The idea was that we would complete the same tests that we ran in mid June and hope to see improvements in all our results after all the hard work we put in during the summer.
Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) Christmas came early! We got snow!!! On October 8th, Canmore received a fairly decent sprinkle of snow, followed by a week or so of cold weather with daily highs below zero. This allowed for the Canmore Nordic Centre to open a 400m loop on October the 13th. Sweet!
But because of the weather, the road quickly became covered in ice and gravel, which caused us to cancel the two roller ski tests. The team still completed the VO2 treadmill and body composition test based at TCR Sport Lab in Calgary. And we replaced the Uphill skate Time Trial with an uphill running time trial.
The VO2 went well, with positive improvements from everyone on the team, and some pretty noteworthy results from a few members.
A few words from coach Mike, "I wanted to acknowledge the excellent results we say in the lab the last few day. These tests usually confirm what we see in the field everyday, but sometimes you (the athletes) exceed our expectations."
On Sunday we completed the uphill running time trial. The men ran 7.5 km, starting along the river and running up along Spray Lakes road to the top of the pass by the dam. The woman ran a 5km course, which started a little further up then the men and ended in the same place. I’m not sure if you are familiar with Canmore or not, but this meant that it was pretty much all uphill. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty challenging. Considering this was the first time completing this test, I think it went pretty well... personal bests for everyone!
For myself, coming out of a bit of a difficult year of training and racing in 2007, testing has been nothing but steady improvements over the last two years. It’s extremely motivating when you see vast improvements like when your VO2 max score jumps by six or seven points, or cutting minutes off your time trial results. With nothing but positive feedback, training seems easy and fun.
Eventually you reach a point when those big leaps start to become smaller and harder to achieve. Approaching testing week this fall, I was aware that this would be the case. All of a sudden cutting ten seconds off my uphill time trial became a lot more challenging then the minutes I shaved off a year ago. Making an improvement in my VO2 max felt like I would have to run like a super woman. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing, it just means that I am that much closer to being the best athlete I can be. Right now I feel better then ever, and can’t wait to compete this winter.
Racing is just around the corner so we need to make sure that we stay focused through the last and most difficult months of preparation. I know everyone on this team has worked hard all summer and should all be psyched to see some pretty steller performances this season. I know I am!
Here’s a final pep talk from Coach Mike:
“It has been a great working with all of you over the past 6 months and it is obvious all of you have made some excellent gains in fitness. The next 2 months will be some of the hardest months and will require everyone to work hard on recovery and coping with the constant uncertainty of weather and skiing.
Work hard, rest well and enjoy the process – focus on getting the most out of every training session and you will be excited about the outcome.”
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