tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33317591322950119052024-02-07T08:19:59.417-08:00The Edge (of glory)A moment of truth in skiing and in life.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-15331021901817098672014-03-25T13:54:00.002-07:002014-03-25T13:54:56.104-07:00Nationals Distance Race<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Corner Brook, Newfoundland</span><span style="color: white;">--</span></b><span style="color: white;"> The last day of Canadian Nationals started bright and early at 9am with the senior men’s competition. The day being the long-distance event, the men raced a 50k, women and junior men a 30k and junior women a 20k, all mass-starts. With skiers already having completed three other races this week, some doing four with the team relay, the distance race is not only a good indicator of endurance and pure race-fitness but also a test of who has recovered the best throughout the week of racing.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Newfoundland came through with some pretty exciting weather for the final race. Blowing snow was the name of the game for most of the morning and made for interesting conditions for the competitors.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Ivan leads the senior men</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Senior Men</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Fighting through the snow the senior men stayed in a pretty big pack for the first two-thirds of the race until Ivan Babikov, of the Canadian World Cup team and Foothills Nordic, pulled ahead to win the 50k with a 40 second gap on second place.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Second place finisher Kevin Sandau of The Alberta World Cup Academy and the NST answered some comments on the race and about his experience at Nationals this year. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">2nd place --Kevin Sandau</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>1)</b>What was your race plan going into the 50k? Stick with the pack? Push the pace and string things out?</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“I didn't want to have a relaxed and passive pace for much of the 50km. Sometimes 50's just aren't hard enough until the last 10-15km, so they end bunching up quite a bit, and it can get frustrating and sketchy skiing with a big pack like that. I took my turns in the front, kept the pace high. When Ivan attacked on the second last lap a group of three of us tried to pull him back, but well he sort of crushed it that lap and put some big time into us.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2)Looks like you had a pretty good week of racing. How do you feel about your performance this year at Nationals?</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“Best national's for me by far. I was actually most nervous about the team sprint and defending Foothills Nordic's gold medal streak in that race. Also it was the first time I did the sprint race since maybe 2009 at National's and I managed to sneak into the A-final, so I was pretty excited about that.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3)How many Nationals podiums do your currently have to your name? How many titles?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“Seven podiums including two team sprints titles. The National Champ title still eludes me in an individual event, but I did grab this year's overall title so pretty pumped for that.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4)I hear you are racing at the Alberta Cup "Shark-fest" final. Safe to say that this upcoming set of races is your big focus for the season?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“Pretty much the biggest focus. You're only as good as your last race, right? And I figure it will be some good motivation to ski on the weekend.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Top 10 Senior</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">1)</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Ivan Babikov, Foothills-NST</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Kevin Sandau, Foothills-AWCA-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Graham Nishikawa, Whitehorse-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Andy Shields, Lappe-NDC TBay</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5) Graeme Killick, Ptarmigan-AWCA-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) Knute Johnsgaard, Whitehorse-Yukon Elite</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7) Colin Abbott, Whitehorse-Yukon Elite</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8) Frédéric Touchette, Laval</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">9) Michael Somppi,</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">AWCA-NST</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">10)</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Colin Ferrie,</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Kimberley</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Emily skis to the front in the senior women's start</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Senior Women</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The senior women’s race played out quite differently. Amanda Ammar of Canmore and Team Ninja broke the pack early on, with only Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse being able to match her. These two skiers worked together, opening up a big gap over third place skier Chisa Obayashi of Madshus Japan, until Ammar pulled ahead in the final laps to take the win with a 54 second gap over Nishikawa.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Amanda Ammar took a moment to answer some questions on her performance in the races this past week.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">1st place --Amanda Ammar</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1)You really broke the field pretty early on in the race. Was that your game-plan before hand or did you decide off the start-line that you felt great and you'd just go for it?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“Winning the Nationals 30km was a goal of mine all year, but obviously not the most important. Olympics was first And yes, it's always boss to break a field in a long distance event…i.e.. Johan Olsson's boss move in the 50km at World Champs. So breaking the field was always in the back of my head, but you can only make that decision really on the day of….you need to gage your energy and that day I felt awesome in my warmup, so it was an easy game plan. The simplest really! As a distance skier, I absolutely hate tactics, and would love to have the luxury of always just blasting off the start.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)It looks like you've put down some really solid races at Nationals this season. Do you think that your experience at the Olympics put you in a good place physically for Nationals or do you think that you went into Nationals pretty fatigued?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“The Olympics was physically and mentally exhausting. Leading up to the Olympics was stressful for me with the appeals, Brittany and I had a horrible travel schedule, and then while traveling to Sochi the airline company broke most of my skis. So I wasn't in the best headspace. It was hard to enjoy at some times cause I was just that exhausted. That being said, the Olympic course was one of the most challenging that I have ever raced on. After completing all of my events, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and confidence. I knew if I could start and finish a race on that grueling course, then it would be an absolute piece of cake on any other course. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> When I got home from the Olympics I was pretty toast. I had no desire to go to Nationals, but I knew that once I got there that my frame of mind would change, and that I would have fun no matter what. So did I have energy going into nationals? NO, but does anybody really??? It's a long season, especially an Olympic season. We are all tired, and I feel that every athlete is in the same boat.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3)Any thoughts about your Nationals races this year? The 30k was your first Nationals title, correct?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“I couldn't be more excited about my results at Nationals this year. A Ninja winning the nationals aggregate?!!! SO STOKED!! This is the first time I have ever medalled as a senior, and I managed to get top 5 in every race! In 2012, I was 9mins and 30secs behind in the 30km classic event, so that is just one example of how far I've come in 3 years. These results mean so much to me in that I've always wanted to be a positive role model for the young women coming up in sport.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> These last 3 years I've done it my way, no carding, no national/development team, no rules!! hahaha! Chris and I made the training plan, and worked together with other athletes in the bow valley. We kept it sublimely simple.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Top 10 Senior</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1)Amanda Ammar, Canmore Nordic-Team Ninja</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">2)Emily Nishikawa,</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Whitehorse AWCA-NST</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3)Chisa Obayashi, Madshus Japan</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4)Brittany Webster, Highland Trailblazer</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5)Alysson Marshall, Larch Hills-AWCA-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6)Erin Tribe, Team Hardwood-NDC TBay/Lakehead</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7)Anne-Marie Comeau, M.S.A.-CNEPH-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8)Heidi Widmer, Foothills-AWCA-NST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">9)Kendra Murray, Carleton-Whitehorse</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">10)Marlis Kromm, AWCA-Foothills</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Scott (left) and Colin lead the Junior race</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Junior Men</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the junior men’s 30k it was NDC T-Bay that ruled the roost once again, taking the top 3 podium spots. Pulling off his 3rd National title this season Scott Hill, also of Team Hardwood, raced to victory in a very decisive 1 minute 51 second win over the rest of the field. His NDC teammates Evan Palmer-Charrette, of Lappe Nordic, and Nakkertok skier Ben Wilkinson-Zan rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Top 10 Junior</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1)Scott Hill, Team Hardwood-NDC TBay/Lakehead</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Evan Palmer-Charrette, Lappe-NDC TBay</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3)Benjamin Wilkinson-Zan, Nakkertok-NDC TBay</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4)Alexis Dumas, Skibec-QCST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5)Colin Foley, Nakkertok-CVTC</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6)Julien Lamoureux, Montériski-QCST/Cégep Édouard-Montpetit</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7)Conor Thompson, Montériski-QCST/Cégep Édouard-Montpetit</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">8)Nicholas Pigeon,</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Skinouk</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">9)Gavin Shields, Lappe</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">10)David Askwith, Georgian Bay</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Sorry about no junior women photo... my phone died before I could take a picture of them.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Junior Women</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Much like in the senior women’s race the skiers of the junior women’s competition got spread out pretty early on. This made for a mentally challenging race as most of the competitors pushed through the pain alone for much of the 20k distance.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Upsetting this trend the top 3 skiers, Dahria Beatty of the AWCA and Whitehorse, Katherine Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok and Annah Hanthorn of Whitehorse, worked together for much of the race setting up a comfortable lead on the other racers. In the 3rd of 4 laps Stewart-Jones and Beatty slowly pulled away from Hanthorn and the last lap became a two-skier battle. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the hills on the last lap Dahria Beatty pulled away to take her 2nd National title this season.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Top 10 Junior</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1)Dahria Beatty, Whitehorse-AWCA</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Katherine Stewart-Jones, Nakkertok Nordique</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">3)Annah Hanthorn,</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">Whitehorse-YTST</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4)Frédérique Vézina, M.S.A.-CNEPH</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5)Sophie Carrier-Laforte, Skinouk-QCST</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6)Jennifer Jackson, Team Hardwood-NDC TBay/Lakehead</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7)Emilie Stewart-Jones, Nakkertok Nordique</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8)Sarah Beaudry, Caledonia</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">9)Maya Macisaac-Jones, RMR-CNEPH</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">10)Ember Large, Edmonton</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks to Kevin and Amanda for the comments today and congratulations to all the athletes who took place in this week’s event!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For full results see </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6690"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-38043890695370574512014-03-21T10:01:00.001-07:002014-03-21T10:01:24.613-07:00Nationals Sprint Day<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With only two race days left in Corner Brook Newfoundland, Thursday morning saw Canada’s best lining up behind the starting wand for their sprint qualifier.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The groomers did a good job of tilling the course during the night which combined with the relatively mild temperatures (-7 C in the early morning warming up to around 0 C for the heats) to lead to a nice fast course.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Olympian Amanda Ammar had a few words on the morning of qualifying:</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“The course has a lot of flat sections and gradual downhills so you really have to push the free-skate. The couple uphills on the course are steep and pretty soft--you can get bogged down if you’re not careful. It’s a good course for someone who skis powerful with longer glides.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Follow this </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6681"><span class="s2"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">link</span></span></a><span style="color: white;"> for qualifier results.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0z6z-CiLENzw4Pt8Gzs9e-bSky7APi-ovv6PuBwVLgdKU0wR2FCn5AfnP76VAka8EbybvBFP284yf1fOfg3pFZw8PngewGgh9QA1WNGf_MBnNzH26NFVJ8YMMuseOPue0bwf5r_0veoO/s1600/2014-03-20+13.18.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0z6z-CiLENzw4Pt8Gzs9e-bSky7APi-ovv6PuBwVLgdKU0wR2FCn5AfnP76VAka8EbybvBFP284yf1fOfg3pFZw8PngewGgh9QA1WNGf_MBnNzH26NFVJ8YMMuseOPue0bwf5r_0veoO/s1600/2014-03-20+13.18.14.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Daria (front) and Peri battling it out in the final</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Senior Women</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">First off the line for the heats were the women, starting around noon. National team members Perianne Jones and Daria Gaiazova dominated the day, leading the way in their quarter and semi finals. The two skiers fought it out in the A-final, with Daria leading the way for most of the sprint and ultimately taking the win. Perianne came up beside her in the finish lanes but didn’t quite have enough for the top spot, and placed 2nd. Alysson Marshall held 3rd place pretty consistently through the A-final.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Daria was unavailable for comments on the race but our reporter was able to interview the day’s Silver-medalist.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Perianne Jones --2nd</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I changed up my tactics a bit because I was slower off the start in the semi. Drafting on the downhill mid-course seemed to work pretty well in the semi so I waited for the downhill to move towards the front in my final too.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Did your travels home from Europe have much of an effect on your race today? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I got back to Canmore about a week ago, from Drammen, so I had some time to rest before coming out here. I don’t think the travel effected the racing too much.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Some athletes like to listen to music to get them pumped up before a race. Is music part of your pre-race plan? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I don’t really listen to music very much in my race prep. I just go out there and ski the course and stay relaxed.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Senior Women’s A-final</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Name // Qualifying time</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) Daria Gaiazova // 0:03:12.29</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Perianne Jones // 0:03:12.66</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Alysson Marshall // 0:03:17.65</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Erin Tribe // 0:03:21.40</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5)Amanda Ammar // 0:03:21.67</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) Heidi Widmer // 0:03:21.80</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_rima_JlPRBB1OnhD-wyD3H1NCdiv-hASU3HqJRgBG-hX5GjbWmPCTo9uFlHQkZaJvrc9awji1Mimd1-YARcheFRrtcJbd4q6ptAQ2vXPKCWZMuAJVMYJObjcq69WksklvhuZLedozB3/s1600/2014-03-20+13.06.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_rima_JlPRBB1OnhD-wyD3H1NCdiv-hASU3HqJRgBG-hX5GjbWmPCTo9uFlHQkZaJvrc9awji1Mimd1-YARcheFRrtcJbd4q6ptAQ2vXPKCWZMuAJVMYJObjcq69WksklvhuZLedozB3/s1600/2014-03-20+13.06.24.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Katherine leads the rest of the junior women in their final</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Junior Women</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Today’s junior women’s heats were quite the battle. With not much room to pass on the course and a particularly technical downhill at the end, many skiers ran into trouble getting tripped up or boxed in. First and second qualifiers, Jennifer Jackson and Sophie Carrier-Laforte, looked quite strong moving up through the quarter finals and took the wins in their respective semi finals. In the A-final though it was Katherine Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok Nordique who avoided trouble and pushed the pace, taking the lead on a tricky downhill corner to cross the line with a comfortable lead over 2nd place.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Katherine Stewart-Jones --1st</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“In the quarter and semi finals I took the lead for a lot of the race but I found people were catching me on the downhills. In the final I made my move later on, moving into the lead on the last downhill corner.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--At what point in the race did you know you had the win? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I was pretty sure I had it when I moved into first on the last downhill, as long as I managed to stay on my feet.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--How many National titles do you now have to your name? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I’ve won three titles, not including a couple where I came second to a Norwegian at Quebec Nationals (2012). This is my first sprint title!!” </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Junior Women’s A-final</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Name // Qualifying Time</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) Katherine Stewart-Jones // 0:03:18.95</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Maya Macisaac-Jones // 0:03:21.52</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Dahria Beatty // 0:03:22.87</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Anne-Marie Comeau // 0:03:24.34</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5) Jennifer Jackson // 0:03:24.89</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) Sophie Carrier-Laforte // 0:03:29.00</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMUE3LGlsPeysr_mMiLoKWr9JtGHh8cOByKh-Qg0ohTXbU87CXNKIdDJNonefogfBnylG9_B5c4xdpSkt8PAAIEkYm0xBWQ9vSSmRlGUYZUgH7kmj-ic81JhTmdGY97mKDI-4vhIWhzam/s1600/2014-03-20+15.08.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMUE3LGlsPeysr_mMiLoKWr9JtGHh8cOByKh-Qg0ohTXbU87CXNKIdDJNonefogfBnylG9_B5c4xdpSkt8PAAIEkYm0xBWQ9vSSmRlGUYZUgH7kmj-ic81JhTmdGY97mKDI-4vhIWhzam/s1600/2014-03-20+15.08.02.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Knute leads Graham (middle) and Patrick in the men's final</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Senior Men</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After a slow start to the day in his quarterfinal, Yukon skier Graham Nishikawa made it through to the semi finals as lucky loser. Having just returned from Sochi, where he skied as a guide for Paralympian Brian Mckeever (who has won 3 golds), Graham overcame jet-lag and moved up through the semi to the final, where he took his first senior Canadian National title today. The podium was rounded out by Knute Johnsgaard of the Yukon Elite Squad and AWCA/Nakkertok skier Patrick Stewart-Jones, both U23 athletes.</span></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Graham Nishikawa --1st</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats?</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I really didn’t feel ready to go in the quarters, fighting jet lag, and I came in fourth in that heat. I was walking back to the car to get the keys and found out I made lucky loser. </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the semi and the final I just went right to the front each time since there wasn’t much space to pass on the course.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Did your recent trip back from Europe effect you much today? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I got in at 2:20am the day of the 15k [the 18th]. I wasn’t as worried racing right off the flight but today, two days later, I thought it’d be tough. I just went out there to have fun today and enjoy the racing”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Is this your first National sprint title? How many titles do you currently have to your name? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I’ve got a number of junior titles but this is actually my first senior National title! I have a lot of silver and bronze medals at home.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Senior Men’s A-final</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) Graham Nishikawa // 0:02:58.79</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Knute Johnsgaard // 0:02:58.86</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Patrick Stewart-Jones // 0:02:58.90</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Raphaël Couturier // 0:03:03.41</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5) Kevin Sandau // 0:03:08.99</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) Andy Shields // 0:03:13.59</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvT7JmDU5kA6f8xtB_6Ly6xjciSF3alIILa0cAnQx_Sj-yc_wWdLrNM8f1BIr8pAHFsUW-b_j8vETcqtHXtw0D0vT-uOwSCTKVXUfzxryApcitSFKHaV1NmWW-sjsgbBtQfQXGUwJEPbz/s1600/2014-03-20+14.56.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvT7JmDU5kA6f8xtB_6Ly6xjciSF3alIILa0cAnQx_Sj-yc_wWdLrNM8f1BIr8pAHFsUW-b_j8vETcqtHXtw0D0vT-uOwSCTKVXUfzxryApcitSFKHaV1NmWW-sjsgbBtQfQXGUwJEPbz/s1600/2014-03-20+14.56.54.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Colin (front) and Evan sprint it out for the line in the junior final</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">1st --Junior Men</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">NDC Thunder Bay continues its dominance of the junior men’s category. Instead of Scott Hill taking gold in the sprint though it was Tuesday’s (the 15k skate) second place finisher, Evan Palmer-Charrette, who notched another gold for the Thunder Bay centre. Scott Hill, winner of the first two races this week, finished 3rd. The second step of the podium was occupied by CVTC skier Colin Foley. Colin won both his quarter final and semi but was denied today’s junior title in the final, as Evan put down the stronger finish to beat him to the line.