Hey everyone,The race season is coming fast. Just over three weeks away!
Wow where has all that time gone? Well I guess you could say I spent the majority of it training.
The summer went great. We had two major camps, one being at the Haig Glacier in July, and the other in Whistler, BC in mid August. During this time I pushed myself to new levels getting the most out of every training session that I could. As a team, everyone is working really well together pushing one another to reach their limits. I know I made some pretty big gains because of it, and I think everyone else has too.
Here is quick video to show some of the things we accomplished during those months.
In September we had a small break, where I was able to enjoy a short vacation in the Oakanagan in BC. I soaked up a little sun, played a little golf, and sipped a tiny bit of wine…
By the end of September I was back at it, feeling refreshed. We had a small training camp in Lake Louise at the beginning of October. That got us all back in the rhythm of things, ready to push for the last couple months leading into race season.
Working on my double polling on the Banff/Jasper Highway
Academy U23 and Junior Girls pose in our Icebreaker during our 3 hour run along the Iceline Trail in Yoho Park
In mid October, the Alberta World Cup Academy completed the second and final week of testing for the year. 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!
Skiing on the golf course October 9th!!
Teammates skiing on the small loop in mid October
**See previous post for more info on testing**
Surprisingly that small loop at the Nordic Centre is still holding strong. The temperatures are continuing to drop as we move into winter. Soon enough there should be a good-sized racing loop to compete and train on. Lake Louise (about an hour drive away) is also in prime condition at the moment, and the snow seems to keep on dumping as the weeks go by.
So how are the first few months of racing going to look for me?
Nov 25th, 27th 28th - I head to West Yellowstone, Montana for some Super Tour races
Dec 5,6th- in Canmore for some Alberta Cup races (training races)
Dec 12th, 13th- head to Vernon for Olympic Trial races
Dec 20th, 22nd- back to Canmore for more Olympic Trial races
Jan 2nd, 3rd and 5th- to Quebec for World U23 trial races
then... to be determined.
At the moment I am feeling strong. I am anxious to get out on the race trails and see how fast I can go. My preparation for this year couldn’t have been any better, and I feel ready to put myself to the test.
So hang tight. The excitement will be coming soon!
Here is a quick promotional video for the Alberta World Cup Cross-Country event held at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Just to get the adrenaline pumping a bit. ;)
