We didn’t have a camera, so no photos, but it was so nice that I drew a picture–it’s below. Note the sand painting we did (nothing personal, Colby, but everyone needs a rival).

Tomorrow we drive to Quebec for our camp at Foret Montmorency. There’s apparently 1k of skiing there now, but the weather looks like it should be in our favor and things will only get better. If they don’t, there’s going to be hell to pay, because Thanksgiving is BY FAR the best day of the year…

I was a little circumspect about the title of this post–I use the term “baller” and “huge baller” a lot, but I wasn’t actually sure whether it referred to, like, a huge basketballer, or more of a sexual meaning.

So, I looked up “baller” on urban dictionary, and this is what they gave me:

Given this description, I think it is not inappropriate to describe this past week as a “huge baller” week, given that the Bowdoin ski team has become, in this season of VO2max intervals and max strength complexes, thugs that have made it to the big time.

Now I know what some of you guys are thinking: “What?! Bowdoin?! Huge ballers?! No way! Those guys are just sucka MCs [defined as "an MC with an inflated opinion of himself, but no skillz or flow]!”

Here are the facts:

1. This week included three intensity sessions. No, we’re not Marit Bjorgen rocking 8 interval sessions in three days, but we did get in two good sets of uphill V02max intervals, and a quality threshold pace workout.

2. We wear pimpin’ orange vests. Trust me, you’ll be seeing them at discos and clubs all over New England by spring.

3. Max strength workouts=nighttime parking lot sprints.

4. We skied to my house from school. MY HOUSE. 26 miles over hill and dale, in the rain. Nothing says “huge baller” like going to the house to visit your mom, then eating a gigantic lunch of delicious chili and lentil salad (yeah, lentil salad). (see team picture below, courtesy of Nathan Alsobrook) 

That’s about it. Check out the other photos that I finally got ahold of from the summer–they’re from the Exeter Criterium in New Hampshire. The flamingo’s always watching…

It’s into November, and there’s a lot to look forward to–Quebec/Thanksgiving camp in less than three week; our first race, the Great Glen Sprints in less than a month; snow in Maine; college carnivals, marathons, etc.

Unfortunately, standing between all of that and me at this moment are 35 species of birds. NOT in a literal sense–as much as I revere animal life, I would not hesitate to step on a few seagulls or chickadees to get to snow or college carnivals sooner. No, when I say 35 species are in my way, I am referring to a gigantic project for my ecology class, for which I am required to see, identify, sketch, and provide notes on this preposterously high number of birds.

No offense to people on the U.S. ski team, but I’m pretty sure that if I didn’t have to complete this project, I would be competitive at the international level in no time. The amount of energy I’ve spent worrying, procrastinating, and whining about birds over the past few weeks is a severe drain on my recovery, as well as my sanity. If there are any readers out there who might be willing to draw a few sketches birds and send them to me before Tuesday, I’d appreciate it–my lab instructor says they don’t have to be well-executed, just physiologically accurate, so don’t worry if you’re not an experienced artist. My address is:

Nat Herz

443 Smith Union

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME 04011

In other news, we held the 8th annual duelathon (NOT duathlon) last weekend, and I had the privilege of being the pace-biker for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, a friend had broken my cyclocross bike, so I was stuck on a malfunctioning mountain bike with only one gear. While Sunday was a recovery day on the training plan, it turned out that pace-biking on a hilly cross-country course is actually NOT a good way to stay in level one. The course started on a soccer field, and the runners got going so fast that they’d passed me before I even knew what was happening. I had to kill it to get back up ahead, and managed to stay in the lead for about 4k of the 5k run, but then I unfortunately got passed after a steep rock wall that someone thought would be great to include in the course. It was a pretty exciting day…

Today was a pretty sweet 3 hour classic rollerski, followed by some delicious brunching. Late in the afternoon, I determined that said delicious brunching had not entirely completed the recovery process, so I was forced to set out on an easy bike ride in search of additional recovery food. A process of scientific discovery led us to Wendy’s, where further investigation deduced that a “Baconator” would be an optimal muscle-restoring tonic. I highly recommend Baconators for anyone looking for a reliable recovery food to be used after every workout–especially if you belong to the Colby, Bates, Middlebury, UVM, Dartmouth, UNH, Williams or St. Lawrence ski teams…