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Evan talked to Fasterskier about his performance in Tuesday’s race (which you can read about <a href="http://fasterskier.com/article/babikov-back-in-canada-winning-nationals-widmer-tops-womens-10-k/"><span class="s2">here</span></a>) so in the interest of a different perspective our reporter interviewed Colin on his performance.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Colin Foley --2nd place</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“In the quarterfinal I wanted to conserve my energy so I didn't lead any of it except for the final stretch. In the semi’s I wanted to make it to the final without risking anything and I was feeling good so I lead off the start and took it fast all the way around. The final I really just tried to make sure I was in the top three coming to the steep climb about halfway through the course. After that it was just about giving everything I had left.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Is this your first National sprint podium? How many podiums do you currently have to your name? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“Before this nationals I only had 1 podium, it came last year with a silver in the 10km skate. So yes this is my first podium in the sprint. In the past my distance skiing has been much better so I'm very happy to get on a sprint podium.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Do you have a favourite song to get you in the mood on race day? </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“I don't like to listen to music very close to my race, but I'll often listen to it if I have a long time until I start. In that case it would definitely consist of some of The Black Keys.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Junior Men’s A-final</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) Evan Palmer-Charrette // 0:03:09.14</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Colin Foley // 0:03:09.43</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Scott Hill // 0:03:11.11</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Nicholas Pigeon // 0:03:13.89</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5) Gavin Shields // 0:03:15.44</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) Angus Foster // 0:03:52.78</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks to Graham, Perianne, Katherine and Colin for taking the time to chat today! Check back this weekend for the report from the final Canadian Nationals race.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">See </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6688"><span class="s2"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4.ca</span></span></a><span style="color: white;"> for full results.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-64574144533524911712014-03-19T10:42:00.001-07:002014-03-19T18:03:49.487-07:00Nationals day 5<div class="p1">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I continue my coverage of Nationals with the second individual race of the week, the skate medium-distance.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="color: white;"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Upon checking out the course profiles before arriving in Newfoundland, it was the image of today’s race course that really stuck with me--probably because of the simplicity of it. It went up. It went down. With the exception of a short flat section around the stadium and a quick up-and-down loop at the end, the course was pretty much one big uphill followed by its descent back to the stadium. Men raced 4x3.75km and women 3x3.3, going not quite as high on the hill as the men.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With regards to conditions, the one thing that’s been constant this week with weather is the ridiculously strong winds and today was no exception to this trend. Blowing snow wreathed the racers in white and challenged them with some solid headwinds at points on the course. But even with the headwinds it was a quick race. With World Cup veteran Ivan Babikov leading the charge, the winning time in senior men clocked in at just over 35min, typical of the top times you would see on a tough World Cup 15k course.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">When the snow cleared (more of a figure of speech: it’s still blowing snow outside), here’s who stood with Ivan at the top of the podium.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k_WrCyx36sSmSM0jGOeF92QnPtt7gjzF5a3QTJBXwP_2y0JLv4YXlIR4qytFYTt3qyQlZINihofV3H8aKshyphenhyphenVNyBsxr9cp2chL7pTkHgjZKH2aAytqSO5gqRs6sqMVqoT4xsHTf8iYB3/s1600/Heidi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k_WrCyx36sSmSM0jGOeF92QnPtt7gjzF5a3QTJBXwP_2y0JLv4YXlIR4qytFYTt3qyQlZINihofV3H8aKshyphenhyphenVNyBsxr9cp2chL7pTkHgjZKH2aAytqSO5gqRs6sqMVqoT4xsHTf8iYB3/s1600/Heidi.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Heidi, followed by teammate Dahria, on the final climb. Thanks to </span><a href="http://estewart-jones.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: white;">Emilie</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> for the awesome pics from the day's race!</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Heidi Widmer --Senior Women</span></b><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the training season Heidi battled some issues with injury following a rollerski crash. She stayed focused through the set-backs though and managed to put down some pretty solid results right through the ski season. This year, in her final year as a U23, she represented Canada at both the World U23 Championships and her first Olympic Games. Here’s how she answered my three post-race questions:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Zeke: Did you have a particular focus going into today’s event?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Heidi: “To be present in the moment. Just like Pooh Bear in the Tao of Pooh. Great read.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Before you knew your result were you happy with today’s race?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">H: “I had a great time, had good skis and pushed my limits. So, I would be happy with my efforts either way. It is even better when that aligns with a win!”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Imagine that it is your birthday and you get to choose whatever meal you want. What’s the main-course and what’s for dessert?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">H: “It depends where I’m celebrating--whatever the locals are doing and what is in season! Hopefully it’s Mexican style. For dessert, chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and strawberry filling. Vanilla ice cream on the side.”</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpLH-wipWLxMACrMDES4N39Q-DKgxntxH3FKvflt9nXgPqA_e1fnit5wGIW02hzeWNanGFSf3GYKZMacwLclGjs13QSUN2UsfGZ6P3gAjvB8Z7EdPA068J5HfT1S3aYyc5UlqOw2cEJ9Q/s1600/Ivan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpLH-wipWLxMACrMDES4N39Q-DKgxntxH3FKvflt9nXgPqA_e1fnit5wGIW02hzeWNanGFSf3GYKZMacwLclGjs13QSUN2UsfGZ6P3gAjvB8Z7EdPA068J5HfT1S3aYyc5UlqOw2cEJ9Q/s1600/Ivan.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Ivan on his way to victory in the 15k</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Ivan Babikov --Senior Men</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A long-time skier of the World Cup circuit, Ivan is fresh off the World Cup finals in Falun Sweden. A consistent performer at international races, Ivan really adds to the level of competition here in Newfoundland.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Did you have a particular focus going into today’s event?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Ivan: “Tried to stay awake today, with the jet-lag from my return from Europe. I worked to keep the speed up through the four laps. I hadn’t skied the course beforehand so I just focused on checking things out the first lap and then pacing based on that.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Before you knew your result were you happy with today’s race?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I: “A win is a win, and racing back in Canada is always fun. It’d be nice to have some more World Cups over here.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Imagine that it is your birthday and you get to choose whatever meal you want. What’s the main-course and what’s for dessert?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I: “My wife makes really good Russian fried potatoes--kinda like french fries but healthy--and fried chicken. Something chocolaty for desert, like chocolate cake.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26an3KhA0-aAWMtItbHrpbCvA3M9Sg11Q7WKIrj_ZdCGY31Dt69-iyI93ki1SgMFasCMMFJDYpOOc0jbPn5jZUj-mLxIfxKUYBrKJ4x3i63cJNT07KFkS2Q-57B6fPJmYDd849DPxWyoo/s1600/Anne-Marie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26an3KhA0-aAWMtItbHrpbCvA3M9Sg11Q7WKIrj_ZdCGY31Dt69-iyI93ki1SgMFasCMMFJDYpOOc0jbPn5jZUj-mLxIfxKUYBrKJ4x3i63cJNT07KFkS2Q-57B6fPJmYDd849DPxWyoo/s1600/Anne-Marie.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Anne Marie, of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Anne-Marie Comeau --Junior Women</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Anne-Marie is among the strong contingent of junior women from Quebec who are making a mark on the Canadian ski scene. She has European racing experience already under her belt and two years left as a junior, after this season, in her skiing career. Watch for her next year at the Junior World Championships.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Did you have a particular focus going into today’s event?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Anne-Marie: “Going into the race I was just thinking about going as hard as I could.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Before you knew your result were you happy with today’s race?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“Yes! I felt good during the race and had fun.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3)Imagine that it is your birthday and you get to choose whatever meal you want. What’s the main-course and what’s for dessert?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“Chicken shish kabobs for dinner and maple syrup pudding for dessert.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DBk8C5EQdSfYWAd0tYoW-3U6z4V81QUU00agUeTQsEQbWGimpaPQuzgJXtjWB2bCoZpfFMeYaXDH_P9lHSTaFQP6_avXzCQX3gJr4iKukKteW3710v9S8lYjJiBSxAeYSj4YCG2JnKYB/s1600/Scott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DBk8C5EQdSfYWAd0tYoW-3U6z4V81QUU00agUeTQsEQbWGimpaPQuzgJXtjWB2bCoZpfFMeYaXDH_P9lHSTaFQP6_avXzCQX3gJr4iKukKteW3710v9S8lYjJiBSxAeYSj4YCG2JnKYB/s1600/Scott.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Scott makes it two for two at Nationals</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Scott Hill --Junior Men</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Scott Hill has started a winning streak this week, making it two for two in the first couple races. In an effort to showcase some of the other top skiers in the junior men’s category I interviewed the second place skier, Evan Palmer Charrette on his race today.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Check out the article from Sunday for Scott Hill’s interview.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2p4ByUgl5JK91AgIdO7RqVOURkAcJUP9Ve05HCifv9__XTqW8SfvnHnEDa39mSmQQ4qRan9uN5GRnv2Ryx5OWAtqsnFPmRxDunnRkadZ8HoWvHYiiTxSOPOavqSwzFwXsDtE9_akLPb8/s1600/Evan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2p4ByUgl5JK91AgIdO7RqVOURkAcJUP9Ve05HCifv9__XTqW8SfvnHnEDa39mSmQQ4qRan9uN5GRnv2Ryx5OWAtqsnFPmRxDunnRkadZ8HoWvHYiiTxSOPOavqSwzFwXsDtE9_akLPb8/s1600/Evan.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Evan skis through the stadium on route to 2nd place</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Evan Palmer-Charrette --2nd place Junior Men</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Hailing from Thunder Bay, in Northern Ontario, Evan trains with the National Development Centre in his hometown. A well known junior skier on the NORAM circuit, he works towards his goal of making the World Cup team and racing internationally.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Did you have a particular focus going into today’s event?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Evan: “Big focus today was pacing and really getting long glides--especially on the uphills in the offset [technique].”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Before you knew your result were you happy with today’s race?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">E: “Absolutely. Pacing was great and the body came together today. I’ve been having some trouble with compartment syndrome in my shins, and with illness last week; these didn’t effect me today.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Z: Imagine that it is your birthday and you get to choose whatever meal you want. What’s the main-course and what’s for dessert?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">E: “Pad-thai for the main course and a chocolate milkshake for desert.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks so much to Heidi, Ivan, Anne-Marie and Evan for taking the time to chat today. </span></span></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For full results check </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6676"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Check back later for coverage of the next race, Thursday's skate sprint.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-71409263432224030362014-03-17T14:47:00.000-07:002014-03-17T14:47:40.193-07:00Day 3 at Canadian Nationals<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">March 16th, the day of the first individual event at National Canadian Ski Championships 2014. This is an event that I’ve been training for since last May, and looking forward to since the end of Nationals 2013, last season in Whistler BC. As I write this I’m sitting in the lodge at the Nordic Ski Center in Corner Brook--but I’m not racing today.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Two weeks ago I started to feel pain in my right leg. After a week and a half of physio it was determined that I have nerve issues in my back that, if I’m not careful, could develop into a serious enough problem to require surgery.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With this in mind, I find myself in need of something to fill my time in Newfoundland.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There’s not usually any real information thrown out there about Canadian skiers, not on the World Cup Team, who are training year-round to take national titles come Winter.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With time on my hands and races to watch I’ve made it my goal to write up something short about the top skiers in some of the races this week.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Today’s race was a short-distance classic interval start. Talking to the skiers afterwards, the big thing that defined this day of competition was adversity, particularly evident in the snow conditions. The race was really hard to wax for--with some skiers opting for klister, some hardwax and others going with zeros. But even with this much variation in what people were going with for grip it seems that nobody really found the perfect set up. Pretty quickly the tracks got ruined by herring-bone and it turned into a competition of who could double poll the most.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With steep hills, sketchy weather and limited grip, this was one of those races where the winner is the one who stays positive and adapts to the conditions rather than fighting them.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Here are today's champions:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Jess Cockney</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For those in tune with the North American skiing world, Jess Cockney, winner of today's senior men's race, doesn't really need an introduction. For those living under a rock (or a lot of snow), he trains out of Canmore with the Alberta World Cup Academy and just returned from his first Olympic experience at the games in Sochi.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">1)Something about Jess that doesn't have to do with skiing:</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> "</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">I run a fantasy football league through the NFL season. 2012 League Champion!</span><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Was there anything in particular training-wise that you did this past summer that really contributed to your performance today? </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I double poled most of today's race so all the strength work and long double pole sessions really helped with today.</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3)Was there any aspect, positive, negative or otherwise, that stood out about today's race? </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">I had a ton of fun yesterday and today and had great feelings in the races so I'll just try to keep the fun going for the rest of the week!</span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2sAXk1j9OQRLn0mFVT5P3PfamNE98BC8-RI-vV7MW2LnroXjIdJjn7WTDnc-tg9r2rQFsxTzAe_cAGyoXSkL6-H-vHqnHX_-nGXbpMN72OsEmSIjiflaX_VrAf4jvnWA3_-TR2hi2itl/s1600/2014-03-16+11.42.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2sAXk1j9OQRLn0mFVT5P3PfamNE98BC8-RI-vV7MW2LnroXjIdJjn7WTDnc-tg9r2rQFsxTzAe_cAGyoXSkL6-H-vHqnHX_-nGXbpMN72OsEmSIjiflaX_VrAf4jvnWA3_-TR2hi2itl/s1600/2014-03-16+11.42.23.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Jess: double polling his way to victory</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Emily Nishikawa</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Like Jess, Emily is one athlete who doesn't really need an introduction. She too trains with the Alberta World Cup Academy and is just back from representing the red maple leaf at the Winter Olympic Games.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">1)Something about Emily that doesn't have to do with skiing:</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> "I used to be a competitive gymnast. My best result was winning the Jurassic classic when I was 11!"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Was there anything in particular training-wise that you did this past summer that really contributed to your performance today? </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"I've been working really hard all year, and other than one cold I've been healthy all year. I think that contributed to today's performance."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3)Was there any aspect, positive, negative or otherwise, that stood out about today's race? </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"Today's race was really fun, with tricky conditions. I was happy to make the skis work as best I could. This is my first time in Newfoundland and I am so excited to be here!"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b-cO4IUpggR8WJZFdZ9T2TQWLuMkaEQP7lD4vv_XUPFqSKWyRnLQC_0XSGmn2o6JwAFtpDgwYtV-afJdycH3fQ9_44FqUf50Ait1PrhHmcFp_DL2jnE-UCTe5Ny89UCcBxa4XyVqbh9U/s1600/Bi3RRxjCcAAw-53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b-cO4IUpggR8WJZFdZ9T2TQWLuMkaEQP7lD4vv_XUPFqSKWyRnLQC_0XSGmn2o6JwAFtpDgwYtV-afJdycH3fQ9_44FqUf50Ait1PrhHmcFp_DL2jnE-UCTe5Ny89UCcBxa4XyVqbh9U/s1600/Bi3RRxjCcAAw-53.jpg" height="342" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Emily: on top of the podium</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Scott Hill</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Scott, the Ontario native and member of NDC Thunder Bay took home the gold in the Junior Men's category. I met up with him in the lodge after the race to ask him my questions:</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">1)Something about Scott that doesn't really have to do with skiing:</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> "My younger self's goal was to play in the NBA--and be a part time ski-racer."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Was there anything in particular training-wise that you did this past summer that really contributed to your performance today? </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"I became an overall-better runner this year completing many running workouts."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3)Was there any aspect, positive, negative or otherwise, that stood out about today's race? </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"Going into the race I was prepared to not have the best wax. I knew that wax was going to be an issue for everyone and that I could still do well as long as I didn't let the conditions get to me."</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s_jc409nfCoP9RQ8R8ZY36vHf-ZzfmHywfQempap5ICukt1PDPTHnDHLiM9ctTX1EEbdmRrYWKt_E7xr7aVu5MRF1BbuzRaWBHOo3rhG-REAgcSSrCCoCXx4-qyA710-wSmZNdifK74Z/s1600/Bi3Sh1BCcAAwX6s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s_jc409nfCoP9RQ8R8ZY36vHf-ZzfmHywfQempap5ICukt1PDPTHnDHLiM9ctTX1EEbdmRrYWKt_E7xr7aVu5MRF1BbuzRaWBHOo3rhG-REAgcSSrCCoCXx4-qyA710-wSmZNdifK74Z/s1600/Bi3Sh1BCcAAwX6s.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Scott: on top of the podium</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Dahria Beatty</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Dahria, Alberta World Cup Academy and Junior National Team member, took top spot on the podium in the Junior Women's race today. Originally from the Yukon she spends her off-season in Canmore training with the Academy. This year she's seen some solid results in the European race scene--both at <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">World Juniors and on the Scandinavian Cup (B-Tour).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">1)Something about Dahria that doesn't have to do with skiing:</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> "I have a tendency to impulse buy plaid shirts."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)Was there anything in particular training-wise that you did this past summer that really contributed to your performance today? </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.644444465637207px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Well to be honest I really think it was all the time I spent walking Loki, the Davies' family dog, (with whom I live). It really adds up and my competitors just can’t match it. </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3)Was there any aspect, positive, negative or otherwise, that stood out about today's race?</span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> "The conditions today were pretty interesting and very similar to the ones I had in Europe racing at World Juniors and the B tour. This made it very advantageous to me, using what I learned over there I knew what was necessary in order to have the race I wanted. It was also super cool to be so close to World Cup skiers and it is very motivating for the future."</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNeGab94HI5KI4Gx55hOiGagjJqFpO7SNDUCceNds2CVeekBm04-glcVtxu9UQ1Wmjsv7jcj4pYm_U1QksIJKXInMUbngH7YD_7KsNrMNMMJvVo-6-UqtTc8c8iT3aKYgO-awkFC0mCEE/s1600/2014-03-16+12.49.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNeGab94HI5KI4Gx55hOiGagjJqFpO7SNDUCceNds2CVeekBm04-glcVtxu9UQ1Wmjsv7jcj4pYm_U1QksIJKXInMUbngH7YD_7KsNrMNMMJvVo-6-UqtTc8c8iT3aKYgO-awkFC0mCEE/s1600/2014-03-16+12.49.56.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Dahria: charging to victory</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Thanks so much to Dahria, Scott, Emily and Jess for taking the time to chat with me about their races.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For full results from the races go here: </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6664"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Check back here on Tuesday for all sorts of fun info from the medium distance skate race.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Dream Big.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-34242949907481112462014-03-14T16:33:00.001-07:002014-03-14T16:33:32.486-07:003 stories from 3 race weekends: 3rd story<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Inspiration is an interesting thing. As mentioned in my last blog post I felt a bit of a lack of this quality at the Vermont Supertour. The Winter Olympics--an amazing source of athletic inspiration--was kicking into gear as me and my team departed Craftsbury. With Canadian Western Champs in Prince George BC coming up the weekend after Vermont, one might have expected me to sit myself down in front of the CBC Winter Olympics live-replay webpage and just bask in the inspiring efforts of all the Olympians. But I didn’t. This year I really didn’t get into the Olympic spirit until after the fact.