(Ed. note: Ignore the date of this blog. Pretend it was posted one week ago…)br /br /Training here in the Methow has been going splendidly. We’ve been hit with the biggest snowstorm since 1996, the “Year Of The Shovel”, and the trails are in fine condition. In an exciting turn of events I moved up to Mazama to Alison’s little house at the base of Goat Wall, so now the trails are a mere twenty yards from my door. Which means that should I be in the middle of a workout and need that last little push, a nice doppio of espresso is but a thought away.br /br /Last Saturday night we got the big dump: nearly 19″ of heavy snow fell across the valley. My training plan had Sunday as a long O.D., and since the backcountry was avalanche-central with all the new stuff, it was time for a tour. We strapped on our tele gear (though I quickly reverted to my classic skis and boots for comfort) and headed out into the piles of snow.br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TQ6_yUGC3nI/AAAAAAAAAhY/5zK7zDzXY3w/s1600/BigSnow_Dec2010%2B005.jpg”img style=”display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TQ6_yUGC3nI/AAAAAAAAAhY/5zK7zDzXY3w/s320/BigSnow_Dec2010%2B005.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552586261702827634″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Nikki in her element!br /br //spandiv style=”text-align: left;”Despite facing a few feet of snow in 30-something degree temperatures with a steadily increasing drizzle, it was time to train. So, I loaded up my backpack with 100# of rocks and set out on a muscular endurance session. Alison was lucky enough to be quick with the shutter button, to catch this glimpse of me mid-interval:br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TQ7A5OIteUI/AAAAAAAAAhk/AyG34m729hs/s1600/BigSnow_Dec2010%2B008.jpg”img style=”display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TQ7A5OIteUI/AAAAAAAAAhk/AyG34m729hs/s320/BigSnow_Dec2010%2B008.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552587479874107714″ border=”0″ //abr /div style=”text-align: left;”Strength is coming on strong and the fitness feels great. Rossland, B.C. is next on the travel docket, and my first races of the year! I’m looking forward to donning a bib and seeing how my recovery has been. The plan is to race a skate sprint, and probably treat the next day’s 10K skate as a “progressive distance workout”: not hammer much above threshold and work on technique and pacing. Rock on!br //div/div/div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-41754928828431017?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
