Back to the Books

Well it's been a while since my last post but that's because I've been a lot busier lately. I'm taking two courses at the University of Calgary this semester (Genetics and Analytical Chemistry). I've been commuting to Calgary 3-4 times a week for classes. I'm starting to get used to the drive but I know it's going to be a lot worse once there's snow on the roads!

My first couple weeks back at school were a bit chaotic with getting my classes and times sorted out, finding my way around campus and figuring out who to talk to about my "special needs". I was worried that I would have to drop my chem class (which is a prerequisite for other courses I need) as the labs are very important and I will be missing 2 of the 7 marked labs this semester for camps. Luckily I was able to work it out with my prof and TA and they arranged for me to do makeup labs when I get back from the camps. The race schedule is also making it tough for me as I will be gone for the first two weeks for December for the early season NorAms in BC. This means that I will be missing the last week of lectures and most of the exam period. I'll have to figure out my options for writing my exams at alternate times once the exam schedule has been released.

Training has been going pretty well despite the adaptations I'm having to make with my new busier life. I had a couple easier weeks after our August camp then we started back into more volume and intensity for the last couple weeks. This included another 4 hour roller ski workout last week which felt much better than the long sessions we did in August. We also did the uphill double pole test and I improved my time once again: 20s faster than the last time I did it a month ago and 50s faster than my PB from last year! My double poling is starting to feel strong so that should bode well for classic sprints this winter.

On another note, we've been working in groups to write bios for all the team members and we're including a young picture of ourselves. My parents scanned some pictures and sent them to me and I thought I could share a couple with you since I don't have any other pictures from the month :)

That's all I have for now! We're leaving tomorrow for Revelstoke where we'll be training for the week. I'll try to take some pictures and post an update when I get back.

Alysson

Highwood Pass and Haig - 2 camps in one week!

The team finished the summer with a bang with a double training camp last week. We left last Sunday for the Highwood River Inn on the far side of Highwood Pass. The roller skiing up the pass was amazing with wide shoulders and barely any traffic (though the cattle guards were a bit annoying). The beautiful scenery also helped keep us entertained in our longer workouts. The highlight of the trip for me was the mock classic sprint race on Tuesday. It was fun to get into race mode again though roller ski speed did have a large influence on the results. The Foothills Team had a camp at the same time (they were actually camping) and they joined in with some of our workouts. There was a joint soccer game which quickly evolved into capture the flag, various forms of tag then finally “bunny bunny” (don’t ask!). It was a good way to get to know the younger racers and to have some fun! The only downside to the camp was the food situation. Unfortunately, the meals at the Inn were not the most nutritious so Mike and Chris had to make a few trips to town to stock up on fruit and veges.

We left Highwood on Thursday and spent the night in Canmore. Friday morning we did ski striding “reaction” intervals (Mike blows his whistle and we sprint until he blows it a second time). We left for the glacier Friday afternoon. It was sunny when we left Canmore but by the time we pulled into the trailhead parking lot it was pouring rain. It rained/hailed the whole time we were running in and we were all drenched by an hour in. Unfortunately, the temperature dropped significantly as we gained elevation. By the end of the run everyone was quite cold and all our energy was going into keeping our body temperature up. It took a couple hours, 2 mugs of tea and a hot dinner before I felt warm again.

The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of the run and we were very tired during the ski even though it was a beautiful sunny day. Mike decided to postpone the afternoon workout until the next day to let us recover. Sunday we woke up to 9 inches of fresh snow! It continued lightly snowing throughout our ski and it was very foggy. We skied for over 2 hours in whiteout conditions. Most of the time we saw only white when we looked around and occasionally a dark shadow of another skier nearby. Luckily, most of the team had rebounded from the run in and energy levels were pretty good. We had a core workout in the afternoon and did aerobics for the warmup since no one wanted to run on the slippery rocks outside.

Monday we woke up to more fog but it cleared up during the hike to the glacier and we had another sunny morning of skiing. The conditions were amazing: skiing with hardwax on powder snow! We had a short rest in the afternoon, cleaned the camp then ran back to civilization.

Skiing up Highwood Pass

Goat Man/Augustus/Billy - the Haig mascot

The view from our doorstep Sunday morning

Hiking to the glacier Sunday morning

Hiking to the glacier Monday morning (Brooke is checking out the view too!)