Canadians in America: Canada, U.S. Hold First Camp in Bend, Oregon

With American Justin Wadsworth now at the helm of the Canadian National Team, it should come as little surprise that the first camp of the year for the Canadians is being held in Bend, Oregon, in conjunction with the USST. “I wanted my first camp with the team to be really dialed in, in a place I really felt comfortable with,” said Wadsworth on Wednesday “I just wanted a really good quality camp with good dryland training opportunities, and somewhere new for the team.”

The entire Canadian National Team is present, with the notable exception of Alex Harvey, who is currently in school.

While the two countries have different workout plans for most days, the locations are always similar.

For the Canadians, the morning training location is always the same, Mt. Bachelor. The workouts vary from 3 hour distance skis, zone 3 (level 3) intensity sessions, and sprints. Often the Canadians and Americans find time to ski at least a least a few kilometers together, regardless of whether they have the same work out scheduled or not.

In the past, there had not been a lot of coordination of workouts between the two national teams, and while Wadsworth says he and Chris Grover are “not going to force the issue,” the two countries will benefit from working together, “especially our sprinters.”

The sprinters ended up training with each other a large amount. They worked on starts; both teams brought their own start gates, and engaged in head-to-head sprints. “Our sprinters have really had some good opportunities to go against each other,” Wadsworth said.

In the afternoons, the training sessions are often dry land. Earlier this week, the two national teams did an afternoon roller ski intensity workout. Despite having a great time challenging each other, they had their drink belts and shirts stolen.

Ski conditions up at Mt. Bachelor have been different from the usual firm and icy tracks this time of year. The very few clear days have resulted in mushy and soft trails. Wadsworth said that despite the unusual poor conditions, “Mt. Bachelor has been doing a really excellent job preparing the track for everything we needed for every workout.”

The two countries have done two sprint sessions, double pole intensity, and intervals together. Wadsworth described the team as “excited for each workout.”

However, it has not been all skiing and hard training. The two teams have managed to find time for some quality rest and recovery time, as well as few fun workouts.

Sunday afternoon the Canadians had a run to Smith Rock, an internationally renowned climbing location. Golfing, slacklining and a Band of Horses concert were all included in the past few days, and the two teams also faced off in a soccer match on Monday afternoon before heading separate ways for a strength workout.

The Canadian National Team remains in Bend, Oregon until today (June 3^rd) when the training camp ends.