Now that we’re several weeks into spring I thought it necessary to offer an update on the MOD Squad. First and foremost, the roster has been changed: this year’s line-up features veterans Erik Bjornsen and Sam Naney and newcomer (though veteran in all respects skiing) Torin Koos. As Sadie prepares to join the competitive collegiate program at Alaska Pacific University this August, we’re excited to add Torin to the crew and we’re all confident his presence will raise the bar for the team as a whole.br /br /We had our first official team “workout” last Wednesday when Scott, Erik, Torin and I went for a backcountry tour up on Washington Pass. As it happens it was also Torin’s first time backcountry skiing in the North Cascades (unfortunately the snow was crap)! The dynamic is great and we’re looking forward to a summer of training. Torin and I have already begun our winner-takes-all yearlong competition for C2 double-pole ergometer dominance, measured by max wattage. Just to keep him on his toes, here are the results from our first heat:br /br /Sam: 824 wattsbr /Torin: 725 wattsbr /br /For my own sake, the beginning of the season has been great. I was able to cheat a bit and get some extra weeks of training in April as I ended my season early. One of my top goals for this dryland season is to get a bunch more running in my training and already I’ve gotten in several 2+ ventures and can already feel the benefits. This summer I’ll be leading Methow Valley Junior Team’s dryland training so I’m also looking forward to getting the junior athletes out in the mountains for some long ODventures. I also got a new cross bike this year; with all the miles of Forest Service roads we have in the Methow this is going to be a great training tool; Scott’s already put some standing bike efforts on my plan as an additional threshold-type workout.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S-MbY46oixI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/zMktiQDr4l0/s1600/major_jake.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S-MbY46oixI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/zMktiQDr4l0/s320/major_jake.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468244486967036690″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”The Kona Major Jake CX Bike – hours of fun!br /br //spandiv style=”text-align: left;”I also got the chance this past Saturday to get in my first intensity session in a few months at the Sunflower Relay. This is race I’ve done for years, since I was about 12 years old. Until this year it was a 21 mile relay/iron event from Mazama – Twisp. Teams were required to have someone over 40, someone under 14, and at least one female. This year they extended the race to a full marathon and added a leg to the relay, and eliminated the team stipulations. There was still a category for “traditional” teams (i.e. the over 40, under 14 and female req’s) and I jumped on one of those. It was a great opportunity to test how my fitness has been coming along this spring, and to blow out the cobwebs in the upper end of my HR. It also got me super excited to race and I can’t wait until the end of this month when I’ll participate on a Ski to Sea team in Bellingham in the 8K xc ski leg. Stay tuned!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S-MdJLK2YxI/AAAAAAAAAaA/T5CHi-MpSdE/s1600/sunflower_sam.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S-MdJLK2YxI/AAAAAAAAAaA/T5CHi-MpSdE/s320/sunflower_sam.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468246416012239634″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”First race effort of the 2010-11 season -/span Sunflower Relay 2010br //div/div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-1024828290424103184?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