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Westerns was another three day race weekend but, having already done 6 races over the past two weekends we (the Alberta World Cup Academy) competed only in the second two races: a classic sprint and a 20k skate mass start.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I still see classic sprint-striding as being something for me to improve but I had a pretty solid classic sprint the first day--taking home some tasty fourth-place chocolate.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With a smaller field at Westerns than at most NORAMs my cpl points put me first in the starting echelon in the day 2 distance race! Sunday morning I filed into the start grid with the other skiers. “30 seconds to go”, was announced--and then, like, 10s later they fired the gun! Expecting another 20s before go-time I was taken quite unaware--adjusting my wind-briefs in a fairly leisurely fashion--and I remember thinking “oh, I guess they are firing the gun once for practice”. But no. There’s this picture on flicker of the race start and pretty much everyone have big grins on their faces as they ski off the line because the start was so unusual.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrQCUVPDYmMk1oIIcMm4X_besNn_IDduILRWmPWFakN5H4eb1Atmx04Oe-6bpcXkdlHUCQ43Hb8pwvAv6PxiZu64DGpcS486r92vWKD3PH-vj6lnzUJxgucdHqtBAsqu-rGGIDv2wrJ3m/s1600/IMAG0509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrQCUVPDYmMk1oIIcMm4X_besNn_IDduILRWmPWFakN5H4eb1Atmx04Oe-6bpcXkdlHUCQ43Hb8pwvAv6PxiZu64DGpcS486r92vWKD3PH-vj6lnzUJxgucdHqtBAsqu-rGGIDv2wrJ3m/s1600/IMAG0509.jpg" height="640" width="362" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black;">20k at Westerns</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Fifty-some minutes later I crossed the finish line, 0.6s behind my teammate Russell, to take second place. I had mixed feelings. Although it was a decent race I felt that I should’ve pushed harder over the tops of the last few hills on the final lap in an effort to drop my competitors before the finish. Could I have dropped them? I don’t know, but whether I had or not, taking that initiative would’ve been the kind of inspired racing I’d been searching for in Vermont. Which brings me back to the Olympics.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With Westerns in the past I’ve had to take some rest on account of sickness and trouble with an injured leg. Looking for something to cheer me up I turned to the replays of the now-finished Olympics!</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Watching the races--in particular the women’s relay, the men’s relay and the 50k skate--was so inspiring! Charlotte Kalla and Alexander Legkov demonstrated some of the most determined skiing I have ever seen; you could tell they wanted it, they believed they could achieve it and they were willing to race desperately--risking blowing up before the finish--to get to the line first.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If you have not watched these races yet--and if you’re looking for some inspiration--check them out! You can find replays here:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0JztdSSS4zfQlBuYVRYbmFVS00&usp=sharing"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0JztdSSS4zfQlBuYVRYbmFVS00&usp=sharing</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-7889924614139195232014-03-08T16:24:00.003-08:002014-03-08T16:24:54.484-08:003 Stories from 3 Race Weekends: 2nd Story<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Wednesday morning after Easterns the team took to the roads; our new destination being the U.S. Supertour race stop in Craftsbury VT. I had raced twice before in Craftsbury, but both previous times my race course experience consisted of a 1.6km loop of manmade snow. I was pretty excited to get to experience Craftsbury in all its mid-Winter glory for the first time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The drive to Craftsbury from Ottawa is usually a pretty straight-forward 4.5hr trip. But, consistent with my epic Ramsau-to-Liberec drive last year (see "Goodbye Austria" blog post), Winter ski-race travels have a way becoming much more of an adventure than google maps would have one think.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The first hurdle we ran into on the drive was one that I had predicted from a mile away: Montreal traffic. I hate traffic.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">About 6 or 7 hours later we finally hit the U.S. border and were promptly stopped and pulled in for questioning by a very talkative border-patrol agent. Eventually we were deemed not a threat to the country and were allowed to continue on our merry way.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Finally, after a stop for supper and about 10hrs of travel time, we arrived in Craftsbury!! But the adventure was not over yet. Our rental vans were woefully equipped for the snowy conditions with tires that were--at best--very slick all-seasons And it turned out that the two houses our team had booked to stay in were not only about 20min apart but also at the tops of some very steep back-country roads. All at once we made the switch from skiers to bobsled athletes, and, in honour of the upcoming Olympic Games and our intense desire to get to our lodgings and fall asleep, we ran along side the vans, pushing them up the slippery Vermont hills towards our houses. One might think that having to push your minivan up a snowy hill after 10hrs on the road, in the middle of nowhere, at eleven at night might be a not so cool experience. With an outlook like this, one would have forgotten what being over-tired feels like; the whole endeavour turned out to be quite fun.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">11hrs after our departure from Ottawa we were finally settled in in Vermont, dreaming of pushing vans through snowstorms while laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6JxaPv1FzEXoLbvk5OueCtlfzr32k3VM5W0E7uMYK8r8G_LFZv03egEN5lvLKdHFjjZXTSu55EKNLoQwEI2WEXUzD4-GOTs2ZpP2sUf9XTZFJXFDAYV2rFTphc_i3wg1E5hx_wFCQKLk/s1600/2014-02-09+13.45.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6JxaPv1FzEXoLbvk5OueCtlfzr32k3VM5W0E7uMYK8r8G_LFZv03egEN5lvLKdHFjjZXTSu55EKNLoQwEI2WEXUzD4-GOTs2ZpP2sUf9XTZFJXFDAYV2rFTphc_i3wg1E5hx_wFCQKLk/s1600/2014-02-09+13.45.11.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">I'm 108: </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Sprinting to the finish in the quarter final<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEininAFA7lqvUHoRuJjXQre5nOiw3LtEz4VIMCThoHsxG2LXCWtQx8DNWg1wLTVcUXDNqDBDO-OVWSkHgfymolbx02-S7Xm1pThYJooDSLnM1ikt1z2qLRjQjWVlus7W9TKxwI0ph8Ng1cu/s1600/2014-02-09+13.45.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEininAFA7lqvUHoRuJjXQre5nOiw3LtEz4VIMCThoHsxG2LXCWtQx8DNWg1wLTVcUXDNqDBDO-OVWSkHgfymolbx02-S7Xm1pThYJooDSLnM1ikt1z2qLRjQjWVlus7W9TKxwI0ph8Ng1cu/s1600/2014-02-09+13.45.15.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT_kxfzXG2_SwJDIFL9BPJ7C0VDDw-ljFSbthxjL8N5lb_l8y2JwC8YAZKpsKONWqvFdja5k5VJ6jeOxfThIdfEB5H_2iJJEi5F0Kxz1UrIxwxrAHwpNgKLWlsdJSGfbww75ukSj2C9ZO/s1600/2014-02-09+19.10.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT_kxfzXG2_SwJDIFL9BPJ7C0VDDw-ljFSbthxjL8N5lb_l8y2JwC8YAZKpsKONWqvFdja5k5VJ6jeOxfThIdfEB5H_2iJJEi5F0Kxz1UrIxwxrAHwpNgKLWlsdJSGfbww75ukSj2C9ZO/s1600/2014-02-09+19.10.48.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black;">Our last dinner in Craftsbury we had a pizza party!! We made, like, 8 pizzas or something. Yum.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_Lc9NF7Df-7cNP9Y8BkKtuLKgQ89WB6HZ9w3mj2DtyiI0PDR4b670EXs2eL403KKPwuasRfX7JtrbKvQY94w-aOkAmVb1l1ndOn22CckRKuCMKIKeHttj-UkTehxysDDH2tKu1-VSzPV/s1600/2014-02-10+13.04.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_Lc9NF7Df-7cNP9Y8BkKtuLKgQ89WB6HZ9w3mj2DtyiI0PDR4b670EXs2eL403KKPwuasRfX7JtrbKvQY94w-aOkAmVb1l1ndOn22CckRKuCMKIKeHttj-UkTehxysDDH2tKu1-VSzPV/s1600/2014-02-10+13.04.03.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black;">Stopped at this sweet café in Montreal on our way home and I had this delicious coffee thing. Usually I hate coffee.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black; color: white;">From a racing perspective, the following three days of racing were okay. One thing I’ve had a bit of trouble with, both this year and last, is keeping my momentum going right through the season. I seem to run into a period mid-winter when I’m not feeling super-motivated and I have relatively uninspired races. </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The first two races of the weekend kinda reflected this but on Sunday, in the skate sprint, I managed to turn things around a bit and was feeling really solid physically. Unfortunately I got tripped up with another skier in the semi-final and, although I managed to catch back up to the pack, I didn’t have quite enough energy to finish in the top two and move on to the final. Oh well.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Monday morning we left Craftsbury bright and early and spent the day making our way back across the continent to Canmore.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-51582020385354382122014-03-04T17:50:00.001-08:002014-03-04T17:50:12.794-08:003 stories from 3 race weekends: 1st story<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I spent three weeks from late-January to mid-February on the road, traveling around to races. Here is a story for each of those weeks.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Following a couple weeks of down time in Canmore after trials, I booked an early plane ticket back out East to spend some time with my family before competing in the Eastern Canadian champs (which conveniently takes place at Nakkertok, my home club!).</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Like most time spent visiting family and friends, my time at home sped by a lot faster than time usually does. In a flash, I’d met up with friends, played with my little siblings and completed my pre-race day routines (not necessarily in that order). I raced a skate sprint, a 15k skate and a 20k classic mass start--before I knew it the races were over and I was cooling down in a state of semi-unconsciousness after the 20k.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">As I headed out for a final loop before returning to the Nakkertok “ski barn”, I noticed the Open Women sprinting out of the start echelon, starting their 15k mass start. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">It is a goal of mine to never use age as a reason for not doing something, so “I’ve grown out of...” is not usually a phrase one would here me say, but it seems like in these last couple years I’ve grown out of sticking around race sites to cheer on others once my own race is finished. As I get more and more serious about racing I become more focused on my own event so that getting to the race site, doing what I need to do and then returning to the hotel to recover has kinda become the norm. Cross country skiing is an individual sport--but it is also a team sport. And to appreciate the awesome atmosphere of a race weekend properly, you can’t forget the team aspect of ski racing. Being back at my home trails, surrounded by ski friends, the race weekend atmosphere got to me and I decided to do a bit of an extended cool down so as to cheer on the open women’s races.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">For those of you unfamiliar with Nakkertok’s trail system, the race course weaves its way up and down an escarpment to get in the required amount of vertical--so, I made my way up to the top and skied back and forth, taking shortcuts at the top of the escarpment so that I could cheer on the girls every time they looped back up to the top of the ridge. The final 30min of my “cool down” went something like this:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“COME ON!!! UP UP UP!! THIS IS IT! 20 MORE METERS AND YOUR AT THE TOP!!!” ...short cut to the top of the next hill... GO GO GO!!! THIS IS WHERE YOU GOTTA HURT!! THERE’S ANOTHER PACK AHEAD OF YOU!! YOU CAN CATCH THEM!!” ...short cut to the top of the next hill and repeat.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a text book recovery ski, but in a funny way cheering people on makes me more motivated--and I know that I’ll race even faster next time because of it. As a bonus, I had about half of the top 10 open women skiers come and thank me for cheering them on!! Twenty years down the line I may not remember what place I finished at Easterns 2014 (that’s what Zone4’s for, right?), but I am gonna remember cheering on my friends, like a maniac, during my cool down!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIo-vjei30JQyiQ_5Vx0KVY23nHc0WIttEGC8Y0iph4sQic5bi2llnIuZIO38QWIAou_X8FhJ6IAItBWW0Ejcz0H4CyFn46noF9YSQMm0TGoOmSrcSUnTXj95Ld_YncKI_6MS1Hc84t66/s1600/1556252_699542140067230_1584978061_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIo-vjei30JQyiQ_5Vx0KVY23nHc0WIttEGC8Y0iph4sQic5bi2llnIuZIO38QWIAou_X8FhJ6IAItBWW0Ejcz0H4CyFn46noF9YSQMm0TGoOmSrcSUnTXj95Ld_YncKI_6MS1Hc84t66/s1600/1556252_699542140067230_1584978061_o.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Two sweet photos of me from the Easterns sprint, courtesy of my bro</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDNO6OYPxzqW3RAi9DT7vHz_AoN7zvHzCVIJJlHgVC57cISgGHkWoFisK0Z45pBMbaW-aGJNS8NiWtSnQwox5Xl7jh6G0qKPBjEB3czFmQtMGS_b6iCgViBDGHhyFrItbar49aKbxTNiH/s1600/1064505_699542196733891_1392945974_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDNO6OYPxzqW3RAi9DT7vHz_AoN7zvHzCVIJJlHgVC57cISgGHkWoFisK0Z45pBMbaW-aGJNS8NiWtSnQwox5Xl7jh6G0qKPBjEB3czFmQtMGS_b6iCgViBDGHhyFrItbar49aKbxTNiH/s1600/1064505_699542196733891_1392945974_o.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black;">Sprinting to the finish in the semi-final</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Check back later this week for the second story!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-61680911013228148062014-01-16T18:08:00.002-08:002014-01-16T18:20:06.880-08:00U23 Trials<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The last couple weeks have been taken up by all sorts of excitement surrounding the World Under-23 Champs trials races and, of course, the races themselves. Instead of posting up an Adventures in Wonderland Part 2 like I said I would, I'm gonna put that on hold for a bit and give a you some insight into the roller coaster of emotions that trials 2014 was for me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With Canada's top U23 and junior skiers vying for spots on one team or another, the trials races are as important--if not more important--than the Canadian national championship races later in the season. Add to this the fact that this year the U23 trials races are also the Sochi Olympic trials races, and you get every high-level xc skier in Canada peaking for the mid-January race weekend.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">My big goal for this season was to qualify for world U23 champs, so at the end of December, with two weeks to go before the big competition, I made it my mission to do everything I could be to be ready for the U23 trials races. I napped everyday, I aimed for over 10 hours of sleep each night, I stretched and foam rolled, I did some hard intensity and I went over and over the races, visualizing technique and tactics in my mind. On January 8th, the night before the first race, I went to bed feeling calm. I had prepared more thoroughly than ever before for these races. I told myself: "tomorrow I am going to have the best race of my life."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Now, at the end of this story there is good, and there is bad. In similar situations, I always ask for the bad first, so, here it is...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b>The bad:</b> I didn't make the world U23 Champs team. It sucks. When you train for 9months with a specific goal in your sights and then you don't achieve that goal it's pretty hard to take. The things is, if you are setting high goals for yourself chances are you aren't gonna achieve all of them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">One of my endeavours as an athlete is to also be a stoic. Through the good and the bad I try to be philosophical: to not be afraid to fail, to not get hung-up on my victories and to learn what I can from both failures and victories and then leave them behind me. This is hard for me to do sometimes because I have a bit of a roller coaster personality--my highs are soaring and my lows are crushing. Even when I know what I have to do and how I have to behave, it's hard to get back up and keep going.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Well, it's taken me a couple days and a lot of iPod time, but I've finally come to terms with the this failure and I'm looking ahead again instead of behind. As I friend of mine wrote in her </span><a href="http://estewart-jones.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">blog</span></a><span style="color: white;">, you gotta always look for the positives--and what's the positive I can take away from this? Getting knocked down makes me motivated. In each race for the rest of the year I will be racing angry, and for the whole 2014 off-season I will be training with more determination than ever before. 2015 World U23s? Watch out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b>The good:</b> Now that I'm on the topic of positives, I really did achieve a lot in the last week of racing. In fact, what I told myself on the evening of the 8th came true. I had my best ever result--placing 9th, 2nd U23, in the classic 15km on January 9th (ha, cool, I only just realized the result and the date are the same)--and then I stepped it up again in my next race, a skate sprint race on the 11th. Here's how it went down...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I am very confident in my skate sprint qualifiers. I knew what I had to do the morning of the 11th, I raced relaxed and I qualified in 10th place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The heats were the tricky part. In the two sprint races I had already done this season I had made some serious tactical errors in the heats. With sprint races in Canmore being almost always decided at the finish (because of a long downhill near the end that, through drafting, tends to close any gaps in the field) so I knew that the sprints here were going to be especially tactical--I'd have to ski smart. I planned to ski relaxed and easy, conserve energy and, unless I thought I could get a big enough lead on the last hill, save it for the finish.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The first heat went perfectly. I skied in the pack until the last downhill, drafted my way to near the front and went on to the semi finals without any trouble. In the semi final I used pretty much the same tactics for the first part of the race, but then ended up near the front on the last uphill before the big downhill at the end. Cresting the uphill, me and my teammate Phil were right at the front of the pack and nobody wanted to lead and get drafted on the downhill. The pace slowed... and then Phil put in a hard sprint over the top of the hill! I jumped in behind him and we opened a small gap between us and the rest of the field. The two of us managed to keep the gap right down the finish straight, and so I went on to my first ever A-final in the senior age category!! I was psyched. In the A-final I finished 5th, 3rd place U23, gaining my first ever NORAM podium! I think I looked like a bit of an idiot at the podium: most excited guy to finish 5th ever.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCR1bXasCsO5AdVDNL7vSIXd6yupo17k7OOOuC6JOEquJg6-7nWrgwOy5ptppxEqiXaLwARttY2PKTzlnMby-HjbXnrmLfMeKC4aZDpEkMKkb-4ucHYE4HtJw1gvSo0Sbyvtykl5qVWRsx/s1600/2014-01-11+14.07.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCR1bXasCsO5AdVDNL7vSIXd6yupo17k7OOOuC6JOEquJg6-7nWrgwOy5ptppxEqiXaLwARttY2PKTzlnMby-HjbXnrmLfMeKC4aZDpEkMKkb-4ucHYE4HtJw1gvSo0Sbyvtykl5qVWRsx/s1600/2014-01-11+14.07.37.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">I'm in the yellow hat on the far right! Yay for 5th! Cool fact: this entire podium is Alberta World Cup Academy athletes.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Finally, on Sunday it was the 30km skiathlon (where you switch from classic to skate skis halfway through). With two solid first races I was easily in contention for qualifying for U23s before this race, but I just couldn't stay with the lead group. I had my worst result of the weekend and ended up just missing the qualifying spot. Oh well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Check out </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4.ca</span></a><span style="color: white;"> and search "NORAM" for full results from the weekend.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">All disappointment aside, it was a bit of a break-through race weekend for me, finishing not only top 10, but top 5 for the first times ever. Most importantly, I learned a lot and I'm very much looking forward to my next race weekend--Eastern Canadian Championships--back home in Cantley Quebec. Maybe I'll see you there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-82086176988534358842014-01-04T16:07:00.000-08:002014-01-04T16:07:04.978-08:00Adventures in Wonderland<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This is part one of a two part blog on the interesting ski-events that I’ve taken part in during the last month. Part 1 is about the early season NORAM races and part 2 (which I’ll release later this week) is about my first Christmas of adventures away from my Ottawa home. Look for more pictures in part 2... I'm not very good at taking photos on race weekends. Enjoy!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdS-kNVgi3wejJqBbZke8eOXh1TIIncccbmG-OvyobDMz_240kZ6MTBVe_MBwYaKbm7o1WIDelmZx5fscYazsx0KWAWDQqzq9qk3NNdCD2P0IinUOPGTsZEv_XQQIZTRfBRQpl4S41Vum/s1600/2013-12-06+12.26.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdS-kNVgi3wejJqBbZke8eOXh1TIIncccbmG-OvyobDMz_240kZ6MTBVe_MBwYaKbm7o1WIDelmZx5fscYazsx0KWAWDQqzq9qk3NNdCD2P0IinUOPGTsZEv_XQQIZTRfBRQpl4S41Vum/s640/2013-12-06+12.26.18.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Silverstar is so nice</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">SilverStar</span></b></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">At the end of November 2013 we (the Alberta World Cup Academy) departed for Silverstar. I was pretty excited about the trip because it was going to be my first race trip with the Academy and because, after racing in Silverstar last season, I had kinda fallen in love with the place. For those of you unfamiliar with Silverstar, it pretty much defines “winter wonderland”. The cool thing about it is that it combines a very picturesque little mountain village, alpine skiing, cross country skiing and a crazy amount of early-season snowfall into one little location. The fact that the race venue (Sovereign Lake Nordic) has held World Cup races kinda speaks for itself.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After our first few days of skiing it became apparent that it was gonna be brutally cold during the upcoming races. The lowest temperature that you’re allowed to hold a ski race in is around -20 Celsius (you can damage your lungs if you race in much colder weather than this) and the highs for the weekend were hovering right around -20.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Waking up the morning of the first race--a 15km skate interval start--we still weren’t sure if the race was gonna go ahead. Finally, after delaying the race until closer to midday, the officials gave the nod. I was in the Lord of The Rings fan club condo (we listened to the Hobbit sound track, like, all week) so some choice motivational LOTR quotes were spoken and then it was off to the races!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Unfortunately, after the beep, beep, BEEP of the race clock signaling my start, the motivational quotes were quickly forgotten. A consequence of racing at -20 is that the snow is BRUTALLY slow. I actually looked down at my ski midway through the race because I thought something was wrong with it, the glide was so bad.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The race culminated with my teammate, Patrick, catching up to me with about 2.5km to go and the two of us having a pretty sweet sprint for the finish. After the race we learned that there were places on course where it was well below minus 20... I was thankful I had worn mittens.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The next day was a classic sprint. Again cold weather interfered and again the race wend ahead after a delay. The classic sprint was even more disappointing for me than the skate 15k. I made it through the qualifier just fine, but got tripped up and crashed right at the start of my quarter final and, thus, didn’t go through to the semi’s. On top of this, I broke a brand-new pole in the crash!!! Not my best day.