Since the last post over 3 months ago (I know, my posting is infrequent and sporadic) a lot has happened. I had to say goodbye to Akeo, Ben, Riis, and Tyler as they headed out to college, checked out the Outdoor Retailer summer show to see next years toys, joined a handful of other junior skiers at the National Elite Group training camp in Park City, and overall had the best fall training of my career.
This summer I had an amazing group of guys to train with. With such an exceptional group there was always someone pushing/pulling me, constantly motivating me to train harder, faster, and most importantly smarter. In August I sadly had to say goodbye to most of them as they departed to college. My main training partner now is Karsten, and although it is just the two of us out on most sessions we've worked hard to keep that push/pull dynamic going; resulting in a few of the best months of training I've had yet.
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Couldn't of asked for a better group to train with.
(Riis, Akeo, Tyler, Karsten, Grace, Olivia, Savanna, Jenae, Maddy, and Linday) |
To someone who loves the outdoors there is nothing closer to being a kid in a candy store than the Outdoor Retailer. Salt Lake hosts this massive outdoor industry expo bi-annually and it is the best spot to check out all the new goodies from hundreds of companies in the industry.
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| 3 days isn't nearly enough time to see all of next years gear at the Outdoor Retailer |
As summer shifted to fall we put in some of the years biggest hour weeks, focusing on a mix of volume and intensity. Closer to race season we've moved more towards smaller hour weeks, exchanging some of the long workouts for shorter, much higher intensity sessions.
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| Striding it out with Tyler and Karsten |
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| Getting fast the best way possible; chasing down those who are faster. |
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| Skating up Wolf Creek Pass with Tyler |
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| Getting ready to run up Hermod's Hill this year |
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| Double pole speeds at Sugar House Park |
The definitive highlight of my fall training was the National Elite Group training camp in PC, Utah. A few junior skiers from four regions were given the opportunity to spend a week in Park City training alongside the best skiers in the country. I had an amazing time getting to know my junior skiing peers from across the country a little better and chasing the nation's fastest.
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| Teammate Olivia skiing with Jessie Diggins and Hannah Halvorsen |
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| Amazing colors in the trees as we head up American Fork Canyon |
The next couple of weeks will focus on preparing for the first races of the season; a skate sprint and skate distance race in West Yellowstone, MT and classic races the next week in Bozeman, MT. With such solid fall training under my belt I am very excited to finally start racing and sliding around on snow!
Some bonus pictures:
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| One of many cool creatures you get to see when your out running |
