The unseasonably beautiful weather during the Lake Placid camp broke hard on Thursday night and the blue skies and warm days turned to the more typical cold, cold October rain. Our last two workouts in the Adirondacks were a classic sprint simulation on Friday and a long OD run on Saturday. They were also two of the coldest training sessions that I can remember.
During the sprint on Friday I went through my entire training wardrobe trying to stay warm. Along with the USST, NEG, Sun Valley, Vail, and the NENSA crew, we ran a classic sprint from prelim to finals. The mildly uncomfortable 40 degree rain turned to extremely uncomfortable 32 degree rain and then finally snow by the time we were warming down. Staying warm was basically an impossibility, no matter how many times I changed into dry clothes between heats.
Dylan coming through one of many puddles on the sprint course. (Photo: Topher Sabot)
The rain aside, it was a good day. Dylan and Pat both looked really strong in their heats, and despite a crash in my semifinal, I felt good all day long as well. It was fun to mix it up with the National Team boys and build a little confidence before heading to Europe after a secluded summer in Craftsbury.
Tim chasing up the finish hill in the quarters. (Vordenberg)
Saturday we headed out for a long run in Keene Valley. Simi, the brothers Rodgers, and the rest of the Sun Valley crew and I opted out of the rollerski and decided to brave whatever the Nor’Easter had left behind up high. It proved to be too much for us to finish the original loop we had planned out over Wolfjaws, Hedgehog and Rooster Comb back into Keene Valley. Instead, we hit about 18″ of snow at around 3000′ and it took over two hours to bag the first peak. We opted to turn around at the top and it still took over 3 hours to get back to the car. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pics from this one- it was full on winter up there, but we were also full on freezing and didn’t stop for much on the way down.
A huge thanks to the McClelland family for hosting me and Sylvan during the camp and also feeding a handful of hungry skiers after a long run, not to mention having the sauna burning hot when we got back. I’m home in Craftsbury now for a week and then it’s across the pond to Finland for first snow and the season opening races.
Patty crushing his heat. (Sabot)