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL95N9d4Asxgknl1_30jcZivHvn6vzKpi3r1YCJ8dfwzidbGCVQkSzdt09O24Lyvyd5QC_9UTE2-PKO3s_94UWAkFT3oyTzVZ8nUVcwWVoiW1lB7XK-fOFGvnYQj4Td_8Rr1v5fyhOtoek/s1600/2013-12-06+12.26.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL95N9d4Asxgknl1_30jcZivHvn6vzKpi3r1YCJ8dfwzidbGCVQkSzdt09O24Lyvyd5QC_9UTE2-PKO3s_94UWAkFT3oyTzVZ8nUVcwWVoiW1lB7XK-fOFGvnYQj4Td_8Rr1v5fyhOtoek/s640/2013-12-06+12.26.41.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Our Condo in Silverstar</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I had felt pretty stressed (for a number of reasons unrelated to skiing) and fatigued leading up to the Silverstar races and I think these things led to me not racing my best. Thankfully, after a gorgeous day of skiing the recreational trails on Silverstar mountain, we moved on to NORAM #2 in Rossland BC; another two opportunities for me to put down some solid early season races.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Rossland</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This was my first time in Rossland and the first thing that struck me on arrival was the grocery store. My maple syrup container AND my Olive Oil container had some how both exploded on the drive over, ruining some of the food I’d packed from Silverstar and leaving me none-to-pleased. But, when I arrived at the Rossland grocery store to replace my ruined food, my disappointment turned to wide-eyed excitement: the store here had way more selection than Canmore and it was cheaper!! It was a wondrous store to behold.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Just like in Silverstar we arrived in Rossland on Tuesday evening, so we had 3 days to ski the trails in preparation for our races. Our races in Rossland were opposites (technique-wise) of Silverstar--a skate sprint on Saturday and a 15k interval start classic on Sunday. The 5km loop that we would be using for our 15k was brand new and it looked to be one of the toughest NORAM race courses yet, with almost 200m vertical of climbing each lap. The skate course was slightly more boring with respect to its hilly-ness, guaranteeing some very tactical sprint heats. As the weekend came round I felt ready. I had prepared better in the week leading up to it; I felt more energetic than in Silverstar.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">On Saturday morning I made it through the qualifier as expected. Going into the quarter final my goal was to go off super-hard at the start so as not to get tangled up and crash like at Silverstar--and I achieved this goal perfectly! I went to the start right away and led for the first 3rd of the race. Unfortunately, I think I ended up wasting a bit too much energy at the start because I died a bit at the end and didn’t make it through to the semi finals. All the same, I learned a lot more in this sprint than at Silverstar so I felt a lot better about it.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOXqi710jEGzbRDBRY6kW8dsaWJeHcRw3fLQn04_NVrUOgV0fz8tQQS2y2dZl9CrH4NxU5Am5iesHPHnCoeZIzUfJytKeX8kFwX4vKB5PEO-H8hVAeq1Yj-I2l8CtfTacyuCnUJeqh9Qr/s1600/2013-12-11+14.06.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOXqi710jEGzbRDBRY6kW8dsaWJeHcRw3fLQn04_NVrUOgV0fz8tQQS2y2dZl9CrH4NxU5Am5iesHPHnCoeZIzUfJytKeX8kFwX4vKB5PEO-H8hVAeq1Yj-I2l8CtfTacyuCnUJeqh9Qr/s400/2013-12-11+14.06.14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">I've been keeping a journal lately, so I thought this "how-to" book on the subject (which happened to be the only book in our condo in Rossland) was pretty awesome.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Sunday dawned bright and early. In preparation for a good hard 15k we listened to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCx5Std7mCo"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Harder Than You Think</span></a><span style="color: white;">, on the drive to the race site. If you’re ever looking for a solid pump-up song for workouts or exams or any performance situation, this one is it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With most of the climbing on course being in the form of a couple REALLY steep hills, I knew that I had to have bomber grip on my skis for this race, so I went back twice, after wax testing, to get more wax put on and <i>just</i> made it to the start on time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I was happy right away with my choice of tons of grip wax, but it turned out that the first hill out of the stadium was iced over whereas out on the big hills on course the snow was softer. When I hit the top of the first big hill out on course I almost fell flat on my face; snow had built up in my kick zone as a bounded up the hill and it stopped me in my tracks. “No!!” I thought, “I’m going to be walking down the hills for the next 12km!!” But after 10 meters or so of fast striding to scrape off the snow my skis were gliding again. I would’ve breathed a sigh of relief if I had enough breath.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As the race went on I continued having to “fast-stride” the snow off my skis at the top of each hill to prevent myself from having a nice face-first in the snow experience, but I looked at the positive side of things: the snow build up on my skis allowed me to pretty much run up all the steep grades on the course. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After about 45min of suffering out on the race course, I crossed the finish line to one of my best NORAM results ever! I really felt my new higher level of fitness in this race, but I kinda under-estimated it. Looking at the lap times afterwards my 3rd lap was over 30 seconds faster than either of the laps before it!! I gotta trust myself to be able to push harder right of the start line.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Almost directly after the race we left town (goodbye amazing grocery store.... *tears*), and drove back to Canmore through an exciting snow storm. So ended my 2013/14 season of early racing... but the ski season has only just begun!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For results from the two weekends of racing check out </span><a href="http://zone4.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4.ca</span></a><span style="color: white;"> (search: "NORAM"), and for a couple articles from the two weeks from a more team based perspective, check out my </span><a href="http://albertaworldcup.com/main.php"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Team’s Website</span></a><span style="color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-76996277191388770632013-11-25T16:02:00.000-08:002013-11-25T16:02:15.340-08:00The Apocalypse is Nigh<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">What do haircuts, untimely snowstorms, the coming of new equipment and time trials have in common? If you know me well you'd probably say: "they are events that you have experienced in the past couple weeks!!!" And you'd be right--but that's beyond the point. What each of these five events have in common is that they are all a sign of the IMMINENCE OF THE APOCALYPSE. Yes, you heard me right. Doubtful? Let me present my arguments.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">What drives an individual to get their haircut? Is it the annoyance of having to brush hair out of the way whenever they want a clear view of objects in their sightline? Is it because their hairstyle is starting to look reminiscent of that of some obscure rock group from the late '70s--and the individual happens to not be a fan of rock 'n roll from that era? Is it the simple fact that it pushes their headband higher on their head whenever they want to keep their ears warm?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In reality, the reason for haircuts is SOCIAL CONFORMITY. In turn, social conformity signals a development of a less culturally diverse population, a loss of individuality and, the beginning of humanity's eventual evolution into zombies.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">We all know that zombies are part and parcel with the apocalypse.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5FN_ryBI6MufQq1p41hmS5tppo_YpTvM6eTmeyXob_s2dgBE3Ie7aF0p9FwEnCI12wIgNoMonIQFN8huBva1jeIu-RxjNquS9UCNUGQZAWXj4v-jJVKE9CGbjce-rXw7MTRFneN3qMo0/s1600/2013-11-19+11.09.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5FN_ryBI6MufQq1p41hmS5tppo_YpTvM6eTmeyXob_s2dgBE3Ie7aF0p9FwEnCI12wIgNoMonIQFN8huBva1jeIu-RxjNquS9UCNUGQZAWXj4v-jJVKE9CGbjce-rXw7MTRFneN3qMo0/s640/2013-11-19+11.09.59.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I've been running back and forth between home and the Nordic Centre since I don't have a car. The day of the big snowfall it was around -20 C, so I dressed accordingly for my morning commute (and blasted Billy Talent as per usual).</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This being my first year in Canmore, I was pleasantly surprised when, contrary to the suggestions of historical meteorological data, we got quite the early-season dump of snow two weekends ago. But, my pleasant-surprisedness quickly turned to dismay when I realized what this early snowfall really symbolized: AN EARLY-SEASON APOCALYPSE. Unseasonal weather phenomena are a sign of climate change and climate change will destabilize the biological systems of us humans, making us more susceptible to the virus that will turn us all into zombies. Zombies signal the apocalypse (see above).</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGS5BZjcMCzCd54oUAdHGAziFOrxY_8Zgl6VUGJ1Iijgb83SMk8jPleC65040H3ywOPqaKcRdgovIJYseXM6NXpc_Sm9kz6i2YhDHH3YTYgAFfBU1TuhQLKBZd8To7IrdXDi92F6q86ea/s1600/2013-11-19+11.04.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGS5BZjcMCzCd54oUAdHGAziFOrxY_8Zgl6VUGJ1Iijgb83SMk8jPleC65040H3ywOPqaKcRdgovIJYseXM6NXpc_Sm9kz6i2YhDHH3YTYgAFfBU1TuhQLKBZd8To7IrdXDi92F6q86ea/s640/2013-11-19+11.04.17.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Pretty sweet early season snowfall!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">New equipment is required for all those who hope to have a chance of surviving the zombies. Thanks to Swix and Salomon for increasing my chances of survival!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Last week I participated in a time trial with my Alberta World Cup Academy teammates. The cool thing about it was that we went off in two mass start waves, with the U23s (myself included) being chased by the older senior athletes, rather than the usual interval start TT format. It was a really good opportunity to work on skiing in a group and practice my mass start tactics and, afterwards, I felt pretty good about the whole experience (if a bit tired). </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Unfortunately, shortly afterwards I realized that maybe this time trial was just our coaches preparing us to outrun zombies. Although I haven't inquired to this end, I expect our coaches have heard news of an incoming zombie epidemic and are training us so that we will outrun the zombies more effectively than the athletes at the other training centres, thus securing our spots for World U23 Championships (you can't race if you're already a zombie, duh). Note that I am <i>not</i> suggesting any similarities between our senior athletes and zombies.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thus, each of these events is a sign of the imminence of zombies, which, of course, are a sign of the apocalypse. I rest my case....</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">...although, I suppose these events could also be a sign that race season starts in 5 days.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Race fast and Dream Big, People!!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-37474845275072244722013-11-11T20:20:00.004-08:002013-11-11T20:24:04.483-08:00Race Philosophy and Lake Louise<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Race season is so close now I can taste it!!! Or, maybe it's just the snow I'm catching on my tongue. Either way, it tastes good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With Winter and ski racing being first and foremost on my mind today (....and.... actually, pretty much everyday), this blog post has two elements--which are kinda given away in the title. If you need colourful visual stimulus to keep you reading stuff, first, good luck with life; second, skip down to the Lake Louise Section of the blog and enjoy.</span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Race Philosophy</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A friend of mine was asking me for ski racing/training tips the other day and one of the tips I came up with for her was about the mindset I carry into a race. These three tips are pretty universal to life, so if you don't ski race feel free to slot in words pertaining to whatever thing you are currently pursuing, whenever I mention ski racing, and then go out there and keep pursuing it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1) Today is unique. You will have no other opportunity in your life to race on the given race course, under the given set of conditions, with the given group of competitors. Make the most of the opportunity!!! Go out there, race the best you can and take advantage of and enjoy the situation on the day!
2) Don't be afraid of failure (I know this one is a bit cliché--but I had to add it</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">). Sometimes you learn more from a failed experience than a successful one. See your mistakes as opportunities to learn! Which brings me to the last, and possibly most important race-philosophy tip....</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3) Ski racing is an ongoing learning experience. That's one of the things that makes it so rewarding! Each race experience that you have (and when I say "race experience" I mean time trials too) is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and to learn about what works and what doesn't work for you to help you perform the best you can. See every race as the fun learning experience that it is and try to take a few things, that will help you be faster in the next race, away from each race that you do. If you can learn something from every race then every race--even the bad ones--will have an element of success in it.
To help facilitate this, I keep a race journal. The night before each race I write important things (like start time, warm up routine, goals for the race, etc) in my journal and afterwards I write a review of the race in it. In the review I like to include things that went well, things that I can improve and any other points of interest that I'd like to remember. </span></div>
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<b style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">Lake Louise</b></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">In my experience, there are few things better than training camps. Of the few things that are better, both "race trips" and "last minute training camps" make the list. So you can imagine my excitement when it was announced, in a very last minute-fashion, that we were to have a training camp this weekend in Lake Louise! Although that excitement quickly changed to stress when I remembered that I had to write a midterm on the Saturday of the camp, the stress has now faded away into the past with the help of the calming effect that both fresh snow and finished midterms have on me. Thankfully, with L.L. o</span><span style="background-color: black;">nly an hour drive from Canmore, I was able to get a ride up to our first on-snow camp of the year when my midterm was done (thanks Val!).</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFAwEuZmkUZEbqJoFXozJf-ZZP5kV7jXhv29sXFWpVXMtY3NeyqlWFzUU_FLFNCpyxqkOZz64wvKdX7uQnvij3tJSNUf6fO4R029qEDa0g9bh4hJ-r71u6Yg1r3eQZT0IeqXu3a8QiqxG/s1600/P1030217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFAwEuZmkUZEbqJoFXozJf-ZZP5kV7jXhv29sXFWpVXMtY3NeyqlWFzUU_FLFNCpyxqkOZz64wvKdX7uQnvij3tJSNUf6fO4R029qEDa0g9bh4hJ-r71u6Yg1r3eQZT0IeqXu3a8QiqxG/s640/P1030217.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">Alex and I at the top of Moraine Lake Rd. Thanks to Lars for taking the pictures featured in my blog today!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"> </span><span style="line-height: 18.88888931274414px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Although Lake Louise doesn't bump out Silverstar as my top "paradise on earth" ski location, it is really,</span><span style="background-color: black;"> really nice for early on-snow sessions--especially considering that there was only about 15-20cm of</span><span style="background-color: black;"> snow on the ground for the duration of the camp.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_ztgK0IkzirBwPphUDWLvowv24RJ_OQg1sAjM7ZzSTmDxxnhMHF4SkFaes1_288NAfNPftUewbgqr-59p36kYT0boc0Tc8F1JjPYxTDbUbPumc5Pu0mjUVY38RxsbWaNEUrthe9zU-O6/s1600/P1030222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_ztgK0IkzirBwPphUDWLvowv24RJ_OQg1sAjM7ZzSTmDxxnhMHF4SkFaes1_288NAfNPftUewbgqr-59p36kYT0boc0Tc8F1JjPYxTDbUbPumc5Pu0mjUVY38RxsbWaNEUrthe9zU-O6/s640/P1030222.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">Looking up at what I believe is Mount Temple, the tallest peak in the region.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">I got a some good workouts in over the course of the 3 days I was there for. For me, there were two really cool stand-outs from the camp. First, there's the fact that the trail we were skiing up--Moraine Lake Road in the summer </span><span style="color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">(fun fact: Moraine Lake was featured on the 1969-70 Canadian $20 bill)</span></span><span style="color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;"><span style="background-color: black;">--is primaril</span><span style="background-color: black;">y made up of a pretty continuous, almost hour-long climb. Of this hour of climbing a large part is a perfect classic striding grade! Made for some nice zone1. Second, this morning we got to do a really fun/hard skate skiing-speed interval set. One of the harder on-snow interval sets that we've had this year--and it went well! Only thing was that the trail was SUPER busy; it made for some interesting mid-interval dodging of other skiers. I actually don't think I've ever seen as many skiers on one trail, in Canada, as there were on Moraine Lake Road every day of the camp. I decided to attribute this to the fact that xc-skiing is growing, as a sport, in North America. Live with it.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I think the only regret I have from the camp is that I didn't make a snow angel in the powder at the top of Moraine Lake Road! Next time...</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Dream Big, people!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVyD9AStuxm3SQuY-nHI-z7T0ppufAFgsSc05EaZU0KScGn0__4edl6SKmWqAMT7KCH4o2kAH1LIn2KnTEBNLJltZL5aZNr1wtVNc-_wrPN8opPD_5U2Zios-vnhhwTvfRXnnzL4GNbMY/s1600/P1030228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVyD9AStuxm3SQuY-nHI-z7T0ppufAFgsSc05EaZU0KScGn0__4edl6SKmWqAMT7KCH4o2kAH1LIn2KnTEBNLJltZL5aZNr1wtVNc-_wrPN8opPD_5U2Zios-vnhhwTvfRXnnzL4GNbMY/s640/P1030228.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">Nice two skating... gotta get more knee bend.</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-34166012612818453862013-10-27T15:18:00.001-07:002013-10-28T10:49:53.846-07:00Frozen Thunder-struck<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">To the excitement of skiers all across North America, Frozen Thunder was spread out the weekend of the 19th in Canmore! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbfdduBokNf2KRUz2kS8h-8DVvsUPj-qkW7YpvI1TKzh6wWnfzSaQm_WWqyr6P3ljC_kKNPx5tvQQ2h_PrVXnvMe_2xTNchd6HKfE2j1ZAdMgNyDSdEjvhhH5nLvdL87-elHin3IO8UAx/s1600/2013-10-21+08.33.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbfdduBokNf2KRUz2kS8h-8DVvsUPj-qkW7YpvI1TKzh6wWnfzSaQm_WWqyr6P3ljC_kKNPx5tvQQ2h_PrVXnvMe_2xTNchd6HKfE2j1ZAdMgNyDSdEjvhhH5nLvdL87-elHin3IO8UAx/s640/2013-10-21+08.33.30.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Frozen Thunder sunrise.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For those of you unfamiliar with it, Frozen Thunder is the name given for the 2+ km ribbon of snow which is spread out mid-October at the Nordic Centre. The snow for the loop is stored under wood chips all summer long only to be revived from its dormant state mid-October--with the help of dump trucks, piston-bullies and an excavator. The really cool thing about it is that, being one of the first early-season opportunities to get on snow in North America, Frozen Thunder has become more than just a short loop of ski trail--it's an event. Top skiers from all over North America flock to Canmore to ski on the loop and, with the help of the annual Frozen Thunder sprint race, an air of festivity has developed around this little bit of groomed snow!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pyp_8LR3E2q8hfF3sEpNubFDTwx46lFR0CteqbpFvw7YW3_yI_dpUkvRGx8Gl_CKtpl8zr6suPak_UALRTmbDcBR5QDApM0PSUxUC2Aukg2Bi9GVk5FHGGq59FsAru1vxRCZmffPMZJp/s1600/2013-10-21+08.29.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pyp_8LR3E2q8hfF3sEpNubFDTwx46lFR0CteqbpFvw7YW3_yI_dpUkvRGx8Gl_CKtpl8zr6suPak_UALRTmbDcBR5QDApM0PSUxUC2Aukg2Bi9GVk5FHGGq59FsAru1vxRCZmffPMZJp/s640/2013-10-21+08.29.06.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Best time to hit-up Frozen Thunder is early in the morning (as pictured). Around 9am it gets super-busy.</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXAqi5JCA2UHG9hyEfKX1yR9FzMMOBH54YYOlOhHoqu5j5dg6Ajn18ZFThywmAauVVdz0Xn-N41tsxXUtSCpp2lroFKljA-ZNYnMF5E5H-q03-QmCh1mONuPCqYuavjSnhIjJPTyrNgEs/s1600/2013-10-21+08.29.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXAqi5JCA2UHG9hyEfKX1yR9FzMMOBH54YYOlOhHoqu5j5dg6Ajn18ZFThywmAauVVdz0Xn-N41tsxXUtSCpp2lroFKljA-ZNYnMF5E5H-q03-QmCh1mONuPCqYuavjSnhIjJPTyrNgEs/s640/2013-10-21+08.29.43.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">My Salomon and Swix gear making the transition from rollerskiing to on-snow with me!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Unfortunately for me I decided to practice my wheelies on a short mountain bike ride the day before Frozen Thunder opened--a decision which affected this last week in a number of ways for me...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">First, it led to me lying on my back on one of the Nordic Centre's trails, contemplating the sky with a very sore lower-back and hip. Second, it induced a flurried activity of Physio visits. Next, it caused me to miss the first day of Frozen Thunder and to spend the next couple days focusing on double polling. In the middle of all this I decided to not put up a blog post last week because I was feeling kinda bummed about the whole situation (sorry!). Finally, I ended up skipping the Frozen Thunder sprint day last Thursday because I didn't want to push my hip to hard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">No matter how many times I am bothered by a nagging cold or pulled muscle, missing training on account of an injury or illness doesn't get any less disappointing. That being said, there are certain things that are really important to keep in mind during a bought of unhealthiness, to keep things in perspective. Here are my top three pieces of advice:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) I know it's ridiculously cliché, but there is a positive in pretty much everything. Even when you can't practice your sport physically, there are still many other things you can do to improve as an athlete. Search for the positive in the situation and see involuntary down-time as an opportunity to improve another side of your athletic performance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Never loose sight of your longterm goals, especially when you're working through an injury. The thing is, even if you miss weeks or months of training, it's not going to affect where you want to be in your sport a few years down the line. This is pretty empowering knowledge when you aren't well (and another great reason why you need to have longterm goals!).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) The mind is extraordinarily powerful. If you can stay in a good place mentally throughout a time of injury or sickness, chances are you are going to heal much faster. The faster you can mentally overcome the disappointment of missed training the faster you will heal physically.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAJBN5U-kBdGXFNKIQxsDbcM4aQ0xqWc5Y1zbzYBXCflysByOrK0-qTEDXAHJmo1KJoDuO0wKj9316ag8yXQHCxow0XQmDC3RbBju1CjYR3UqVgPKEZpVaxQBvt_U2PsUptcZuq7znLUY/s1600/2013-10-27+13.28.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAJBN5U-kBdGXFNKIQxsDbcM4aQ0xqWc5Y1zbzYBXCflysByOrK0-qTEDXAHJmo1KJoDuO0wKj9316ag8yXQHCxow0XQmDC3RbBju1CjYR3UqVgPKEZpVaxQBvt_U2PsUptcZuq7znLUY/s640/2013-10-27+13.28.55.