So we have been back in Park City for a little while now, but we don’t have to much time until we leave again for our last camp. While we have been here, we have started our next intensity camp been really focusing on zones and technique. It has been nice as our team has been training with Tad Elliot of the US Cross Country team and mixing it up a little.
This week we have had two time trials one at Soldier Hollow and one up Lambs Canyon on Parleys Canyon. I have really been trying to focus on pacing as that is one of my main problems. This whole week was a very good week to work on specific skills like that, as you need to pace yourself very well in these hard intervals to make sure you are in the right zone and you don’t spend too much energy at the wrong time. During the intervals I was getting my altitude lungs back inside me as it is a little harder to keep the same pace you do in Europe for the most part. It always feels good to be able to push the pace a little and make your body tired, as it helps me stay healthy and on track.
Our first time trial was down at soldier hollow. This course is the standard for all of our race as it is very hard but is an actual cross country course. We have done this course countless times and you know how much it hurts. For some reason, I always make it hurt a little more than I should as I go hard in the first laps and don’t have the strength for the last lap. For this race, I really wanted to focus on “Negative Splits” which means make each lap faster than the previous lap. I did that really well and skied the last lap almost 30 seconds faster than the first. The result of this was the energy and power I had for the last part of the race in which everyone is dying and slowing down. To master this technique is very challenging with the different course and also takes a lot of confidence.
The second race was a little IN-TEAM competition. We all took one jump on the HS134 before heading down to Lambs Canyon. Lambs Canyon is a very challenging hill climb which truly tests your physical ability. I had a pretty decent jump, but had some problems in the air and didn’t get the effect I was hoping for. Bryan won the jumping portion and started :54 second ahead of myself in Second place. I wanted to go out the same way as the previous time trial conservative and smooth. As I got further up the course, I wanted to increase the speed and power. I ended up having a very good time trial and winning the competition with a large margin.
I was very happy with this week, as I came away with great results and great feelings. Coming up in the next couple of weeks, our team will be training with the Norwegian Nordic Combined Team as they are hear for some altitude training. Also we will be heading to Europe for our last camp of the summer as we lock in all of our equipment before the first competitions of the year in Lillehammer, Norway on November 24th.
This week we have had two time trials one at Soldier Hollow and one up Lambs Canyon on Parleys Canyon. I have really been trying to focus on pacing as that is one of my main problems. This whole week was a very good week to work on specific skills like that, as you need to pace yourself very well in these hard intervals to make sure you are in the right zone and you don’t spend too much energy at the wrong time. During the intervals I was getting my altitude lungs back inside me as it is a little harder to keep the same pace you do in Europe for the most part. It always feels good to be able to push the pace a little and make your body tired, as it helps me stay healthy and on track.
Our first time trial was down at soldier hollow. This course is the standard for all of our race as it is very hard but is an actual cross country course. We have done this course countless times and you know how much it hurts. For some reason, I always make it hurt a little more than I should as I go hard in the first laps and don’t have the strength for the last lap. For this race, I really wanted to focus on “Negative Splits” which means make each lap faster than the previous lap. I did that really well and skied the last lap almost 30 seconds faster than the first. The result of this was the energy and power I had for the last part of the race in which everyone is dying and slowing down. To master this technique is very challenging with the different course and also takes a lot of confidence.
The second race was a little IN-TEAM competition. We all took one jump on the HS134 before heading down to Lambs Canyon. Lambs Canyon is a very challenging hill climb which truly tests your physical ability. I had a pretty decent jump, but had some problems in the air and didn’t get the effect I was hoping for. Bryan won the jumping portion and started :54 second ahead of myself in Second place. I wanted to go out the same way as the previous time trial conservative and smooth. As I got further up the course, I wanted to increase the speed and power. I ended up having a very good time trial and winning the competition with a large margin.
I was very happy with this week, as I came away with great results and great feelings. Coming up in the next couple of weeks, our team will be training with the Norwegian Nordic Combined Team as they are hear for some altitude training. Also we will be heading to Europe for our last camp of the summer as we lock in all of our equipment before the first competitions of the year in Lillehammer, Norway on November 24th.
