Monday, September 12, 2016

Training High & Pumpkin Pie


Fall is my absolute favourite season for so many reasons. I love the crisp, cold air, I love the beautiful change of colours, I love the change of pace with the start of classes, I love the anticipation of the ski season approaching, but most of all, I love pumpkin pie (seriously though…). A lot has happened since my last post about the Tremblant Alignment camp in July, but I will try my best to keep this post short and sweet ( just like fall). 

In August I traveled to Canmore with three of my NDC teammates for a two week volume camp with the Alberta World Cup Academy. The number one purpose of the camp was to train some big hours at a higher altitude in order to be prepared for World U23 Championships that will be held at 1700m in Soldier Hollow, Utah.  The training was structured as a yo-yo camp. This means that I spent 3-4 days training in Canmore, then spent 3-4 days training at a higher altitude before returning to Canmore and repeating the process. The higher altitude training sessions were done in Kananaskis Country, about an hour outside of Canmore.  Over the course of the two weeks I hiked 3 different peaks, did numerous long roller skis and spent 4 days skiing on the Haig Glacier.
Hiking tent ridge (2500m)

We did it for the snacks
A foggy hike up EEOR
 Other than the obvious physiological benefit of training at altitude, I believe that this camp had an important psychological benefit. I am not a routine kind of person. I love spontaneous adventures, discovering new training locations and trying new workouts. Going to Canmore was a great way to give myself a little more freedom with my training and do the things I usually don’t have the opportunity to do. It was a refreshing way to finish off the summer before returning to Thunder Bay for the start of classes and the fall testing week.
An amazing view for a stretching session on the Haig

A beautiful morning on the Haig

Taking the helicopter up to the Haig


The fall testing week is a great way to evaluate our fitness, our improvements and make adjustments before race season. While not all the test went the way I had imagined, there were still some great silver linings to take away from the results.  As you may have read in a previous blog post, one of my big focuses this summer was on improving my double pole with the goal of setting a new PB in the uphill DP test. As you can imagine, I was pretty disappointed to have not improved on my time, and to have actually skied slower than I did in the spring. The thing is, after a lot of thinking, I have realized that the result doesn't truly matter. I know that my technique feels better and that I feel stronger and that is what is important.  Yesterday the testing week wrapped up with a skate rollerski time-trial where I was happy to set a new PB. 

After the skate TT, celebrating the end of testing week with lots and lots of pink.
Finally, for those who didn't know, a couple of weeks ago my big brother, Andrew won a silver medal at World Rowing Champs in the coxed pair in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I have always looked up to him (literally) so it was extremely inspiring to watch his hard work pay off.  Thinking back, I realize how much both my brothers have taught me. Growing up, my sister and I watched our brothers compete against each other in everything (and I mean EVERYTHING). They taught us to be competitive, tough and to always try our best. 


Andrew on the podium receiving his silver medal ( tall handsome guy on the right, he's single ladies) 

I am also super excited to be teaming up with Bounce Canada.  If you have never tried their energy balls, you should definitely check them out, they are delicious and nutritious!
There is never too much choice

That is all for today, I hope you enjoyed the update as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next time!

Katherine 

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