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">As I write this it is snowing. How nice :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Speaking of being healed, on Saturday I did classic skiing intervals on-snow on Frozen Thunder for the first time this Winter and my hip felt solid! With one month left until the first races of the season it's time to put the icing on the metaphorical cake.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Anyway, let them eat cake!!--I mean--Dream Big, People!!!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-17176084121164938072013-10-07T13:27:00.001-07:002013-10-07T13:27:54.857-07:00The Art of Focus<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">You carry your cell phone around with you 24/7 and are constantly checking and sending texts, trying to catch up with people elsewhere--even as you interact with those around you less and less. You’re studying for your exam and the neighbours are <i>still</i> playing their annoying pop music next door. Whatever, facebook says your friends are partying this evening. You can study for your exam as you wait to get into the exam room, right? You’re walking to the grocery store when you run into that person you haven’t seen in forever! Two hours later you’re done your thirty minute shopping trip and you’re late for that date you had. Uh oh.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Everyday we are bombarded by a myriad of distractions, causing us to be in a constant state of rushed multi-tasking that hinders us from accomplishing those things that matter most. This self-inflicted pressure to be everywhere at once really seems to have become a part of our society, and in some instances maybe having a scattered focus is necessary. But these “instances” are not universal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Focus, like most words, can mean different things in different contexts; when I use focus as a noun in this blog I <i>usually </i>mean the ability to forget all stimuli and all thoughts irrelevant to the task at hand. If the ultimate goal is the completion of the task to the best of the one’s abilities having a focus like this is absolutely vital.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvja7HrtiV4h1AXxHcaqTzKAuqTh8B-y840swk5AtGzM8TOygOT_Cj6__Ds8OzSlhN_H2SVNuqMFkXQO_WW-Rgq-V7oZCqdKB2mQL7qYFJI678qrUld_-RFU1N6QL7I-d0TFjw1oX-I0-/s1600/574677_513473948701367_877110495_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvja7HrtiV4h1AXxHcaqTzKAuqTh8B-y840swk5AtGzM8TOygOT_Cj6__Ds8OzSlhN_H2SVNuqMFkXQO_WW-Rgq-V7oZCqdKB2mQL7qYFJI678qrUld_-RFU1N6QL7I-d0TFjw1oX-I0-/s640/574677_513473948701367_877110495_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Wanna become less of a tourist?? Use focus!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Today I’ve put together some tips on focusing from the knowledge I’ve acquired ski racing and from reading </span><i style="background-color: black; color: white;">Pursuit of Excellence</i><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> (see below). Although a lot of my tips come from a ski racing perspective, the essence of them can be applied to many other areas of life. Remember, what works for me may not work for you; that’s what makes life so interesting.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Tips on training your focus:</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-- Read your way through <i>In Pursuit of Excellence</i> by Terry Orlick. It’s a great read and a great way to improve your focus and other mental aspects of performing one’s best.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-- Come up with your own “focus training routine”! What you wanna do is start out simple: make the commitment to take some time once a day or, if you’re kinda lazy, once a week, and practice focusing on different things:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1)You could practice by sitting with your eyes closed and, starting with your toes and ending with the top of your head or fingers, focus on what each part of your body is feeling at the given moment.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2)You could practice by visualizing yourself performing to the best of your abilities (this is like killing two birds with one stone ‘cause it builds your visualization skills too). I visualize myself skiing a section of familiar race course with the absolute best technique and pacing. If I wanna make it harder I imagine possible distractions and then practice overcoming them and returning to my best focus ASAP.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Practice using your focus to levitate your X-Wing out of the swamp.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Whatever you decide to do to train your focus, start with a practice time of no more than 10min. It’s really hard to maintain a top focus much longer without your mind starting to drift.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Practice focusing on particular objectives when at practice. It may not be a race situation but it’s the next best thing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Treat every time trial as if it was a race! Use these opportunities to learn about and practice your performance focus.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: white;">Performance focus:</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So you’re at your performance, you’ve trained your body and your mind and you think you’re ready to go. What can you do to make sure that you’re focus snaps into place when you need it? Well, for starters, you can start by asking yourself this question a bit earlier...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--In the day(s) leading up to your performance make sure to take the time to visualize yourself performing at your best in the environment where your race (or event) will take place. Come up with solid goals and come up with a way of making sure you stay motivated when you’re out there doing what you do. I like to come up with key phrases to tell myself when I feel my focus or motivation leaving me before or during my ski race. Ex: “Relax”, “Time to go!” “Today only happens once: make it count” “Choose to hurt”.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Race day: Find a way to get yourself in “the zone”, to “find your flow”, to be Zen. I do this by closing my eyes and listing to music, by going over my key phrases (see above) or by praying.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--At the start/during the race:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The most important thing to realize about focus is that FOCUS CAN NOT BE FORCED. Yep, deal with it. With this in mind, the most important thing you can realize at the start gate is that--and I’m assuming you’re passionate about what you do--you are out there for one reason and one reason alone: to revel in doing what you do to the best of your abilities. For me, I tell myself: “I am here for one reason only: to ski on this race course on this day as fast as I possibly can.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If you’re at the start line on race day and you are focused on end results or on consequences you are almost guarantied to not find your focus. Sorry.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Armed with a strong focus you will be like Aragorn in Lord of The Rings: “A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day!!!!”. With a strong focus you will continue to hold back “this day”.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream big, people!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">P.S. Next blog post will be a video blog! Stoked.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-89325367683145743232013-09-23T20:09:00.001-07:002013-09-23T20:22:14.255-07:00Snow!<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With the weather getting colder and the ski season seeming more and more imminent, around mid-week last week I finally decided to break the question to one of my teammates "So.... when do you start seeing snow on the mountains?" When he replied, "Probably not for another couple weeks. Usually around the end of September or start of October" I felt neutral; excited that it was close but disappointed that it was not "probably gonna start snowing tomorrow!!!! YEAH!!"</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So, when I woke up the following morning I was totally not expecting to see tasty looking powdered sugar all over the mountain tops!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Instead, the following morning looked somewhat like this...</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Got out of bed, checked my resting HR, ate a bunch of oatmeal, noted the low clouds, the rain pouring down outside and the sub 10 degree temperature, dressed appropriately but then checked Environment Canada to see if the radar would give any warning as to when this kinda fall-bleakness would let up--and that was when I saw it. In the comments about the day's weather it mentioned "snow line moving down from 2400m to 1800m (FYI: Canmore altitude is about 1300m and the surrounding mountains reach up to around 2k altitude I think)."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">It was at this point that my outlook on the day's workout changed. What would otherwise have been me feeling about as stoked as a kitty-cat facing the prospect of swimming the bering strait in January, now, was me feeling 100% as stoked as an amur tiger eagerly starting upon the trail of a new day's hunt. A SNOW HUNT.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And just like that a fairly bland, rainy workout turned into an exciting one. As the clouds cleared toward the end of my ski, I got a view up into the mountains from my vantage point at the Nordic Centre rollerski track. And there it was. Snow had sprinkled down majestically, coating the tops of all the mountains in divine white frosty goodness (yum... that description does sound tasty!)!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Taken today! There was more of it last week when it fell out of the sky</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Why so much excitement over snow way up high that I can't interact with at all? The snow is another reminder of just <i>how close</i> we are to being able to strap our boots onto regular skis and take of into the Winter wonderland. For athletes like me it is now a time to reflect and refocus. What have I done so far this year that's worked great? What hasn't been so good? What do I need to focus on for these last couple months so that when the snow flies I will be flying with it?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Interestingly enough, the story of my first (kinda) snow-day out west is a bit of a microcosm of my last couple weeks. Since getting back from my trip home I've been feeling a bit more tired than I would like, I hadn't got a chance to mountain bike for quite awhile and our Haig Glacier camp got canceled for the second and final time this year (the groomer broke the day before we were to head up). These facts added up to make a not super-stoked Zeke.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With the coming of new snow, the motivation of an awesome time trial I did last Saturday (a time trial that both Ivan Babikov AND Devon Kershaw were also taking part in!! What joy!), and some solid recovering, I am now feeling ready to take on the world--and of course these last couple months of training.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnGrZSQQoJtlHKkAzkhzypObB2CTA3lHzXB3nzEMK9hF9lFHiSyRjwE3GN0pLOLHOMJ6NXMMgQDW_ANnlVCr1YBc_n_XdG-SfPIKuCSEwPhndCbofnYzs4LaNUzRHbmNomLpa1IE36cNr/s1600/zeke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnGrZSQQoJtlHKkAzkhzypObB2CTA3lHzXB3nzEMK9hF9lFHiSyRjwE3GN0pLOLHOMJ6NXMMgQDW_ANnlVCr1YBc_n_XdG-SfPIKuCSEwPhndCbofnYzs4LaNUzRHbmNomLpa1IE36cNr/s1600/zeke.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Me! Offsetting my way up to 2200m elevation at the top of the Highwood Pass in K-country. This was during one of the 4+ hr workouts we did during our supposed-to-be-on-the-Glacier-camp. Thanks to </span><a href="http://sandau.ca/"><span style="color: white;">Kevin</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> for the shot.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Moral of the story? Sometimes life will rain on you. Find ways to turn that rain into snow and you will take your first strides out into that snow feeling better, and stronger, than ever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">P.S. Sorry about putting out my Monday blogs quite late in the day for the last number of days. The other thing that fall means is that now on Sunday afternoons I'm not like, "oh! Let's write a blog!" I'm like, "oh! Let's do psych. homework!" C'est la vie. I'll try to change this.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-70965873044166683322013-09-10T16:59:00.000-07:002013-09-10T17:00:33.635-07:00Home!<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I apologize about getting my blog post out a day later than usual; I have had a pretty hectic, but super-fun, last couple weeks. "Why hectic?", you say, "why super-fun?" Hectic because I traveled across the country and back, and organized (with the help of many) a running race fundraiser event! Fun for reasons similar to those stated above and because the destination of my travels was home!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkW3i3uKwQ4dgaoA-4LJmVAg_6j26hb531DsThNMDh6AizEVftn52wMjCOzrgBsxQTrlX8AcKJShTYhaMD79haWrQs599LKfVeEuLTALX_fcPWO2kzmsH78hh6NcUGKFn6KydN2F-mR_R/s1600/2013-08-30+13.34.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkW3i3uKwQ4dgaoA-4LJmVAg_6j26hb531DsThNMDh6AizEVftn52wMjCOzrgBsxQTrlX8AcKJShTYhaMD79haWrQs599LKfVeEuLTALX_fcPWO2kzmsH78hh6NcUGKFn6KydN2F-mR_R/s640/2013-08-30+13.34.24.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">One of the advantages of being back home: visiting my favourite </span><a href="http://www.freshairexp.com/ottawa/"><span style="color: white;">Bike/Ski shop</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Shortly after my blog post two weeks ago I jumped on a plane and flew back to the beautiful National Capital District to visit my friends and family! This trip was dominated by the set-up and execution the Nordic FUNd Run (see one of my previous blog posts). The goal of the FUNd run was to encourage younger Ski Racers in the Ottawa area, put on a fun event and raise money for myself and two other top Canadian U23 skiers as we work to afford the cost of training and racing year-round.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1yqCFDUXJVl9fuVOePBeZ0pE6OaZzr50ub1E99WmXl9kKpNMn8iPM8BMIj7s9oF54Br8FfO0eYuALT4XoE8GGt61oFo8ndB8KCH05-K9DM79wuXYHECmeLdWjUGSCyb_CNCXVhP8ZbOA/s1600/DSC02077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1yqCFDUXJVl9fuVOePBeZ0pE6OaZzr50ub1E99WmXl9kKpNMn8iPM8BMIj7s9oF54Br8FfO0eYuALT4XoE8GGt61oFo8ndB8KCH05-K9DM79wuXYHECmeLdWjUGSCyb_CNCXVhP8ZbOA/s640/DSC02077.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The start/finish area at the FUNd Run. Photo credits to George for these two pics!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIFYj-dBjTFbtk0Bq6oYam9icWWQizT7ERzbGgZJqTnS1tMIVSrqEHJHGx3EZvYkKD_reSGaKsKbOaSRzsSmM1F2b27_Y444Zt31SKzivU_wL-xLN8qeHoq8n9mYNw5ETJAEs3paFnyJV/s1600/IMG_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIFYj-dBjTFbtk0Bq6oYam9icWWQizT7ERzbGgZJqTnS1tMIVSrqEHJHGx3EZvYkKD_reSGaKsKbOaSRzsSmM1F2b27_Y444Zt31SKzivU_wL-xLN8qeHoq8n9mYNw5ETJAEs3paFnyJV/s640/IMG_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Huge thank you everyone who supported our event! Thanks especially to </span><a href="http://www.runottawa.ca/"><span style="color: white;">Ottawa Race Weekend</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">, for supplying equipment for the race and to </span><a href="http://campfortune.com/summer/welcome-summer/"><span style="color: white;">Camp Fortune</span> </a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">for donating the use of their venue!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Happily, the event went extraordinarily well! Huge thanks goes out to everyone--the volunteers, the sponsors and the competitors--who supported the event! Thanks so much guys!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Although a lot of my visit was spent planning/stressing for the FUNd run I still had some time to have some fun of my own, hanging out with my family! To list some of the highlights apart from the FUNd run...</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I played a game of <i>Dog Attack!</i> with my little siblings (the game was actually created by said little siblings) at the local park. The game involves one player being an vicious dog and the other players trying to get up, out of the dogs reach on the play-structures. It was wildly entertaining.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScryZIqGi4bw6Lxlb2GsGfo2f7bAhC9MJHtt719OSMcvr7cKuHn5xmDLSBeddWFPiIQLPkQZnF1DJCgOlbBhZLqlH9fPDcZ8lLU1pZtZTNeHxCBwzu1ygyo2-mfV0Q9yxYRzkBxC1KRDi/s1600/2013-09-05+15.47.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScryZIqGi4bw6Lxlb2GsGfo2f7bAhC9MJHtt719OSMcvr7cKuHn5xmDLSBeddWFPiIQLPkQZnF1DJCgOlbBhZLqlH9fPDcZ8lLU1pZtZTNeHxCBwzu1ygyo2-mfV0Q9yxYRzkBxC1KRDi/s640/2013-09-05+15.47.54.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">My brother, not playing Dog Attack, in front of the Nakkertok ski barn.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I watched a Billy Talent concert at the Bronson Centre in Ottawa! To sum it up, live concerts are amazing and Billy Talent is pretty much the best band ever.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvDTImHbdUHrnY6Zo0xvU5YklnpheqSVr9eYGej9bzOyLIdeHxVzfWI5A10zyeHiAIRhCXTnZxCHEXAmF4753coLubSflYNX483S6lBwT8Bov79-_iz57S5OQpJAUgpe2h993ddlbpZdA/s1600/2013-09-02+20.37.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvDTImHbdUHrnY6Zo0xvU5YklnpheqSVr9eYGej9bzOyLIdeHxVzfWI5A10zyeHiAIRhCXTnZxCHEXAmF4753coLubSflYNX483S6lBwT8Bov79-_iz57S5OQpJAUgpe2h993ddlbpZdA/s640/2013-09-02+20.37.07.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Just before BT came on! The excitement!!!!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I went to the Star Wars Identities exhibition at the Aviation museum! I'm not a die-hard Star Wars fan myself but I definitely appreciate the movies--and they had a Darth Vader costume that was worn in the first trilogy on display! It was pretty cool.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8IA89OcSrV6U1PTnwyRtZnH1cZ8PD7f8h3xJavOWFaN24jnzEWXHu5iymvUEZ4zda_ZborYl2ZwYq_01YGJVSiOzv_u2mwlY9VOwhehbuMGFM_5-vQGZbe-RkLGzzOKUkUGiAh1D-RJu/s1600/2013-09-06+10.56.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8IA89OcSrV6U1PTnwyRtZnH1cZ8PD7f8h3xJavOWFaN24jnzEWXHu5iymvUEZ4zda_ZborYl2ZwYq_01YGJVSiOzv_u2mwlY9VOwhehbuMGFM_5-vQGZbe-RkLGzzOKUkUGiAh1D-RJu/s640/2013-09-06+10.56.40.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The Star Wars exhibition was inside this rather intimidating looking building</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGv9MoYx7hnd41qeebOXiwsWLiw7LyyRRin-IFAdqHRWqZiQlXmHYXT8gofmdicVoOnDQYFE8UP5Rf7j7Gz7txdbE0u7mFr7qC8STGSE5vVyZ_rHwneLJNxqBoaCAmE1VDnamw2URHCdQZ/s1600/2013-09-06+12.43.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGv9MoYx7hnd41qeebOXiwsWLiw7LyyRRin-IFAdqHRWqZiQlXmHYXT8gofmdicVoOnDQYFE8UP5Rf7j7Gz7txdbE0u7mFr7qC8STGSE5vVyZ_rHwneLJNxqBoaCAmE1VDnamw2URHCdQZ/s640/2013-09-06+12.43.01.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"You shall not pass!!"--errrr--"Keyser Söze!!"--errr--"I am your father!!!" One of those quotes...</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Now that I am back in Canmore life is returning to its normal rhythm (i.e. eat, train, sleep--not necessarily in that order). I'm heading up to the Haig Glacier for an on-snow camp on Wednesday, which I'm super stoked for, so look for all the cool details of that up here in the next couple weeks.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Until then, Dream Big, People!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIJkdinmYvHN5tbDf-eI9gM9yaUZUvnka7SsAkPLdcyJnlAS6EYXxwAmv9g3qYgU1l108WGQKreljGAUUGmhWmuXPazkwiuSAF-gkqLwngifq86xQgBQ2A06sCooTV5b2fFIsPIOr1199/s1600/2013-09-08+13.41.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIJkdinmYvHN5tbDf-eI9gM9yaUZUvnka7SsAkPLdcyJnlAS6EYXxwAmv9g3qYgU1l108WGQKreljGAUUGmhWmuXPazkwiuSAF-gkqLwngifq86xQgBQ2A06sCooTV5b2fFIsPIOr1199/s640/2013-09-08+13.41.28.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Back in Canmore and stoked about organic quick oats</span></span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-82809219365587363802013-08-26T20:35:00.002-07:002013-08-26T20:35:48.875-07:00Of Big Sky and White Fish<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">On Thursday two weeks ago we (the Alberta World Cup Academy) embarked on what has become an annual event for the Academy: Whitefish. For those not in the know, Whitefish is our fourth training camp of the year and our final training camp to take place during the part of the training season that focuses on volume training (see "Volume" blog post). Coincidentally, Whitefish is held in Whitefish Montana, on the shores of the picturesque Whitefish lake, at the foot of Big Mountain (creative name eh?). With many hours to complete, easy access to a lake, a big mountain and ice cream the scene was set for some top-notch training! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In honour of our ten days of solid training I have uploaded and captioned 10 of my favourite pictures from the camp for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2qeEjvfDEUWAqqBnvN1xARBthm_i7Ywqd_FKyMRhFTqcCJLWWgS15cZchbYhzfpGzESaVUFbHvnEC3V1ORdf9q72nM0tR6tOcI9GIQJS7KH4-zynsZUS0QksAkZuzuaY5Xuj_6a1JzXT/s1600/2013-08-17+11.38.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2qeEjvfDEUWAqqBnvN1xARBthm_i7Ywqd_FKyMRhFTqcCJLWWgS15cZchbYhzfpGzESaVUFbHvnEC3V1ORdf9q72nM0tR6tOcI9GIQJS7KH4-zynsZUS0QksAkZuzuaY5Xuj_6a1JzXT/s640/2013-08-17+11.38.26.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Whitefish Lake:</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Water was one of the themes of our trip; starting with a jump into the Bow River right between the end of a 3.5hr rollerski from Canmore up towards Lake Louis and a 5hr van ride to our lodgings in Whitefish "Big Sky Country". Many a gainer (running back flip) was attempted off the end of this dock after a workout.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhwyQmTdS5gtGQ3bKjz_KcZdRQrBLYKuWJ0GG_Ohl9u2gHEz_w3D1J9QsjmdvuwBVSwONh8A1Ym27TmbCKDdoOmkXM6EQVKnolDEmzOYD5KdUVGIl0ZX8Jup5x6O7llKnVU7dDmDAd640/s1600/2013-08-16+17.27.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhwyQmTdS5gtGQ3bKjz_KcZdRQrBLYKuWJ0GG_Ohl9u2gHEz_w3D1J9QsjmdvuwBVSwONh8A1Ym27TmbCKDdoOmkXM6EQVKnolDEmzOYD5KdUVGIl0ZX8Jup5x6O7llKnVU7dDmDAd640/s640/2013-08-16+17.27.16.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Top of Big Mountain:</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the afternoon of day 2 we climbed Big Mountain, following a sweet gym workout in the morning. It's Big Sky Country for a reason.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqxnNpBZo1Ix04q8daQWzdAqYraHlMrgXVC4cEWY80XYMfXD6mA47GKoUVgitD8zG-3EgEDKHN_uHsPqnN1pzyonl6WM6c0VRCX128nDY3hzQ4bS3RdYhHiAMrSsp1yyXLZlB6N2KKXxM/s1600/2013-08-19+20.01.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqxnNpBZo1Ix04q8daQWzdAqYraHlMrgXVC4cEWY80XYMfXD6mA47GKoUVgitD8zG-3EgEDKHN_uHsPqnN1pzyonl6WM6c0VRCX128nDY3hzQ4bS3RdYhHiAMrSsp1yyXLZlB6N2KKXxM/s640/2013-08-19+20.01.46.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Dinner:</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"I don't usually take pictures of food, but when I do it usually tends to be almost all gone." I roomed with </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a href="http://michaelsomppi.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Mike</span></a> </span><span style="color: white;">and </span><a href="http://chrishamiltonski.weebly.com/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Chris</span></a><span style="color: white;"> for the camp and, I gotta say, we ate pretty well! Here you see a salad with one of the tastiest dressings I've ever had, potato wedges and hamburgers (all curtsy of Chris), set to the backdrop of Whitefish Lake, and Mike's right hand.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_ha3r3Lc1z-e__q1kU78-XGDqE4AF5-4FAUpH79cd9LOnLU2sYH5o96FeT4CYgtlscaCFqwp9lP672PE5wU3S3sf7N56d0Tjuv2eBz9iKzOf3noiemUHDTSxUvuub2yyEa8K4WvsGKYE/s1600/2013-08-25+10.25.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_ha3r3Lc1z-e__q1kU78-XGDqE4AF5-4FAUpH79cd9LOnLU2sYH5o96FeT4CYgtlscaCFqwp9lP672PE5wU3S3sf7N56d0Tjuv2eBz9iKzOf3noiemUHDTSxUvuub2yyEa8K4WvsGKYE/s640/2013-08-25+10.25.33.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Cross Country Canada Truck:</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">You know you're going places when the support vehicle for you workout says "CANADA" on it!! Sweeet!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnMde2rHRXKrHJeMe6Hj5sB4PADwN7fR_nR8GFjCBhewJrlPydgviELc6eLMWGEmjvJvd9rIV7einmwAgyirD3jhc5ihW9XRReixVI5t7Kk2OFyLswRaeZUXYRW0PAsEz8g_EtIWx74Qi/s1600/2013-08-19+21.23.