Nipika and Canmore

So I really fell off the wagon for keeping you up to date on the testing week. I only ended up completing 2 tests, the uphill double pole and uphill legs only. My physio therapists advised me to stay off the ankle. The double pole test went very well, it was a great push to have Thomsen and Pate on faster skis. I finished right with Thomsen, Pate was just on our heels. Its is great to have a solid group of guys to be able to push each other like we did! The legs only test was a total gongshow! I am a weakling, so I have had a bit of a focus shift to strengthen the legs up a bit.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to Nipika with team 2010, we had a solid week of training filled with volume and intensity. A great sesh for all of us! Now I am in Canmore right now chilling out with Amanda and going to try and jump into some great intensity sessions with Phil and Sean ( sorry can't get Sean's websie to link) Other than that i will be headed back home to resume training with the team.


until next time!

C

Up hill testing.

So far the ankle has been holding up great! we just did our 1km up hill double pole test. My previous time was 4:18 and I was able to come close to it a few days prior, 4:19 during an on my own intensity session. So I did the test with the rest of the team and after the break at the top of the hill Thomsen, Pate and I were out front, as the test progressed I ended up finishing just behind Thomsen and ahead of Pate. I had smashed my old record and posted a new time of 3:46 significantly better! Thanks boys for the push! Now time for the legs only. This test showed improvement but nothing to write home about! I was 5 seconds faster than previous. But hey, I did improve. Here is where you can check out some pics and a short write up from Erik Nilsson.
...ok the link wont load i will add it later today!
More updates to come.
V02 max testing on the treadmill tomorrow!

C

Testing week

Well I have decided to play it safe and not run the uphill time trial. I was honestly looking forward to running this and smashing my old time. It was going to happen. I went to physio today and got turned right around. Turns out the roofers decided to finish the roof work today instead of last night...funny thing IT POURED LAST NIGHT!!! The place was a disaster! so no physio for me. from there I headed to a follow up appointment with a doctor to go over x-rays. No problems there. Although they did find an old hairline fracture on the outside of my ankle (unrelated) but things were ok they said. So I have made it my personal mission to make the double pole test mine. I will head to the access road tomorrow and try a few different strategies and see what saturday will bring. I will keep you posted through the week hopefully with some pics!



C

Rest week wrap up and straight into testing...

Well my rest week did not start the way I wanted it to. On monday we were running one of our monitoring tests up at Alice lake and I re-sprained my ankle (from Peachland) bad. It swelled up like a "Cankle" that is where it looks like your calf runs straight to your heel, Thanks Zach... anyway it has stayed huge up until today where I had some major Physio work on it. needless to say an hour and a half in there brought the swelling down.

Notice the swelling and bruising around the lower foot and heel.

Notice the lack of swelling and bruising on my right foot.

Just a little example that pic was taken 1 week after. Rest week went well I still managed to log the recovery hours I aimed for and relatively painless.

It was quite easy to sit around with my foot in an ice bucket or use the icing machine lent to me, Thank you Stacey and Al, I am sure I will owe some babysitting for that but very worth it! anyway back to me finding it easy to sit and do nothing, thanks to the Olympics, which had been relatively quiet for Canada up until a few days ago! so I will continue to nurse my anklle through the coming week with a test about every other day. Tomorrow I will go up to the Callaghan to do some speed work, Thursday has the uphill run on the agenda, I hopefully will do this, the PT was still a little unsure I should do it. Saturday is the double pole/no pole test up the venue road. finishing next tuesday with V02 max test.

