It has been a very busy and hectic last month and a half.
Two days after I moved to Thunder Bay, my teams annual spring testing camp, A.K.A Boot Camp, began. When I first heard the term “Boot Camp”, I imagined our coach
with a whistle yelling at us as we rolled muddy tires, did push ups and
sprinted around. Thankfully, that was not the case. The name Boot Camp comes rather
from the fact that the training can be somewhat of a shock to the body after
the easier months of training in April and May. The goal of the camp was to do
a variety of tests in order to collect quality data that would be used
throughout the rest of the training season. After getting sick from doing a
similar testing camp last year, I made sure to be better prepared for the one
this year and all in all the week was a success.
The tests we did included a
running treadmill test, an uphill 3km running test, an uphill roller ski test
and a skate roller ski time-trial. These intensity workouts were spread out
through 7 days and were mixed in with other easier workouts. If you are interested in reading more about my team, I highly suggest you visit our website:
http://www.ndctbay.ca/. My teammates and I will take turns posting articles throughout the season.
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| A popsicle break during a long bike ride with my new teammates (Alannah,Mia,Sadie,me and Jenn) |
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| We re raced the 3km uphill time trial again a couple of weeks after boot camp and Angus, Sadie, Mia and I all ran a new PB. |
I recently came back from our second training camp of the
summer. The goal of this “Alignment camp”, which was held in Canmore, Alberta
was to provide all the best athletes in Canada the opportunity to train all together
for 2 weeks. Our team was joined by the two other Canadian Training Centres, the
Alberta World Cup Academy and Centre National d’Entrainement Pierre Harvey
(Quebec) as well as the World Cup Team. This made a grand total of 15 woman and
35 men. The fact that it was the first time that I have been able to train with
such a large group of strong female skiers made it a very fun and exciting 2 weeks.
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| The girls and I on a long run in the mountains( Photo:Dahria Beatty) |
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| The 2015-2016 National Ski Team ( I am in the middle of the front row) |
This camp was an
amazing learning opportunity.I did a variety of intensity workouts with my
fellow competitors which allowed me to get a better idea of my weaknesses and
my strengths. One of my big goals for the training season is to improve on my
upper body strength and ultimately improve on my double polling (upper body
only technique). Luckily, the camp provided many occasions to work on that goal.
One of the workouts was a double-pole only team sprint. To be completely
honest, I was slightly disappointed and a little discouraged when I found out
that the team sprint had been changed from a skate sprint to a double-pole
sprint. In the past, I have caught myself being a little negative about this specific
technique. Before the workout began, I expected it to be difficult and that the
last hill of the race course would test both my mental and physical abilities.
I was right. On my 6th and last time up, I could feel every muscle
in my body burn as I pushed over the hill. Instead of focusing on the pain, I
focused on having a quick tempo and staying strong. When I finished the
workout, I had an amazing feeling of accomplishment. I may have predicted how
hard the workout was going to be, but I had not expected to have as much fun as
I did! My amazing teammate, Frederique Vezina and I even won a hand crafted card
board gold trophy designed and built by the one and only Coach Pav.
The 2 weeks I spent in Canmore were filled with many other
fun activities and workouts that are best described with pictures, so here it
goes:
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| Part way through our 3 hour run at Sunshine Meadows |
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| I was able to take advantage of the Canmore facilities and do a rollerski treadmill test. |
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| The winners of the team sprint workout. From left to right: Sam Greer, Alex Harvey, me and Frederique Vezina (Photo: Sam Greer) |
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| On another one of our runs. The scenery was amazing! |
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| After the camp, I stayed out west a little longer and went on a short camping trip in Kananaskis Country |
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Carrying a back pack with all the camping gear
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Until next time,
Katherine