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnMde2rHRXKrHJeMe6Hj5sB4PADwN7fR_nR8GFjCBhewJrlPydgviELc6eLMWGEmjvJvd9rIV7einmwAgyirD3jhc5ihW9XRReixVI5t7Kk2OFyLswRaeZUXYRW0PAsEz8g_EtIWx74Qi/s640/2013-08-19+21.23.48.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Elevation change:</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">On Monday the 19th we ran up the mountain again as a recovery workout in the afternoon. Both times we climbed Big Mountain we took the gondola down and promptly drove back to our condos on the lake--a total vertical drop of over 1km! I didn't open my waterbottles until I got back to the Condo and I found them looking slightly more squiggly than I remembered them to look.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ydiopUc19OP9Eq3-KcpKamZ0PTTrVHaf8a8jCoDxQ82_syKqtk5vAwYzV2u25S4vu8x9cR7luGza04XbjQWh7mYhSEkLNafAo7bUFzirJmykYR6wDs9LfZae9Nk6v9nExkqRW-kextQx/s1600/Untitled+drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ydiopUc19OP9Eq3-KcpKamZ0PTTrVHaf8a8jCoDxQ82_syKqtk5vAwYzV2u25S4vu8x9cR7luGza04XbjQWh7mYhSEkLNafAo7bUFzirJmykYR6wDs9LfZae9Nk6v9nExkqRW-kextQx/s640/Untitled+drawing.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">800 meters:</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Tuesday was a zone3 day! As mentioned above, Big Mountain afforded us some sweet vertical. We took advantage of this fact by doing a rollerski workout on the road up to the base of the ski resort. After 5 8min reps of Z3 Yannick's watch read just over 800m. I was so stoked I set this nice looking number to the backdrop of some dead trees at the top of Big Mountain.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1vpT7QG9Vm-lF7IkfGFRpF4SolY8b_r_Y_vnPp9C6pr3zfT90fCiAGdXKuYqrl4oXCL0Jq_cma5UaibkNCCMnwos7xfmzX9o2SJASrwuhw6c7txcoTI3QvGMhyCI3fLkcUYBpRHJP20h/s1600/2013-08-21+13.32.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1vpT7QG9Vm-lF7IkfGFRpF4SolY8b_r_Y_vnPp9C6pr3zfT90fCiAGdXKuYqrl4oXCL0Jq_cma5UaibkNCCMnwos7xfmzX9o2SJASrwuhw6c7txcoTI3QvGMhyCI3fLkcUYBpRHJP20h/s640/2013-08-21+13.32.04.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Hungry Horse Dam and Swix Stars:</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Wednesday's workout was a dam good time! 4hrs of skate and classic beside the reservoir of the tallest dam I've ever seen. To my excitement the road traversed the top of the damn and then along the reservoir to the right, through the burnt out forests.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjh4eiBPyPek0-vbKIiWv_EEdpm0yXK2k1vd0JnKBvVZm3xbBe9LDCgCYYnqcDMeKaRj4sclw8UTGzhg1Bwlpmn8bdQ2Kguw7QvygdwQ4kU_JG86Zahj5f6M3qEkEFqVpdu2I_ehfpaeP/s1600/2013-08-26+18.44.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjh4eiBPyPek0-vbKIiWv_EEdpm0yXK2k1vd0JnKBvVZm3xbBe9LDCgCYYnqcDMeKaRj4sclw8UTGzhg1Bwlpmn8bdQ2Kguw7QvygdwQ4kU_JG86Zahj5f6M3qEkEFqVpdu2I_ehfpaeP/s640/2013-08-26+18.44.34.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Whitefish Fun Run race shirt:</span></span></td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As we neared the end of the camp the day dawned that everyone had been waiting for. A day much anticipated for the legendary event which it held. The one, the only, <i>The</i> <i>Whitefish Friends and Family Fun Run</i>. Known for its spectacularly flat terrain and cotton participation shirts, I was particularly excited for this event because it was too be my first 10km running race! After psyching myself up with the help of Viking Death March by Billy Talent, and working through a solid 50ish min warm up, I was ready. Goals for the day? Stick with my team-mates as long as possible and don't get beat by a coach--Stef and Chris J. were both racing!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The starter raised her revolver into the air (seriously, it was a legit 6 shot cowboy pistol) and... bang! We were off!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">To put a lot of pain into just a few words:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Jess lead off the start with 3min/km pace, which led to me getting dropped by my teammates a fair bit faster than I'd hoped. Just over a half hour after I fell off the pace I crossed the finish line in a sprint--narrowly accomplishing my other goal of not being beat by one of the coaches!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I don't think my legs have ever hurt that much in a ski race.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S9aNhOpJG0Y0qGp3ixxdLzwBo32BlEQE4SXX-7tcqzifZmcdoAnvanhyphenhyphen6f9ONCdOGYAM6Jm0YqapVdvDgBt6KiKoDnA70Zrr6dUCuZWcPlEQvT5RxTjOk5gRUkVbYkL3NRGRjmNZbCMz/s1600/2013-08-25+11.51.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S9aNhOpJG0Y0qGp3ixxdLzwBo32BlEQE4SXX-7tcqzifZmcdoAnvanhyphenhyphen6f9ONCdOGYAM6Jm0YqapVdvDgBt6KiKoDnA70Zrr6dUCuZWcPlEQvT5RxTjOk5gRUkVbYkL3NRGRjmNZbCMz/s640/2013-08-25+11.51.31.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Glacier National Park and Yours Truly:</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Having completed a 10km running race on the previous day, one would think that running would be off the schedule for our final day of the camp. Well, one would be wrong.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">To finish our awesome camp off in epic style we made our way up the Road to The Sun in Glacier National Park. I had heard from my teammates that Glacier Park was a solid setting for epic workouts, and after our annual rollerski up The Road to The Sun (which would have taken the place of the Hungry Horse Dam rollerski) was canceled due to the Girls being told off for rollerskiing there a day or two beforehand, I was really looking forward to getting a taste of the Park before our return to Canada.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The trail that we ran climbed about 700m vertical over the course of our 3hr run so that we finished up at just over 2000m altitude, and it took us through some of the most spectacular terrain that I've had a chance to run through, yielding many good opportunities to stare off majestically into the distance (see above). The only drawback of the trail was the number of other people on it! Every 500m or so I would call out another "hello!" or "thanks!" or "good day to you fine gentlemen!" to hikers who moved over to their side of the single track to let us by.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIYmK4cy09rpOZlwrYb-kvL5b-njw9i7wdu__Ri_W2nPOVGCDlmKJaE_9Zn-V6IzXT1nF6h0aewofqN9c4dbgg1xc4tHwAtNwIT-aAL1b0emeUZIpqufL6B2iScNauK1vo52mBt2sgzUW/s1600/2013-08-25+19.22.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIYmK4cy09rpOZlwrYb-kvL5b-njw9i7wdu__Ri_W2nPOVGCDlmKJaE_9Zn-V6IzXT1nF6h0aewofqN9c4dbgg1xc4tHwAtNwIT-aAL1b0emeUZIpqufL6B2iScNauK1vo52mBt2sgzUW/s640/2013-08-25+19.22.47.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Back in Canmore:</span></span></td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With our drive back home ending at the Nordic Centre, Mike gave Kevin and I a lift back to our houses. Yep, all that stuff belongs solely to Kevin, Mike and I. Nope, thankfully the back of the truck did not look like that for the 5hr ride home from the States.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><b>Bonus Pictures:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzb42OiNm8ff8F9DqHYhUDIbvmWZceNtzn-dtRtUYkwvjgNCt6zUSInQBts2VjsLt_CqAa3hs4fC_Rl7gvEWgNbUPb3ysoADReIrfiRF0WEOdn9JrNlLQIluumBEBjiAZ9Um2MdOmzIOeg/s1600/2013-08-25+10.30.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzb42OiNm8ff8F9DqHYhUDIbvmWZceNtzn-dtRtUYkwvjgNCt6zUSInQBts2VjsLt_CqAa3hs4fC_Rl7gvEWgNbUPb3ysoADReIrfiRF0WEOdn9JrNlLQIluumBEBjiAZ9Um2MdOmzIOeg/s640/2013-08-25+10.30.12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Burnt out trees in Glacier National Park</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MrEbm0KMvzSJMJe2q0T1wrzdK-5NUwkmNKuQq0tPJCarRnWZbebAhJiDTR3FHN3o2u9vTldh5s_dIIYhbbyw1TS9pxebqgMhD8K_S2vHXhWJlwMAmkSGqXexTnV-Zgu0-al9VPq9fSKA/s1600/2013-08-25+13.21.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MrEbm0KMvzSJMJe2q0T1wrzdK-5NUwkmNKuQq0tPJCarRnWZbebAhJiDTR3FHN3o2u9vTldh5s_dIIYhbbyw1TS9pxebqgMhD8K_S2vHXhWJlwMAmkSGqXexTnV-Zgu0-al9VPq9fSKA/s640/2013-08-25+13.21.12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Ground Squirrel shoe inspection in Glacier National Park. My Salomons past the test (duh)</span></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHSyiAFAZOyUZIIHayZXjACRqnobI9zrlFxiWCsTkP_pWi2SUkCMi4LUDIwPmq_tghZZWDQDf4Q7oShEHD6eCVfTTRNepCRInalyeid1f9ERPCKmZTnttQdqc16xcg6Phmiq8kVUSAbt6/s1600/2013-08-25+13.29.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHSyiAFAZOyUZIIHayZXjACRqnobI9zrlFxiWCsTkP_pWi2SUkCMi4LUDIwPmq_tghZZWDQDf4Q7oShEHD6eCVfTTRNepCRInalyeid1f9ERPCKmZTnttQdqc16xcg6Phmiq8kVUSAbt6/s640/2013-08-25+13.29.29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Hey, it's the Great Wall of China! We did an out and back on this tourist boardwalk thing to finish off the 3hrs in Glacier Park. It was even busier than the other trail. Can you spot Alex running by the tourists?</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Well, I'm heading back east to visit my family tomorrow so I gotta get my sleep now! Until next time,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-36543891877079767162013-08-19T11:06:00.000-07:002013-08-19T11:08:00.049-07:00Update from Montana + A Point Of Interest<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dear blog readers,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Unfortunately I will not be posting the awesome blog full of pictures today about my camp in Whitefish Montana, which I promised two weeks ago.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Why?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Because I'm only half way through my training camp in Whitefish, the intra-web here sucks, and I'll be putting up an even-more awesome blog post next week--full of pictures--about the entire camp!! Stay tuned.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Before I get back to enjoying the many hours of training I've gotta do here in Big Sky Country, I have a point of interest to share!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Me, my teammate </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a href="http://sebastientownsend.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Seb Townsend</span></a> </span><span style="color: white;">and Quebec training center skier Dominique Moncion-Groulx are holding a fundraiser running race at Camp Fortune ski hill in Chelsea Quebec on September 7th!!! The proceeds from the race will help support the three of us in our continued pursuit of skiing excellence, but, most importantly, we want to have an event to help encourage younger skiers coming up through the system in our home region. To this end we plan to:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">- lead the Juvenile/Midget age skiers in a warm up before the race</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">- do a talk after the race about what it's like training at a high level/at a training center in Canada.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">- establish this race as an annual event to raise funds in the future for other local, highlevel Under-23 age skiers who don't have federal sport carding</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">- give out cool draw prizes after the race!</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMVF4rrZTHf9aLqwvoqvwkmA-qjAZTFWilgV29HutN6M1Wnven6UPIK9nXDqR4IFvln2wjjS8UqYoJmROYbxaze1v84ZbIi2aqsnpFqVXmBZUJtLbIujlZgSOCb0WkuQqr7ciiyfLrwdW/s1600/DomMedium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMVF4rrZTHf9aLqwvoqvwkmA-qjAZTFWilgV29HutN6M1Wnven6UPIK9nXDqR4IFvln2wjjS8UqYoJmROYbxaze1v84ZbIi2aqsnpFqVXmBZUJtLbIujlZgSOCb0WkuQqr7ciiyfLrwdW/s640/DomMedium.jpg" width="414" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If you are in the area on September 7th and you'd like to race check out our </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/271958142943414/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Facebook Page</span></a><span style="color: white;"> for details and register on </span><a href="https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=5170"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Zone4</span></a><span style="color: white;">!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If you can't race but you think you'd like to help out with Volunteering contact me at zeke2will@yahoo.ca</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Anyway, check back next week for an awesome blog update about my adventures in the US of A!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People! </span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-76817436182148711642013-08-05T13:36:00.002-07:002013-08-05T13:36:31.683-07:00Recovery<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With recovery being the theme of the past week for me, I don't have any cool training stories/pictures to regale you guys with this time round, instead I meander my way through my recovery philosophy and the challenges of applying it to real life.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As my old coach Mike Vieira says: "Wolverine would be the perfect athlete; his body regenerates instantly so he could load on tough workouts indefinitely and he would just keep getting fitter and fitter! He would be the best xc skier ever!!" *Also, Wolverine has sweet claws and sideburns.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Unfortunately, not all of us have super regenerative powers, sweet claws or sideburns (I do happen to possess one of these traits though... can ya guess which?).</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Because of these shortcomings, getting solid rest is absolutely 100% as important for us mortals as throwing down during workouts--indeed, if you don't get good rest when you're supposed to you won't be able to "throw down" during workouts at all! When you're out there pounding the pavement (no matter what surface your "pavement" happens to be) during your favourite workout you are damaging your body. When you're lying down for a nap, your water bottle half full (that's right, half <i>full</i>) beside you, that's when your body is actually becoming stronger. That's when your muscles are repairing themselves from your solid gym workout or from your sweet interval set.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So be patient young padawan; treat your time between workouts as sacred and the nordic-skiing-force will become strong in you!</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMxGJnPVWhECpQrRWiI-CYAPQEirFO9mCzanDNBOp0C6vyc1JHwr6TxgnvrJ7IlNzqeDfQedErmHqkXhkix3Kzu2ZPx5Ov6j5TlMQBOpX78pCE0KRGdmyG3yakCBF4xqJLcsKZQ1YM0sx/s1600/2013-08-05+13.36.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMxGJnPVWhECpQrRWiI-CYAPQEirFO9mCzanDNBOp0C6vyc1JHwr6TxgnvrJ7IlNzqeDfQedErmHqkXhkix3Kzu2ZPx5Ov6j5TlMQBOpX78pCE0KRGdmyG3yakCBF4xqJLcsKZQ1YM0sx/s640/2013-08-05+13.36.39.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Me, recovering HARD.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For me, time between workouts has been plentiful these last few days as I happened to be on a rest week! Rest weeks always provide a bit of a conundrum for me because on one side I feel like I should be following all of my above recovery related advice to a T, but on the other side I really want to stray a bit from my usual "what is the best possible activity I can do at this moment in time to ensure 'great success' come Winter?" I mean, getting solid physical recovery is all well and good but you do need some time to distract your mind from the rigours of ski training so that when you get back to it you can feel physically <i>and </i>mentally refreshed. So that's the rest week kicker for me: how to best balance the mental and the physical sides of the recovery equation. I guess you just gotta play around with it for yourself and see what gets you to the start of your next big training block feeling like you're ready to take on the world.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Whatever the case is, this rest week has been a good time, but, as they say, "all good things must give way to better things" (that is the saying, right?). And this good rest week is giving way to another 3 week block of better-than-ever training!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">P.S. I'm off to Whitefish Montana for a training camp this month so look for a sweet blog write up, with pics, in the next blog post!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-69302427456614632992013-07-22T13:18:00.001-07:002013-07-22T19:17:17.986-07:00Volume<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">According to the Oxford Dictionaries online, the definition of volume most relevant to my usage of it in this blog is <i>"an amount or quantity of something, especially when great".</i> When it comes to training, volume (i.e. zone1 training) is great for a number of reasons. Volume is great because--if you are training properly--it will make up the majority of your training hours, a great, a vast, amount! Volume is great because it will always guarantee a certain amount of improvement: as my coach says: "you could complete only volume training all year long and, when the snow flies, you would still be a bit faster than last season". Volume is great because volume workouts are so much fun!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqS-ahs0hq5qSNFCmYBcSTpso5qkU2-VIWPxKSPg1G1TKuc3iQlUL4APRIqtPhOqGyeQSQt6nSddYzxNAdAiW4LrkRg72TNFIF_8bX30XIWJFh7nN_Wp8XfSkXnLDIXfGVmi7bEZY4A6cC/s1600/2013-07-10+13.11.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqS-ahs0hq5qSNFCmYBcSTpso5qkU2-VIWPxKSPg1G1TKuc3iQlUL4APRIqtPhOqGyeQSQt6nSddYzxNAdAiW4LrkRg72TNFIF_8bX30XIWJFh7nN_Wp8XfSkXnLDIXfGVmi7bEZY4A6cC/s640/2013-07-10+13.11.45.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Hangin' out at the top of the access road to Norquay after a 4hr rollerski. From left to right: Yannick, 2 Alberta Ski Team guys, Seb, me, more AST guys.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDRPftTMzvxVAfLYaEny3oUC-tnkL_XvmrxAOsSUmwCRR8KeG4rvp11PivG385dLfae1kKSdjhgyWLdpuPfpDfv1bgg8nAQH-fxOTKajAzFSr7YtUwOTEn9TE-2Ota0hGWtTLAxhOkTxV/s1600/2013-07-10+13.12.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDRPftTMzvxVAfLYaEny3oUC-tnkL_XvmrxAOsSUmwCRR8KeG4rvp11PivG385dLfae1kKSdjhgyWLdpuPfpDfv1bgg8nAQH-fxOTKajAzFSr7YtUwOTEn9TE-2Ota0hGWtTLAxhOkTxV/s640/2013-07-10+13.12.12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">View from Norquay: that's Banff down there.</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I mean, in a volume workout you could cruise along through pristine boreal forest, letting your mind wander as you fall into the steady rhythm of diagonal stride or one skate. In a volume workout you could scramble along fallen logs, over boulders and up scree slopes on your way to summiting a mountain pass--a ribbon of singletrack winding its way up, up, up through the alpine vistas. In a volume workout you could lose yourself (quite literally) in dense pine forest when the trail you were supposed to be following turns out to be less of a trail than you had expected. Add some variety and you can make every volume workout a new adventure!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For me, volume has been the theme these last two weeks; I even happened to experience each of the three scenarios that I detailed in the last paragraph!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Now, with so much volume to cover it would be hard for me to give a synopses of all of it, so instead I’ll detail just one workout, debatably the funnest workout, that we did right in the middle of the two week block. Turn the clock back exactly one week...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Monday July 15th. Wake up at 7:35am. At 8:20am I have eaten my daily oatmeal packed some après-training clothes and some snacks, laced up my Speedcross 3s and I’m out the door. The meeting place today is the boat docks (there are actually no boat docks at the boat docks, interestingly enough). Hop in the van at the boat docks and it’s off to a “surprise” destination for training today! I like surprises. ETA to the surprise? 30min. We arrive at the trailhead locked and loaded; turns out the surprise destination today is Buller Pass: a trail that will take us up into the alpine terrain, with a total ascent of just around 700m vertical.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Now, from here the jog can be divided into 3 sections:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1st section:</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The defining characteristic of the first section is wash-outs. Wash-outs and fallen trees, to be more precise. Thanks to the amazing flooding we had a few weeks ago, the beautiful Ribbon Creek trail, the trail that we would be following up towards the pass, had been more or less ruined by it’s namesake creek--whose valley it followed. This basically meant that the first part of the jog required some awesome ninja skills for fording creeks (read, slipping on rocks and falling in creeks) and sweet balance-beam log crossings. Segment one ended after about an 1:45, when we got to a picturesque waterfall and started going up more steeply.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2nd section:</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The second section was between the waterfall and the summit. 15min or so down the line after the waterfall, we hit the section of “trail” that Mike had mentioned at the start of our hike, when he told us to “make sure you have at least 3 people for the chains--one to go for help, one to comfort and one to die in agony.” Fun. The chains lived up to my expectations in the form of several lengths of chain drilled into the side of a cliff so as to give some form of safety hold for what was basically the closest thing to rock climbing you can get to without actually rock climbing. Thankfully we made it safe and sound.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">At the top of the chains we ran through some more forest, past Ribbon Lake and then up through beautiful alpine meadows spotted with snow (yes, we did surprise the guys behind us with a snowball ambush). Eventually, the alpine meadows (some of the most beautiful terrain I’ve been through) gave way to rocks as we scrambled our way up the last 100m or so of vert. to the summit of the pass! Pretty views and some hail were the main attractions of this part of the run.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_7PQfHlvAFWjVYA3qJl8nz0sa7psZWHIXZWzQnT-HeSlpYmQEAatMwqe0Zcokpto5MnsNI8xVRnH-oYW5Y594_pbquoVN6zYJt6fE1rdpItgqWAtWqh0fNUd80R8y_6mAHtIAQz0fvNe/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_7PQfHlvAFWjVYA3qJl8nz0sa7psZWHIXZWzQnT-HeSlpYmQEAatMwqe0Zcokpto5MnsNI8xVRnH-oYW5Y594_pbquoVN6zYJt6fE1rdpItgqWAtWqh0fNUd80R8y_6mAHtIAQz0fvNe/s640/photo+(2).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Top of the world!! Or, more accurately, top of the pass.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXz83wYHdQ_ZYZVt5XPKT1Yb183jSCjiClpWl9A_s7AW4-1bH0Q90XhU5C8FEJVUFTyDA4B44lAIiTfHlZgBt7v9PLQ1o3jhSGM6FdiX4kOkaoNoL6UMnuBW6yOaldeV3s9LTr7cXobWC/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXz83wYHdQ_ZYZVt5XPKT1Yb183jSCjiClpWl9A_s7AW4-1bH0Q90XhU5C8FEJVUFTyDA4B44lAIiTfHlZgBt7v9PLQ1o3jhSGM6FdiX4kOkaoNoL6UMnuBW6yOaldeV3s9LTr7cXobWC/s640/photo+(3).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Looking down at the descent. Photo creds to Chris for these last two!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3rd section:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The descent. This made up the last hour or so of the hike and was mostly comprised of super-fun downhill running (I wanna go fast!) through some crazy epic burnt out forests. I had so much fun on this workout that, up until about 20min to go I really didn’t want it to end.... but once we hit just over the 3hr mark in what was supposed to be a 2:5hr workout, my legs started complaining.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Finally, we made it out of the woods, to finish what was one of the coolest adventure runs I’ve done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Well, hopefully that give some insight into what a “typical” volume workout with the Academy is like! Jump back in time to the present and I’ve just made it through a rest day and am ready to finish up the last hard week in this four week block of training. For those of you interested in numbers here are some stats from the last two weeks:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Week 1 total: 22:44hrs</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Week 2 total: 21:05hrs</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Number of 4hr workouts: 3</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Number of workouts: 19</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Average z1 heart rate: 139</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Mountains climbed: 2</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Cycling races watched: 1</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Washing machine loads: 2</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Awesome scree slopes descended: 1</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Majestic elk seen: 2</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Sun burns: 2 occasions</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Sunscreen bottles exploded in backpack: 1 (this sucked)</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Eggo-style waffles eaten: 12</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Hours of sleep not including naps: 130</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Clif Bars eaten: approx. 