Summer Recap, Upcoming Goals
Feeling strong and catching air during an uphill sprint in August
Happy October Team!
Wow, this is truly an overdue update. It was my plan to send an email for at least 2 months now, but as it goes - I blinked and now it is time to plan Halloween costumes! I hope everyone has had a great summer and fall with a great mud season lined up.
My summer was truly jam packed with the most productive training I have had in a few years. It kicked off with a national team training camp in Lake Placid, NY at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) where I got to experience the resources, facilities and lifestyle of the fully funded athletes. Unfortunately for me, it was only a couple of weeks, but wow did it show me how easy it is to stay on top with that as your daily life.
The early August summer national races in Jericho, VT were great, especially because it was the first series representing my new team Mountain Flow! They are an amazing company focused on bringing eco-friendly products to the ski and bike world, plus they are local to the Roaring Fork Valley!! It is an honor to wear their race suit, represent my home community and be a part of a mission I truly believe in. Check them out!
In late August, it was a blast to go on a week-long beach trip with PJ and a few friends for the first time in years. I LOVE the ocean, swimming, snorkeling, diving, humidity and sea level oxygen. (Might have to find a way to get those more often…) Coming home had me feeling fit, strong, rested, focused and ready to spend September sharpening for World Cup trials in October. Then, shortly after the trip, I got Covid for the first time 🙁
The last three weeks have been a huge bummer and derailment of my training momentum. I am still not feeling 100% energy back though symptoms are gone. I can do a 2 hour training session every other day instead of the 3-4 hours everyday I was doing all summer. But alas, it has forced me to stop and smell the wild flowers for the first time in years of ski focused life, which has honestly been really nice. I am still going to Utah for the trials races, but am approaching it cautiously knowing I am not where I want to be physically and the last thing I want is to do damage to an already stressed heart, lungs and body.
A more in depth recap of summer is below with a few thoughts on my plan for fall training and what winter goals may be now. This morning saw the first snow in the front yard here in CO and the colors of autumn have been incredible this year. Thank you all again for all your support, hope to see you sometime soon. Cheers!
Summiting Mt Moosilauke in homage to my old college time trial
Hooked up for metabolic testing on the treadmill at the OTC, NY
Racing the local kayak race down Slaughterhouse Falls
Waving from 65 feet below the waves in the Caribbean
Summer Recap:
It is hard to know where to start, this past summer holds many stories to tell. It truly was an eye opening experience to live at the OTC for a couple weeks in June. The place and everyone in it is focused solely on making the best athletes the US has. A team mate on the national team calls it “The Athlete Farm,” which is very true. Food, housing, weight rooms, recovery facilities, on campus PT’s and coaches, state of the art shooting technology and more, all at the athletes disposal. If you have the single minded focus required to be the best at Biathlon, this is a place to make it happen.
In all honesty, I believe the OTC to be best for younger athletes and at my age of 32, I appreciate having parts of my life outside of the sport with some balance. Though the training camp was very productive and I am glad to have finally seen the life of the OTC.
After spending most of June in New England, it was very refreshing to come home for 5 weeks of the most consistent training I have done in a long time. The CO summer stayed green, not too hot and I found a renewed love of the same trails, roads, gym and rhythm of dryland training here. The entire month of July flew by so quickly with routine training, I look back now realizing I did not do a single big mountain adventure or even leave the valley, but I did love what I was doing. It’s almost frightening how quickly time will go when heads down and focused on a single goal.
As mentioned above, the US Biathlon Summer National Championships happen in Jericho,VT the first weekend of every August. I flew out for those and ultimately a 2 week stay in VT where I felt my training was starting to come together very well. No one is expected to be in true race form in August, but by late August, I could tell the training was working and my body felt like the best athlete I could possibly be was being developed. It even felt like taking a week off for vacation was part of the plan for ski racing and I rarely want to take a week off.
Vacation truly was amazing. (Isn’t it always?) A week of swimming in the ocean, hiking dirt roads on an island, only needing a swimsuit to be fully dressed and not thinking about technique or breathing or max strength testing… I came home ready to push through the next 6 weeks of high quality training, building on the summer and wanting to see what I could do, albeit sad to leave the beach.
I got one week of great training before waking up with the tell-tale symptoms of our friend Covid. One week of symptoms felt manageable, a second week of resting and waiting for the negative test was even ok. But by week three of feeling fatigued and unable to feel good doing a training session two days in a row, it became clear I was not going to bounce back physiologically anytime soon. This email comes in week four where I am struggling to find the spark of motivation I held strong for the last 4+ years. I want to sleep all the time and have been enjoying focusing on things outside of training since I am too tired to train all the time. Heck, I vacuumed my truck for the first time in over a year and am amazed it only took 30 minutes to completely change the way my truck feels when sitting in it.
So, for better or for worse, I slowed down finally. My body clearly needs it a bit longer still and I am now eager to start growing a few elements of life outside of skiing. Training at the highest level I possibly could was all consuming and for years I felt great saying yes to only one thing, but in doing so I became one dimensional. I don’t want to say no to everything else anymore and I will thank covid for making me stop and breathe for a moment.
At this point, I am eager to see how my body feels in a race next weekend, though cautiously. My racing focus will most likely have to shift to December trials in VT and aim for a spot on the Euro Champs team. This gives time to bounce back fully and start looking for a job to pay these ski racing bills I’ve ignored, plus develop parts of my life not tied to physical outcomes. More to come in the next update after trials and clarity on my energy levels.
That’s it, that’s all. Thanks for reading this mega update. Cheers everyone!