Post testing I will sneak away to Invermere a few days before starting our joint camp with team 2010 at Nipika resort, just outside of Radium. So the next few weeks are going to be very busy and super fun!

until next time

C

Elfin lakes OD

Yesterday Jesse (my teammate), Erik Nilsson and I had decided to take a trip up to Elfin lakes. Last fall we used this area a couple of times for early snow crust skiing. Arriving at the lower parking lot we were greeted by a bear, I am sure we woke him up and as well as almost hit him with a rock...Jesse proving he did hear a noise in the trees. So we head off on our hike. It is about a 45 min hike/run up to the plateau where you can do more running than hiking. Once you reach the lake you can continue on to hike up to the saddle or continue on to a glacier. Our workout was only 3 hours so we headed towards the saddle for a little ways before turning around. The weather has been exceptional here in Squamish with temperatures reaching the low 30's. Next week we go into a rest week before starting our testing block the following week. On the run Erik and I managed to get a few great shots of the hike...Enjoy


Chris

Elfin Lakes
Jesse and I enjoying the run!!!Erik on his way up the saddle

Jesse and Erik

Haig Glacier 2008

This past week I made the trip to Canmore, Alberta to spend the week at the Haig Glacier in Kananaskis country. It's a 18km run hike in to the camp where we sleep, eat and relax during the week. Our hike to the glacier from camp is 2.4 km one way and 1000 feet vertical. It takes about 40 minutes for myself to hike. I managed to put in a solid week of training and have a great time as well! This camp is great for 2 reasons; The training at altitude is great for boosting the oxygen carrying capacity in my body, as well as for working on some on-snow technique in the middle of the summer! So far I have been able to ski during every month of the year this year. After hiking to the glacier, skiing and then returning to camp we work on recovering and regenerating for future workouts in the week.

It was exciting to also have some younger up and comers from my home club in Burns Lake attending the camp, I don't remember the last time 3 Omineca skiers attended a BC team camp together. I also have to add that only 20 BC athletes were selected for the camp!

All in all it was a great camp my ankle held up just fine and solid training was put in by everyone there, big gains were made in technique from every single skier and some delicious desserts made from various athletes!


until next time...


C

Land of Peaches...

I have just returned from Peachland where I was lucky enough to be involved in the one of many Outreach camps put on by the National ski team. The 4 day camp consisted of rollerskiing, ski walking, running, strength and of course some much needed lake Okanagan time!! with temperatures reaching near and slightly above 40 degrees by the final day of camp one could see the effects of it on almost every person at the camp! We had many adventures such as double poling up the Coquihalla highway...Sketchy...But all in all it was a great camp it gave the younger aspiring athletes a chance to see the big guys out there training...or at least attempting to. Emily and myself don't deal with training in that heat so well. It was amazing I was probably drinking about 1.5-2 litres of sport drink per hour while training and guzzling water back in between workouts and it was as though I could not get enough liquids in me. The nights at camp started to get warmer and warmer in the cabins at the bible camp which only meant that sleeping became harder and harder with 5 guys in a small 15x 15 cabin. The final night Sam, my teammate had decided at 3 am to take a 30 minute cold shower...apparently it helped him sleep afterward.

So Sunday, the final day of camp arrives. I am debating running the run scheduled for that morning or just calling it a week and heading back early. So the final decision comes down to sure it will be nice to get a quick burn in before sitting in the car for 4 hours. After all Amy said it would be 45 mins. So I show up at the trail head and was then informed it would be minimum 1:15, not so big of a deal, except I planned for 45 mins worth of water, still no biggie. So we get about 45 minutes in and start descending to the lake we are running around...POP! I roll my ankle...Bad. I am lying on the ground trying to watch my P's and Q's while the younger kids start to surround me. I am mad. So I turn around and start heading back for the car. Hobbling. So Amy and Emily join me so they could go ahead and get the van. Long story short, I got back to camp with my grapefruit of an ankle ice it a bit and clean up my bunk, jump in the car and drive home. Next day I decide to get x-rays just to be sure. Good news, just a level 1 sprain to 2 of the 3 ligaments in my foot. should be good in a week. At least it better be I have a haig camp! anyway thats enough ranting from me for today. just thought I would let everyone know what was going on. i'll keep ya updated on my status.

until next time.


C