August Update with the Whistler training camp

What a month! I guess I should probably go all the way back to where I left off on my last post (sorry about the time gap). As I mentioned at the end of my last post, the first week or so of August was a low training time for me, as I was recovering from the 3 preceding weeks of hard training, and it was also when Jacquelyn's sister, Lindsey, and our friend Jeremy from back home were coming out to visit. The four of us had a great time that week, exploring everything between here in Canmore and Lake Louise.

For my birthday we all, along with my roommate Bob, went to Banff for the day to check out what the town's day life was like (I have lived here for 14 months and have never done this, crazy, I know), and then stayed there and enjoyed Banff's night life before walking up to Tunnel Mountain, which is not actually as far as it might sound, and camping overnight. A few days later Jeremy, Lindsey, Jacquelyn and I all went to Lake Louise. The three of them took in the sights of Moraine Lake road as I did my workout for the day, before heading up and canoeing on the lake, which was absolutely gorgeous. (Pictures from these adventures can be found on our Facebook pages). The next day, August 12th, the four of us drove to the Calgary Airport and Jacquelyn and I had to say our goodbyes as her and Lindsey were heading home for the rest of the summer before starting university in September. After a few difficult moments of desperately trying to keep myself composed, Jeremy and I managed to escape the airport and find our way back to Canmore. Jeremy stayed the night and then headed out for Saskatchewan the next morning. It wasn't really until Jeremy left that I realized how much I had become used to having extra people in the house... Everything soon became very quiet around here.

However, my spirits were lifted by that great passion of mine that is now my life: skiing and training. Two days after Jeremy left, myself and the rest of my team packed up and started our trip to Whistler for our 4th training camp of the year. This camp would total 10 days and consist of training in Kamloops, Whistler and Salmon Arm. This was a great camp not only for the obvious reasons like getting to do tons of training in new, cool places, but also because we had a guest coach for the first half of the camp. Peter Larsson, retired Swedish sprinter and 6 time World Cup winner, accompanied us for our first 5 or 6 days of the camp, teaching and helping us with some of the latest techniques and tactics.

After a great time in Whistler, the morning of the 24th rolled around and it was time to pack up and start the journey home. For me, this journey started in Pemberton, about 30km outside of Whistler, where I hopped on my bike and started what would be a gruelling four hour ride with some killer climbs. Unfortunately for me, these climbs were just made harder by my bike having a small chain ring which no longer works. So I spent these four hours in big ring, which may have made me go faster, but it definitely took its toll on my body in the following days. After finishing up this ride, which for me was about 100km and brought me to Lillooet BC, we all hopped in the vans and drove to Salmon Arm where we spent the night. The next morning we woke up and did a great sprint workout in the farmlands of BC before continuing on our way and driving home to Canmore.

I am now finally settled into my normal life of training and working, with some slight changes. I am currently working on changing my diet, which I realize to many people is not very interesting haha, but I am hoping that it will have a significant impact on my fitness level and racing this season. I am also awaiting the arrival of my third roommate, Matt Wylie, who is going to be moving in at some point today.

That's about all that has been going on this past month, so it's safe to say that I am now pretty exhausted, and very happy about this week being a rest week.

Until next time, cheers.