22</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Number of naps: not enough (you can never have enough)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In whatever volume workouts you may encounter, remember to Dream big, people!<span class="s1"></span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-45490608694265852442013-07-08T17:27:00.001-07:002013-07-08T17:30:28.255-07:00Dinner and a Show<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With all this new moving to and living in Canmore stuff going on lately, I've been doing a lot more cooking than I had been doing while living at home (surprise surprise). With not too much blog-worthy stuff going on for me this last week, coupled with the fact that everybody likes good food (right everybody?), I am doing things differently for my blog post today. Today I will give you a typical culinary day in the life of Zeke--complete with recipes and entertaining dialog!! Watch out Master Chef!!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2k6ew1F0PpxD9GTCu_Apyqw2z3CSxn6tNvtCZCeK4tCwDUsP3gVRK8pFmQIie4M1YdOg1Wamm1lZLH9IrudHNQJC1fJWPly0PmDnGM04e6Lv2_2MDIzjTzkq3rqT-Na2wlOVLSr2jfYn/s1600/2013-06-24+13.00.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2k6ew1F0PpxD9GTCu_Apyqw2z3CSxn6tNvtCZCeK4tCwDUsP3gVRK8pFmQIie4M1YdOg1Wamm1lZLH9IrudHNQJC1fJWPly0PmDnGM04e6Lv2_2MDIzjTzkq3rqT-Na2wlOVLSr2jfYn/s640/2013-06-24+13.00.30.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Speaking of food... a fantabulous Omelette I made the other day! Got enough veggies?</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As a high-level endurance athlete, it is very important for me to spend a stupid amount of time eating, and, to be picky about what I am eating from a nutritional standpoint. Unfortunately (surprisingly?), for an athletic male of my age, I am really not a huge fan of eating (it's kinda boring!). With these facts in mind, I choose recipes that don't take too long to make and I like to keep stuff not too one-sided (for instance, I wouldn't eat just chicken with curry sauce for supper). Just like in life, I try to go for variety.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">But without further todo, I give you a typical day in the life of Zeke: from a food perspective!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Wake Up</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Breakfast:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Just over 3/4C Water</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-1/3C Quick Oats</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-1-2 Tbs Brown Sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Bit of Cinnamon</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-3-4 Tbs Yogurt</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-1 Apple</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-1 Banana</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Cut an Apple in half. Eat one Half; Chop up the other half.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Make Oatmeal.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Add brown sugar+cinnamon+yogurt+chopped apple to the oatmeal.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Enjoy.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Eat the banana by itself.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Morning Workout:</span></b><span style="color: white;"> Eat 1 clif bar every hour if the workout is 2hrs or more. Drink 1 big waterbottle full of water+drinkmix for each 45min-1hr of workout.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Lunch:</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 Can Tuna</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Pinch of Salt</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Sprinkle of Pepper</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/3-1/2 Onion</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 Clove Garlic</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/2-1 Tbs Olive Oil</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3/4 Tbs approx. Lemon Juice REALLLLEMON!!!! (said to the sound of the powerthirst guy saying "real lightning!! I do like real lemons)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 Tomato</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2 Bagels</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A few green leaves</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 egg</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A few knives of butter</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Smash the garlic clove and cut up the onion into squinkly-little pieces. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Drain can of tuna; take Tuna+Salt+Pepper+Garlic Clove+Onion+Olive Oil+LemonJuice and mix them up real good. Take the knives of butter and apply them to the bagels; put greens on your bagels; put your mixture of the above ingredients on the bagels. Cut up the tomato and put pieces of the tomato on your bagels. You're done! Enjoy the savoury tast.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Eat the rest of the mixture with some green leaves.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Fry the egg with a knife of butter and eat it.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-weight: bold;">Nap: </span><span style="color: white;">Nothing is eaten here.</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Snack:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2 Eggs</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/2 Cup Olive Oil</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 1/2 or 1 1/4 cup of sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/3 cup milk mixed with 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or buttermilk if you have it)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3 bananas</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Pinch of salt</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1tsp Baking Soda</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 3/4 C floor (I use half white half brown)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A squig of butter</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Cream Cheese</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Mash Bananas. Mix bananas with all the above (except Cream Cheese!!!!), in the order above. Use your squig of butter to butter a bread loaf pan. Pre-heat oven to 350; Place stuff in oven; cook at 350 for 30min; turn down to 325 after 30min time elapses and cook, checking every 5min, until you can stick a knife through the loaf and pull out the knife without stuff sticking to it. Cheers.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Cut a few pieces of the banana bread and eat it with Cream Cheese. Be happy.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Maybe eat some yogurt or nut mix too.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Afternoon Workout:</span> </b><span style="color: white;">Same deal as morning workout.</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Reco (recovery) Drink:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4 Tbs CCC Chocolate Recovery Drink OR 3Tbs Powdered Milk (preferably whole milk powder)+a bit of sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3/4 tall glass of milk</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Shake or Stir real well to mix. Either option is quite tasty.</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Ice Cream:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">$5</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Use $5 to purchase a small tub of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream from your local food place. Eat half of it and save the other half for a later date--best to keep it in the freezer unless you want an ice cream drink.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I eat desert first.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Supper</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: white;">2C green lentils rinsed and drained</span></span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4220" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8C water</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4289" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1Tsp salt</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4290" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/2 tsp cayenne pepper</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/2 C Brown rice</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1/3 C Olive Oil</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6 Onions</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">/////</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Tomato</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 to 2 garlic cloves</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1 Tbs Lemon Juice</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3/4 Tbs Olive Oil</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">pinch of Salt</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Bring water to a boil on the stove; add lentils and rice; turn down heat to a simmer; let simmer for 30+min, adding water to the mixture as needed (add more water to make the rice/lentils softer and make the cooking time longer--add less to make 'em al dente. I like them al dente).</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">While the above simmering is going on, chop your onions into slices and sauté them with the Olive Oil in a pan until they are a nice goldenish colour, and a bit squishy in consistency.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Once all that is done, add stuff together with the cayenne pepper and mix it up.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">/////</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Chop up tomato; smash garlic. Add Tomato+Garlic+Lemon Juice+Olive Oil+Salt and mix well. You've made a taste salad.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Serve the Rice/Lentil stuff with the Tasty Salad and BOOM! Instant hunger annihilation! I really like this meal.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Show:</span></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Watch any Lord Of The Rings movie, any Tarantino movie, Ice Age (has to be the first one), Hanna or Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">That's the "and a show" part.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">NightTime Snack:</span></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">More banana bread and cream cheese, some nut mix and some yogurt.</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Goodnight.</span></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There you have it!! Hope you enjoyed my food journal blog! It was kinda time consuming to create--and now I'm hungry!! </span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks a bunch to my awesome mom--a couple of the above recipes (among many other good things) I got from her!</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!!</span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373230263318_4291" style="font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">P.S. If you have any amazing recipes you'd like to send to me, feel free to send them my way! If I receive any recipes--and if there happens to be one that I like--I will post it on my blog in the next couple weeks!!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-15872619426159862292013-06-24T11:21:00.000-07:002013-06-24T11:21:34.780-07:00Go With The Flow<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I have to say: I really don't like the expression "go with the flow". The top definition on Urban Dictionary is to "not push against prevailing behaviour/norms/attitudes"--an ideal that was definitely <i>not</i> prevailing when anyone accomplished anything on any level of importance! I prefer to think more along the lines of non-conformity, because the path of least resistance is seldom the right one.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The only time that I see "going with the flow" as having any idealogical value is when it comes to avoiding stress over events that you have no control over. As a ski racer, and as a fairly high-strung personality, I find that stress is a bad thing. It tires you out, it makes you forgot things that should not be forgotten (like the ring of power), it makes you think you have a concussion when you actually don't (haha), and, it makes you perform below your potential in ski races.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">One thing that I've learned over the years is that if your pole tip comes of in a race, if it dumps 2ft of snow when you're supposed to go for a bike ride, or even if you're plane is about to leave and you are stuck in security--don't stress! When you can't change the situation it's better to just "go with the flow" and come to terms with the circumstances rather than work yourself into a tizzy stressing over things.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Coincidentally, this past week has, pretty much in its entirety, been a lesson in coming to terms with and adapting to adverse circumstances!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Last Monday I departed for my first training camp with the World Cup Academy--a road bike focused camp in Nelson BC! Nelson is a pretty cool place, and not exactly what I expected it to be; the first thing I noticed when we arrived was how humid and rain foresty-like the terrain was.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUNbOPGVm0j5MBsTWqfj3PkMTylZvvIwNK6kGSTPeWhV3ie0gbPI6Zv0lNadULNgEJBZNIyxfLjU9a5F2pbgX4wNUEzD9rBwaNlrepYemqyosXSzD93p8QKx3zv_I5WpVrnTukb4SV6g4/s1600/2013-06-18+12.08.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUNbOPGVm0j5MBsTWqfj3PkMTylZvvIwNK6kGSTPeWhV3ie0gbPI6Zv0lNadULNgEJBZNIyxfLjU9a5F2pbgX4wNUEzD9rBwaNlrepYemqyosXSzD93p8QKx3zv_I5WpVrnTukb4SV6g4/s640/2013-06-18+12.08.37.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">This person on our wall in Nelson is not prepared for adversity--demonstrating a lack of outdoors knowledge by snowshoeing with no pants</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After checking into the motel, getting groceries and a solid nights sleep, day 2 went perfectly according to plan and I went to bed looking forward to our solid 150km road bike ride that we had planned for day 3! But when we woke up on day 3 we were greeted with pouring rain, so in favour of not being cold and wet for 5hrs in the saddle, we found other ways to get in our approx. 5hrs of training that day (rollerskiing, running, weights). </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmpea3e7qPJ5bdjRq1lNgcEsQ1LC3Fczl5M-io5hPhH_kwyOX6SezXuJil6jWx995iLguigVGJHdypDdyTAEwWNwcIJsHDsTaaVtWynCSxDwZcxy8JepyGKW5xa-JQ2f_MNP6EpijlPe6/s1600/2013-06-19+17.08.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmpea3e7qPJ5bdjRq1lNgcEsQ1LC3Fczl5M-io5hPhH_kwyOX6SezXuJil6jWx995iLguigVGJHdypDdyTAEwWNwcIJsHDsTaaVtWynCSxDwZcxy8JepyGKW5xa-JQ2f_MNP6EpijlPe6/s640/2013-06-19+17.08.43.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">View of the North Shore of Nelson from a sweet lookout Seb and I found after our weight workout on Tuesday</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF6vQ3lEYfGHKVKDyPBcTZNAND60y5OCw9b0pJq7NeDq8YUYdtpDKIQgm_mUJyDebf3Jp3pzoB4cdolmNKTFKmq8YQacRJKmZnPL7oh-sNdH6QQ0ZbNjcwSZr97tBFjXhrmd5Iz_BYDRz/s1600/2013-06-19+17.09.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF6vQ3lEYfGHKVKDyPBcTZNAND60y5OCw9b0pJq7NeDq8YUYdtpDKIQgm_mUJyDebf3Jp3pzoB4cdolmNKTFKmq8YQacRJKmZnPL7oh-sNdH6QQ0ZbNjcwSZr97tBFjXhrmd5Iz_BYDRz/s640/2013-06-19+17.09.13.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Seb: admiring the view from the lookout and striking a majestic pose</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"No worries", we decided, "we will bike part of the route we'll be taking for the drive home on tomorrow and get in our long bike ride that way." But the pouring rain theme continued on day 4. When we heard in the morning that Canmore was in a state of emergence due to flooding we decided to book it back home ASAP before the roads got closed down. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sSNiMhUQlyVnTfPudIZC33KRQmQjD2ki-JS45oE9jiPOZIZ_76kZDFJCupd_MrzbuudVb5TA1nVCEcROTaXpHa2KFCwO0Wcy9P1H7xAJNUaBOThOdylFpv87qY8I135EU7S-3kKNFrN5/s1600/2013-06-20+09.05.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sSNiMhUQlyVnTfPudIZC33KRQmQjD2ki-JS45oE9jiPOZIZ_76kZDFJCupd_MrzbuudVb5TA1nVCEcROTaXpHa2KFCwO0Wcy9P1H7xAJNUaBOThOdylFpv87qY8I135EU7S-3kKNFrN5/s640/2013-06-20+09.05.30.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Stupid rain</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4N5njscetjtO1rKF8RwIwCh2d26pxWpFN4B2Ebhbyl81ONJLuAtjmD-3LMWfzY6NEbF-qVRwuUzBLP-IYaRYXZbpM17USuRoMHEhJyV5bSCGZxe4s7AxPMC1tu98wHYclLrHZWQgTCoDY/s1600/2013-06-20+10.09.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4N5njscetjtO1rKF8RwIwCh2d26pxWpFN4B2Ebhbyl81ONJLuAtjmD-3LMWfzY6NEbF-qVRwuUzBLP-IYaRYXZbpM17USuRoMHEhJyV5bSCGZxe4s7AxPMC1tu98wHYclLrHZWQgTCoDY/s640/2013-06-20+10.09.05.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"I Got Swagg" on our ride home. We found some snow in the pass we were supposed to ride over<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Through the Rockes we drove, arriving in Radium Hot Springs right after the road that we needed to take towards Banff got closed. At this point it was 3pm in the afternoon and we were all feeling a bit groggy from the driving, but instead of giving up and crying in the cars, we took hold of the situation! It was no longer raining so we hoped on our bikes and rode for 105km north to Golden BC (we actually rode the distance in 2hrs 55min--a time that somewhat impressed me) where we spent the night, ate some fairly cheap food (pizza and ice cream) and were happily surprised when the roads opened; just in time for us to drive back to Banff the next morning. But the adventure was not over yet!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Arriving in Banff we found that the Trans-Canada highway was closed between there and Canmore--our only route home--due to the highway being pwned by crazy water. With only the approx. 20km ride between Banff and Canmore left, we hoped on our bikes and rode down the closed highway back to Canmore! After the previous day's 100+ km ride this 20k one would've been a cake walk--but I decided that to make it a challenge (and because I didn't want to leave my stuff in Banff) I would ride with my 50ish lb duffle bag on my back. And it dumped rain the entire time. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">It was uncomfortable.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ioy2DT3ghmaA3W27QUX_kMMipReboy28Cfw9KV_YpzBSJ8DHq8EKK5cVyHb8lVaNxxScmHtaQlxUUtn4BBVgsNK1s4w5R-RRBeG6ezdetld650gjWoSOjF70RXld6ULUVH6Yeuetd2st/s1600/2013-06-21+16.30.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ioy2DT3ghmaA3W27QUX_kMMipReboy28Cfw9KV_YpzBSJ8DHq8EKK5cVyHb8lVaNxxScmHtaQlxUUtn4BBVgsNK1s4w5R-RRBeG6ezdetld650gjWoSOjF70RXld6ULUVH6Yeuetd2st/s640/2013-06-21+16.30.18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_o1V3kKtn5_KcyjtNlWUOL4tLbe_LX18XY5Hna5dGhvD-hUSaoWYOL-egJk9G8Z0imJPA1cibBERSXJovkuTxHvcQdEK6l67IdWqvgoHAra3UmhPGDdEgMDXIN5t9JAVk6bEYSOjHY5L/s1600/2013-06-21+16.31.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_o1V3kKtn5_KcyjtNlWUOL4tLbe_LX18XY5Hna5dGhvD-hUSaoWYOL-egJk9G8Z0imJPA1cibBERSXJovkuTxHvcQdEK6l67IdWqvgoHAra3UmhPGDdEgMDXIN5t9JAVk6bEYSOjHY5L/s640/2013-06-21+16.31.07.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">This intersection near my place in Canmore is usually not a lake</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And so we all made it back home to Canmore safe and sound but were greeted with flooded basements and lakes where there were none before, upon arrival. Three days later the ground water levels are finally going down and stuff is getting back to normal. What a crazy week!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!!</span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-134809105304828892013-06-10T11:03:00.001-07:002013-06-10T11:03:50.990-07:00Get to the Choppa!!!<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Yesterday was my first by-myself-workout in Canmore that was longer than 1hr15min. I think that in general people prefer doing workouts together, so it might seem strange when I tell you that, honestly, some of my funnest (yes, I said funnest) workouts have been by myself! When you train by yourself you have no distractions--you can focus on going at exactly the right pace, you can focus on technique and you can have some time with your own thoughts. I like these traits. I like them very much.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Yesterday's skiwalk/run ranks right up there in my list of awesome by-myself workouts...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With only 2hrs of training time yesterday, I was faced with the conundrum of wanting to do a fairly epic run but not having enough time to do it in. That's when I remembered that there is a heli pad, and a sweet ruined building, partway up Lady Mac--which is one of the picturesque mountains around Canmore (they're all picturesque). With the goal of reaching the helipad etched into my consciousness, my skiwalking poles in hand and Smooth Criminal stuck in my head for some unknown reason, I departed the trailhead in a flurry of zone1 paced footfalls.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As I climbed past the 45min mark, a battle was being fought in my mind between the voice of reason and the voice of hammertime:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Voice of Reason: "yikes, you're nearing the halfway mark and the helipad isn't in sight. You got one clif bar to go on and only 2hrs of easy training to do today. Better ditch the helipad idea soon and turn around, in favour of training smart."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Voice of Hammertime: "pffff!! Bad idea! How lame would it be if you turned around at some unrecognizable spot?! Hell, why even stop at the helipad? Climb the whole mountain! Zone4 baby!!"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After these thoughts had been playing for a few minutes I ran into a climber coming back down and asked him "how far to the helipad?" "Hour and a half" he said--a figure which astonished me at the time and still does now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">With the disappointing thought that I might end up turning around before I reached my goal closing in on me, some cold weather decided to close in too--and it started snowing. Most people would probably see this as the sign to turn around, but I like snow so I saw it as a sign to through caution to the wind and keep marching.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">At this point things started happening fast. First I saw a mountain sheep, then I took out my phone to take pictures and got it all wet from the snow, then I heard thunder rolling in from the distance but decided I wasn't gonna turn around just yet, then the snow stopped, then I kept climbing. About 2min after all of this crazyness I ran into two hikers coming down. Upon asking "how long to the helipad" they replied it was right over the next rise!! Hurray! I sprinted the last few hundred meters up through scree and snow from last Winter. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOSnAHgMo-4HiMJQQlsq5WoATdU7oGVHEcrhl5XL-DdFyrEY9S9-9DcQp3q7aTQOQ4Fp6SeJral76Yn-MiRdPnzpwbQy5fxZsvrD5C5xzzbgycuFw99j0BhQdE09V8C2YsSae9bWPMzWb/s1600/2013-06-09+10.50.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOSnAHgMo-4HiMJQQlsq5WoATdU7oGVHEcrhl5XL-DdFyrEY9S9-9DcQp3q7aTQOQ4Fp6SeJral76Yn-MiRdPnzpwbQy5fxZsvrD5C5xzzbgycuFw99j0BhQdE09V8C2YsSae9bWPMzWb/s640/2013-06-09+10.50.55.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">down comes the snow! Can you spot the sheep?</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Up up up I sprinted, enemy fire raining down around me, heavier than the snow from earlier on, and Arnold paying the them back in kind with the 50 cal. mounted on the blackhawk--all the while yelling "GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!" Clearing the last few strides I just managed to grab onto the rope later as it took off!!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Okay, that last paragraph is a bit of an exaggeration. Replace that scene with a vision of me climbing the steps to the helipad as the snow/rain/thunder clouds cleared in a most divine fashion--yielding a spectacular view of Canmore and the bow river valley spread out hundreds of meters below my vantage point!