October 2012:Setbacks, Sunshine and Snow

This October has been eventful and challenging. Following my camp in Fort Kent I took a week to recover from the heavy training load of the preceding 10 days. I also participated in a fun 5k cross country running race a few miles from my home in Yarmouth, Maine. The plan for the workout was to get dropped off at the race site, run the race, then run the 4 miles back home. This race would be my first cross country 5k since high school. I wasn’t an outstanding runner in high school, and my running abilities have not improved with 3 years of full time ski training. I was able to hang with the front group of racers for the first half of the race, until I fell back into a chase group. At the penultimate moment in the race (a sharp downhill corner followed by a steep uphill) I slipped and turned my ankle badly. I was able to literally hobble to the finish, edging out the top women. Though I didn’t want to admit it to myself at the time, I knew I had seriously hurt my ankle.

The timing for this injury couldn’t have been worse. I was due to travel to Soldier Hollow, Utah for a 2 week training camp with the US Junior National Team. I was optimistic about my recovery; however, I was forced to alter my training for the majority of the camp. Because of the condition of my ankle I could not run, classic, or skate ski. This left me with double poling, biking, and strength as my only training methods. Initially, I was pretty bummed about these circumstances. Thanks to the support of my friends at camp, and the great training environment in Utah I was able to find the motivation to turn my misfortune into opportunity. I doubled poled a great deal during the camp, and by the end I saw great improvement in my technique and specific strength. Double poling for so many sessions back to back also gave me a new perspective on the upper body’s role in skating. In addition I was able to go on two really nice mountain bike rides, thanks to a loaded bike and kit from the Ellingson siblings. My ride took me into some beautiful areas of the surrounding Wasatch Mountains. Fortunately, at the end of the camp I was able to begin skating again, just in time to participate in a rollerski time trial with the US World Cup team. I was happy about my performance, despite having to take the skiing a bit easy, and struggling with strong wind on the range. I was eager to end the camp on a high note by performing well in a second time trial, scheduled 2 days from the first. As fate would have it, 4 inches of snow and tight travel plans kept me from starting the second time trial. As consolation my ankle improved enough for me to join my friends on a great hike/snowball fight/romp up to the ridge behind our condo.

Right now I am in an intense phase of my training, with hard workouts coming nearly every-other day. I plan on returning to Fort Kent for a final dryland training camp, before traveling to West Yellowstone, Montana with nearly every other serious American skier for a training camp, before heading to Minnesota for the first important races of the season.    

Le Fin de Camp d'entrainement

For the last 4 days of my camp in Fort Kent I was joined by the friends David Gregoire and Vincent Blais for Quebec Biathlon. David, Vincent and I are all very close in age and ability and it was beneficial to train with other athletes at my level. I have competed with David and Vincent on the NorAm Circuit and at World Juniors. In many of the closest races I have contested, I have been battling with one or both of them.

Sprinting with Vincent at Canadian Nationals last March

Battling with David at Canadian Nationals 

 David and Vincent are both very fast and accurate shooters (See video) and I definitely had to raise my game on the range over the course of the weekend.  Besides having great training partners, I was really cool to talk about the differences between our training methods, share our goals, and get to know each other a bit better.

I am now back in Yarmouth, recovering from my biggest training block ever (79 hours, 2,220 shots) before I fly out to Utah for a training camp at the 2002 Olympic Venue in Soldier Hollow. At the end of the camp I will be contesting two rollerski races that will serve as the last set of qualifiers for the first period of World Cup racing. I am looking forward to seeing how my fall training has positioned me, and getting in a few more races before the snow flies.