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After I enjoyed my clif bar, explored the ruined building by the helipad and took way to many pictures of the view, I jogged back down the mountain, at a slightly excessive pace for a zone1 workout, back to the trailhead, and then the rest of the way home, through town.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5piTGBqHQ6NpumFp6SIqrZyNuPI47SVZo81QwxPaJqxhulpnGh699bod5dhyphenhyphenYNd1lnvXOfMjo161rc56o3jhTLLbhLRfCV1uwgJkhn1LMDcCx-Nxyg3fJb52R2f035-7dC_v8PARuBjfw/s1600/2013-06-09+11.31.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5piTGBqHQ6NpumFp6SIqrZyNuPI47SVZo81QwxPaJqxhulpnGh699bod5dhyphenhyphenYNd1lnvXOfMjo161rc56o3jhTLLbhLRfCV1uwgJkhn1LMDcCx-Nxyg3fJb52R2f035-7dC_v8PARuBjfw/s640/2013-06-09+11.31.23.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">cool pine trees on the way back down</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">All this in just two hours :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Here are the numbers for the workout:</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Climb time from the trailhead: 1:09</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Descent back to the trailhead: 33min (wow! less than half the climb time!!)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Total workout time: 2hrs exactly</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">HR min: 94bpm</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">HR average: 141bpm</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">HR max: 171bpm (this was actually on the way back down)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">*I've included most of this hike's photos below, for your viewing pleasure!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwU-hhxu_uYwESbDB8BX5FZv3U76NghietN3H_HONTquw4XclwffmO9V3RuzDFYL4GZm66hgBPukOE1-gYpQ5GIVyaDRGbaVQTVmsssyzCJIHhOxs7I7or9eK-8yPGoMBl73bBi9lrvO9V/s1600/2013-06-09+10.51.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwU-hhxu_uYwESbDB8BX5FZv3U76NghietN3H_HONTquw4XclwffmO9V3RuzDFYL4GZm66hgBPukOE1-gYpQ5GIVyaDRGbaVQTVmsssyzCJIHhOxs7I7or9eK-8yPGoMBl73bBi9lrvO9V/s640/2013-06-09+10.51.06.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">yikes... pretty steep slope<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4X19AVAutwT0P8XiVLEib-I4bb2R7NK5U3WqpTKJYREjdtGeR2KbDyDFthgaoqMp6jartEe1QYbzekasI8idNC8KLjndjDec6reiETLeGfv8sXcJXNW0qokLTLc713CwfgMXD42NmB7k0/s1600/2013-06-09+10.51.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4X19AVAutwT0P8XiVLEib-I4bb2R7NK5U3WqpTKJYREjdtGeR2KbDyDFthgaoqMp6jartEe1QYbzekasI8idNC8KLjndjDec6reiETLeGfv8sXcJXNW0qokLTLc713CwfgMXD42NmB7k0/s640/2013-06-09+10.51.36.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">close up of sheepy<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhovuOYu1GPfbOeBzf430tWSNsZPMBhper7YzNNIAoSRNlPmkwCOx9_cxSgJUbrGoz6tE69SfafQCs8v3cFVaseqp2QVnzFAyNbRJyqc_1pesR6sDqv1bLewZ-invXD3Bl_aKI4xRTqmln/s1600/2013-06-09+10.51.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhovuOYu1GPfbOeBzf430tWSNsZPMBhper7YzNNIAoSRNlPmkwCOx9_cxSgJUbrGoz6tE69SfafQCs8v3cFVaseqp2QVnzFAyNbRJyqc_1pesR6sDqv1bLewZ-invXD3Bl_aKI4xRTqmln/s640/2013-06-09+10.51.15.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">let it snow!<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVLx7fVeqTmiQGSMISIblUa8XE6zPeO88ahdLeAMIl56vw8AujR2ZwpoFKGZRb0pxCbb7MHHYcZRsGgxc0Tem2LXvg-2ZqFtBG3NsYlsUZaaK6sfOURqpFhcK4c5_vq-tekHNOdToVjnh/s1600/2013-06-09+10.53.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVLx7fVeqTmiQGSMISIblUa8XE6zPeO88ahdLeAMIl56vw8AujR2ZwpoFKGZRb0pxCbb7MHHYcZRsGgxc0Tem2LXvg-2ZqFtBG3NsYlsUZaaK6sfOURqpFhcK4c5_vq-tekHNOdToVjnh/s640/2013-06-09+10.53.36.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">looking down the trail from the sheep viewing point<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXkLsnPhKa73W-hu-0624nHmeMvs6uoEnWe7Egx70R-G3JZ85PHKiFRCHP7xy7jrRrya93snlXPmc40K-iLXgwwBZ5l0TSbMMGrQEz1L4G1PNB2Eg7TR29Cx5RC-PV__vLSlPaY0hYKpA/s1600/2013-06-09+10.52.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXkLsnPhKa73W-hu-0624nHmeMvs6uoEnWe7Egx70R-G3JZ85PHKiFRCHP7xy7jrRrya93snlXPmc40K-iLXgwwBZ5l0TSbMMGrQEz1L4G1PNB2Eg7TR29Cx5RC-PV__vLSlPaY0hYKpA/s640/2013-06-09+10.52.23.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">goin' up!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxMF-WFD2v2Ak1ZJtwbCddwEcrfYycvPkRnzjyFBqiF27cx1k5Xzj8Vufy8rELSSE_zfbtXB-8jZQCXmOUZMju0WUUzXl7GEdE0nw37fS9N2rAi6cF3XVnVtVTdMPzeUkeMez54BC-uo5/s1600/2013-06-09+11.10.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxMF-WFD2v2Ak1ZJtwbCddwEcrfYycvPkRnzjyFBqiF27cx1k5Xzj8Vufy8rELSSE_zfbtXB-8jZQCXmOUZMju0WUUzXl7GEdE0nw37fS9N2rAi6cF3XVnVtVTdMPzeUkeMez54BC-uo5/s640/2013-06-09+11.10.28.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">nice view!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgKYtW8bSezm3nrKF8pLl2HabF5tNuFobqfEiMW3wX8ogGTpJ8KbiJ6tX_9e5Wcssw1YX52Ss2rIzgaC9sXpQ-R4wZWkRMyzIA8K79y6EPbc_A8utjVnTi-lA6H8HPfSmLUe2ZSpI32cK/s1600/2013-06-09+11.06.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgKYtW8bSezm3nrKF8pLl2HabF5tNuFobqfEiMW3wX8ogGTpJ8KbiJ6tX_9e5Wcssw1YX52Ss2rIzgaC9sXpQ-R4wZWkRMyzIA8K79y6EPbc_A8utjVnTi-lA6H8HPfSmLUe2ZSpI32cK/s640/2013-06-09+11.06.35.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">the trail came up this ridge</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6cqpwg3s9j-VyXPtHg3BniellswZ6RYGtN1i3pBZTmjdrLlBe3SX-V1tztDef_OCKllT19Y5tbE1EaIjCF0jzV5VtWqUbUWLsx6jEDjBY_MPX4PJ4K6bi9Nx643Qv20IFrspt81ptEUB/s1600/2013-06-09+11.06.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6cqpwg3s9j-VyXPtHg3BniellswZ6RYGtN1i3pBZTmjdrLlBe3SX-V1tztDef_OCKllT19Y5tbE1EaIjCF0jzV5VtWqUbUWLsx6jEDjBY_MPX4PJ4K6bi9Nx643Qv20IFrspt81ptEUB/s640/2013-06-09+11.06.29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">bow valley</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6llXUKZ5tlYhsvqX3HvmXGpFfBxV6RQa0FgFLzhCtJIkmS0-zC5YmpvmX6cnCDfwz-Wc_UtrsRcojJPgkKTwMa_2QchatfL0O0uTIJcCa8J408N6wddurcOfCNrKN6kR0sc7nYbrQ7wNF/s1600/2013-06-09+11.06.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6llXUKZ5tlYhsvqX3HvmXGpFfBxV6RQa0FgFLzhCtJIkmS0-zC5YmpvmX6cnCDfwz-Wc_UtrsRcojJPgkKTwMa_2QchatfL0O0uTIJcCa8J408N6wddurcOfCNrKN6kR0sc7nYbrQ7wNF/s640/2013-06-09+11.06.19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsCcL_ZVCWQOURQUoXMMCSjL0XuGbXldZrcI6hk8whyphenhyphenSMvVxdAoFnuZurnTvYwiqGWm8hyphenhyphendVfs55Mz82kTCb8fvYRT1ewHxl40DPIdgXaesoZ9H-W3zAUTiigF4tPNycyJBJWuCKQfct2/s1600/2013-06-09+11.05.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsCcL_ZVCWQOURQUoXMMCSjL0XuGbXldZrcI6hk8whyphenhyphenSMvVxdAoFnuZurnTvYwiqGWm8hyphenhyphendVfs55Mz82kTCb8fvYRT1ewHxl40DPIdgXaesoZ9H-W3zAUTiigF4tPNycyJBJWuCKQfct2/s640/2013-06-09+11.05.37.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">top of the ruined building</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhk1Dc-JTFen9zkwOP_jjjhfIoWKLAPyYahu4LZczX08_KqFzLdMCh9exTp7Sr182yrsX0yc9J2oO9r0j__nguiXneCJir7fBrZv6wx0yCHeAKnT2o9fkFYcISnxlgtBwdBPrkLOREzSGo/s1600/2013-06-09+11.04.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhk1Dc-JTFen9zkwOP_jjjhfIoWKLAPyYahu4LZczX08_KqFzLdMCh9exTp7Sr182yrsX0yc9J2oO9r0j__nguiXneCJir7fBrZv6wx0yCHeAKnT2o9fkFYcISnxlgtBwdBPrkLOREzSGo/s640/2013-06-09+11.04.54.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the helipad</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8693BPq5oKOI_h59g6Rxy1xnI0O4JXJIUwkO9eEMSLq73on0E3Gy2lF_9bzfVHomtko7OUY5jbvnLIhuSKz3X4FLyCblAxoqI7cOB7duhCa7G5pkKj3rq1nUdwXa9NAir7SkbD8BnJIT/s1600/2013-06-09+11.05.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8693BPq5oKOI_h59g6Rxy1xnI0O4JXJIUwkO9eEMSLq73on0E3Gy2lF_9bzfVHomtko7OUY5jbvnLIhuSKz3X4FLyCblAxoqI7cOB7duhCa7G5pkKj3rq1nUdwXa9NAir7SkbD8BnJIT/s640/2013-06-09+11.05.16.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">into the depths...<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYw_gGBHR96YojlwpKa1JYn-4B53puQbKhk34N-G8JdP7v7jlglNigl8JAdKx-7PwMXjBcHB5IT6K51Ine1bwZvtlsfXDwFL8dAQA_MwMLw9htps7OUN4yRDjGYdhfsCBN-_D_Lth-8ftp/s1600/2013-06-09+11.04.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYw_gGBHR96YojlwpKa1JYn-4B53puQbKhk34N-G8JdP7v7jlglNigl8JAdKx-7PwMXjBcHB5IT6K51Ine1bwZvtlsfXDwFL8dAQA_MwMLw9htps7OUN4yRDjGYdhfsCBN-_D_Lth-8ftp/s640/2013-06-09+11.04.00.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">inside the building looking out</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxSSLutyTiLNPBImpAGDGnzla8PSLpllohyphenhyphen2odVPrYC8OI0O55-h3axL0hJtAumCq63r_xZWQvdXhZMn_12QWb6_ZZnpYF4kCmb3pYgiWwa6KV5sI7IZKQ2n3jdcwWvBfBRqlPPNBXXOA/s1600/2013-06-09+11.03.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxSSLutyTiLNPBImpAGDGnzla8PSLpllohyphenhyphen2odVPrYC8OI0O55-h3axL0hJtAumCq63r_xZWQvdXhZMn_12QWb6_ZZnpYF4kCmb3pYgiWwa6KV5sI7IZKQ2n3jdcwWvBfBRqlPPNBXXOA/s640/2013-06-09+11.03.31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1mfxh0I0rLJgUxzZ-alnfSmvxkx4bdr0QcIWbbzP9QdahW2tstrmYuqcKeoOYFKLhWdSSzkNII26RvakZiiLvB7yaoy2SHfMkcg9yEw_tdvpUDHd1LVFleXPXeDQI3mXwwpUcPrYKSaK/s1600/2013-06-09+11.03.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1mfxh0I0rLJgUxzZ-alnfSmvxkx4bdr0QcIWbbzP9QdahW2tstrmYuqcKeoOYFKLhWdSSzkNII26RvakZiiLvB7yaoy2SHfMkcg9yEw_tdvpUDHd1LVFleXPXeDQI3mXwwpUcPrYKSaK/s640/2013-06-09+11.03.14.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">looking towards Mt. Grotto</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0F2Q_ZNpyIjD9SYHT6ziLzKJHHQFC3Mj6sClRzjdRdaG416BHnvgsxkeXkLbI1wvZBHt_f-C70xf9O7aDMALn9qgD1mRxwsMxhLLaqBMy68qOFm3yqHnxjgqe2qosyXqOYES98ITgpzR/s1600/2013-06-09+11.03.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0F2Q_ZNpyIjD9SYHT6ziLzKJHHQFC3Mj6sClRzjdRdaG416BHnvgsxkeXkLbI1wvZBHt_f-C70xf9O7aDMALn9qgD1mRxwsMxhLLaqBMy68qOFm3yqHnxjgqe2qosyXqOYES98ITgpzR/s640/2013-06-09+11.03.03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVBb-IwIR9VSxins34hF11S36bARIw0Ek_JG0ZnKPdGFhbQeTMmjvW9GxD8GNzaHuTyRtA_vSZpbh_S_lglxxogD9aDKUAuCMGxruMtIWrSAW6XTFOAWfLLTuv4kU01_wPDTZgsbefSds/s1600/2013-06-09+11.04.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVBb-IwIR9VSxins34hF11S36bARIw0Ek_JG0ZnKPdGFhbQeTMmjvW9GxD8GNzaHuTyRtA_vSZpbh_S_lglxxogD9aDKUAuCMGxruMtIWrSAW6XTFOAWfLLTuv4kU01_wPDTZgsbefSds/s640/2013-06-09+11.04.42.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"no fires" "no entry" Good thing I exited from this doorway<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyaOXHwjRSdXqLQ8BI7pVizmARUHIQqnVdfDXHSE1YihNMlndZ3PePoHVzahuAzg0snLMnmxq9mPK-uDNjL94q7f4Cvwbhxoq91Axh7Pl2YWR6vb02bSW12jqpeisGA9v-2kcRjboJvBC/s1600/2013-06-09+11.01.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyaOXHwjRSdXqLQ8BI7pVizmARUHIQqnVdfDXHSE1YihNMlndZ3PePoHVzahuAzg0snLMnmxq9mPK-uDNjL94q7f4Cvwbhxoq91Axh7Pl2YWR6vb02bSW12jqpeisGA9v-2kcRjboJvBC/s640/2013-06-09+11.01.51.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">follow the snow to find the trail back down</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0k75IFku3fi-Px-s1QegxYP05OVKCh45-Qn_rTm-wLDzwChp4CxqIhC_1fm1fNX8U7KxghkmVN5N_rQ8Q7o3yBF61BxCJ7ZD6SJDpmtrARB4Etq6oMNkkbsGOwoAps_uMoWv_yBi_IuFn/s1600/2013-06-09+11.01.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0k75IFku3fi-Px-s1QegxYP05OVKCh45-Qn_rTm-wLDzwChp4CxqIhC_1fm1fNX8U7KxghkmVN5N_rQ8Q7o3yBF61BxCJ7ZD6SJDpmtrARB4Etq6oMNkkbsGOwoAps_uMoWv_yBi_IuFn/s640/2013-06-09+11.01.19.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the tree line</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DRp7NYykPe9AXIoz4tVPLJFKkY4p4BnhX6YFJBdvIpHh9_kH_cWg-lhYHYJQRcl6wP7_hTA8XVfiRcIqVqFuyE8wWUqdDiT__IPjDOvck3JuU34DtM3aopKG56YnAhq1j-yR8SZYcS9j/s1600/2013-06-09+11.00.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DRp7NYykPe9AXIoz4tVPLJFKkY4p4BnhX6YFJBdvIpHh9_kH_cWg-lhYHYJQRcl6wP7_hTA8XVfiRcIqVqFuyE8wWUqdDiT__IPjDOvck3JuU34DtM3aopKG56YnAhq1j-yR8SZYcS9j/s640/2013-06-09+11.00.04.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">ominous view from the helipad</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">apparently para-gliders jump off here</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2T-0gmHUwh8BdP_5zwbCCi-Src54bzU6z1Ufr5O8Y1UmaHv2zadGDh88esv51xmuXZU74pBq2IrMz5qxnTfpd0S3htrrBGQ0JgVVl7cOSNQFiR0fMnpS-pfRhe20oXbFjMIpxcwiTK70/s1600/2013-06-09+10.59.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2T-0gmHUwh8BdP_5zwbCCi-Src54bzU6z1Ufr5O8Y1UmaHv2zadGDh88esv51xmuXZU74pBq2IrMz5qxnTfpd0S3htrrBGQ0JgVVl7cOSNQFiR0fMnpS-pfRhe20oXbFjMIpxcwiTK70/s640/2013-06-09+10.59.40.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I want to keep going up...</span></span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-59764206724419280332013-06-03T11:40:00.000-07:002013-06-03T11:40:39.455-07:003600km<div class="p1">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">First Monday blog-day!! Yay!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEk9CrD0Yg7viMOMfTB0cKGkWTvjLhZdtCI07IN_72HOEZDwUP5LS87NBSw6bwqXn8Doysv6rHBce531IOFsfXBfPvV0vRS1Bwe604oVI2VKs96IYXs2IdloK9zy62ydSjHv7LjxtSAjm/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEk9CrD0Yg7viMOMfTB0cKGkWTvjLhZdtCI07IN_72HOEZDwUP5LS87NBSw6bwqXn8Doysv6rHBce531IOFsfXBfPvV0vRS1Bwe604oVI2VKs96IYXs2IdloK9zy62ydSjHv7LjxtSAjm/s640/photo+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Stop. Hammer time. Yannick and I made it almost to Banff on our Sunday rollerski. The waterfall was pretty</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As most of you who follow my blog know, I am now living in Canmore Alberta and training with the World Cup Academy (one of Canada’s top, if not the top, xc ski training centers). But let's back track a bit: why did I decide to make this move?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">To simplify my motivation for this big change in scenery down to one sentence (something I’m not sure I feel comfortable doing, but will do anyway): ‘It’s because I have big goals.’ This year I want to qualify for World U23 Championships (they are in Italy!); a couple years down the line I want to be making the podium on the World Cup and in 2018 I want to qualify for the Olympics!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"Yikes! sounds ambitious", you say. "How are you gonna achieve all that?" As with most destinations, figurative or not, the end of “the road to the olympics” or, more accurately for my case, “the road to international success in skiing” can be reached in more than one way, and, to make things even more complicated, some routes may be better for certain individuals than others--so I can’t just be like: “looks like Lenny did 500hrs of training here, a camp in Maui here, this amount of intensity here and he’s really fast now!” And then just try to copy exactly what Lenny did these last couple years, ‘cause what made him fast might not be the best thing for me.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So coming off the end of the race season this year I was putting a lot of thought into how I could get to where I want to be in my sport in the most efficient fashion. With this in mind, I came up with a list of what I thought I needed to do to be faster next season (improve efficiency, improve strength, improve classic sprinting, have faster peers to train with, etc...). Upon reflexion, I realized that I could achieve most of my training goals at home or in Canmore--which is cool, but which didn’t help my decision making process at all!!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Finally after lots of pointless worrying and lots of thought on the topic, my decision came down to this: I have trained at Nakkertok for 8 years. I have developed an awesome support system in the Ottawa region, I have great facilities to train at, and I know I can get faster working at Nakkertok with Kieran as my coach. But, in Canmore I have new training partners (who also happen to be some of the best skiers in Canada!), better facilities (ice baths, mountains, a rollerski treadmill, a glacier...), and a better coach to athlete ratio. On top of this, I will get a new perspective on high-level ski training, a more focused environment, not having to drive EVERYWHERE (a 2min jog to training rather than a 20min drive is a sweet change) and some cool new trails to explore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="s1">When I realized that things were going to work financially, I decided that Canmore would be the way to go. Even if it’s not a perfect fit for my training style, I know that it will be an awesome learning experience. And a</span>s far as being ‘a perfect it for my training style’ goes, things are looking pretty good so far! Since my arrival I’ve:</span></span></div>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Finished 13hrs of training</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Went for 1 AWESOME mountain bike ride </span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Completed 1 30min rep of awesome hill climb running</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Finished more than 50km of rollerskiing</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">-Almost finished 1 tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream!</span></span></li>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And I didn't even have to drive the 3600km Cantley-to-Canmore door-to-door distance.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream Big, People!!!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSKqFYApC-qy62hPNZqfftZVugq8SZfnTUNyI3r76PKZqTUzKyfNemWbMJs_g2XeoK8gOQ8u6L1OjPvlKGlVBxC-W8M2aAWenVUTbVlbeN5-XWPiXtjJNTinqYEL9IgUWggVXQi-gPvbJ/s1600/2013-05-30+18.43.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSKqFYApC-qy62hPNZqfftZVugq8SZfnTUNyI3r76PKZqTUzKyfNemWbMJs_g2XeoK8gOQ8u6L1OjPvlKGlVBxC-W8M2aAWenVUTbVlbeN5-XWPiXtjJNTinqYEL9IgUWggVXQi-gPvbJ/s640/2013-05-30+18.43.42.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">A funny tree</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">View of the town mid-trail on our awesome mtb ride</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCQzR78LPKZIMNl6PNg6wHQDUKrSVQNK6xb_oCOXD1qKvpV6EChr-mg_GyWOEjR99tOcIFYt05iCjt9DCRrmv83YEscIBwc_uhQYg0s2Zl_EMudmHvwAGKdnaV2-ND1tXi_nZ1C0ld0cZ/s1600/2013-05-31+19.29.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCQzR78LPKZIMNl6PNg6wHQDUKrSVQNK6xb_oCOXD1qKvpV6EChr-mg_GyWOEjR99tOcIFYt05iCjt9DCRrmv83YEscIBwc_uhQYg0s2Zl_EMudmHvwAGKdnaV2-ND1tXi_nZ1C0ld0cZ/s640/2013-05-31+19.29.36.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">View of my clothing at the end of our awesome mtb ride. My white mtb shoes are no longer white!!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbYGXQCGH0iAwim2UXThdSpTYRFm3_lErkvqI0k1C5o8FN3L1Nl9X-lF-XckssT948saQuWzVg-mXVBzQX0lbvGrfARrTOohgefAJaGiM1vpQRH8XwZDSKLBjc1ZdXlpG3OfADS_Ro0gM/s1600/2013-05-31+19.29.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbYGXQCGH0iAwim2UXThdSpTYRFm3_lErkvqI0k1C5o8FN3L1Nl9X-lF-XckssT948saQuWzVg-mXVBzQX0lbvGrfARrTOohgefAJaGiM1vpQRH8XwZDSKLBjc1ZdXlpG3OfADS_Ro0gM/s640/2013-05-31+19.29.47.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Cleanin' the bikes</span></span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-17106948817948668602013-05-31T14:56:00.000-07:002013-05-31T14:56:33.482-07:00Hello Goodbye<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Goodbye Ottawa,</span></span><div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I have lived in the Ottawa/Gatineau region for the past 8 years of my life--and what amazing years they were. At first, I missed my friends in North Bay Ontario, but then I joined Nakkertok ski club, I studied at two universities, I completed my great 8 Piano, I got to work at Fresh Air Experience Ottawa, I got injured snowboarding and I became intimately familier with the terrain of the area as I ran, biked and skied all over it. Most important out of all my experiences, though, were the interactions I had with the people of the region.</span></span><div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">You guys welcomed me into the community and have supported me like family as I grew as a skier and as an individual. Now, as I make the transition to life at the Alberta World Cup Academy in Canmore, I can say that without your help I would never have been able to take this new step in the pursuit of my athletic dreams. I am missing and am going to continue to miss all of you until I am back in Ottawa again. In the mean time, rock on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Hello Canmore,</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I gotta say, I really didn't think I had a chance of making it here after I came up with a preliminary budget, for the season, in April. But it looks like I've made it--at least, that's what I'm guessing based on all the big mountains around me! After just one day in Canmore so far, I'm feeling pretty excited about the upcoming training year (not that I wasn't feeling excited already!), and do I ever have a lot to do between now and my first races in December!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As I embark on year two of my blog I wanna make a commitment to you, my readers. I feel that it will be nice to keep people at home up to date on my adventures, and with all sorts of cool ski training/life experiences coming my way I'll have a lot of cool stuff to write about! With this in mind, it is my goal to update my blog, on Monday, <i>at least</i> every two weeks from now to next April. As always, I'll try to keep stuff interesting (none of that "went skiing for two hours. It was a good workout" or "Today I raced and came 1st. I am happy" type blogging here!), I'll add a new song to the "playlist" page on my blog after each blog post and I'll put up cool pictures! My first blog post will be this Monday and I'll try to detail some of my thought process in deciding to come out here to train, as well as some of the things I've done during my first few days out west. Should be sweet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">To sum up, check back here on Mondays, have a good summer and Dream Big, People!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">--Zeke W.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW1A_9JOjzygbgNyqrKTHalgQFKY9WFpkbUaLapw94LRkvdSMZS9uOjZKUTpRB0ykuOgvqTeTh7tdzuF2tx0RF3LwSHSNJQx2s5HIBeW1J_Kg-Z60wg0bJGP8rt56rb_OlZdlu9qnJJXz/s1600/2013-05-30+18.44.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW1A_9JOjzygbgNyqrKTHalgQFKY9WFpkbUaLapw94LRkvdSMZS9uOjZKUTpRB0ykuOgvqTeTh7tdzuF2tx0RF3LwSHSNJQx2s5HIBeW1J_Kg-Z60wg0bJGP8rt56rb_OlZdlu9qnJJXz/s640/2013-05-30+18.44.01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">On flows the river of time--and on flows this river in Canmore too!</span></span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02912900837601893813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331759132295011905.post-8509000834598783602013-04-10T16:21:00.001-07:002013-04-10T16:21:39.126-07:00A map worth 1000 words<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">It seems like just yesterday that I was scraping the summer storage wax off my race skis in preparation of my first races in December. In reality, although the waxing I've been doing this past week has, once again, involved storage wax, this time it has only concerned putting it on--to keep my skis happily un-oxidized over the summer months. Yep the race season is over (although with a Winter storm warning in effect for the Ottawa area this weekend it is debatable whether or not the ski season is!!).</span></span><div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This year has been a successful season for me--I've achieved almost all my goals!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In honor of that I've put together a google map of my cool travels in the 2012/13 season for your viewing pleasure!!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=202464051556021373842.0004da08f6709a4aebee0&msa=0"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">CHECK IT OUT!</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Can't talk much more today as I've already taken enough time away from my exams, and the long process of finding sponsors for the upcoming season (wanna sponsor me?? Check out the Donate Now button on the left side of my blog or contact me about my financial needs for the 2012/13 season!! Everything helps!!!). So it's back to work for me now, but, I will continue blogging my way through the next exciting season of training and racing! I look forward to sharing my adventures with you, my loyal blog followers, in the upcoming months!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks for the interest in my exploits this year!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Dream big, people!!!!!!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJChi9B99x3f3T9XYCX0MDrhFxCWPfY3PKSqi_HS3SJUWu_5KdkwKgyxTxG3wQl9M5A-Y_0HlxEWK-BNR9ObtFNknF8_HAtRGRcYUGBL9FBTW0frpzkT5id2xoOvz7LSqlirJ1hfjbnoA4/s1600/908372_443111612436211_279200758_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJChi9B99x3f3T9XYCX0MDrhFxCWPfY3PKSqi_HS3SJUWu_5KdkwKgyxTxG3wQl9M5A-Y_0HlxEWK-BNR9ObtFNknF8_HAtRGRcYUGBL9FBTW0frpzkT5id2xoOvz7LSqlirJ1hfjbnoA4/s640/908372_443111612436211_279200758_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #6fa8dc;">Yours truly: on top of the podium and, as always, dreaming big!</span></td></tr>
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