A lesson in training



This morning, Harris, my parents and I went back to Gatineau Park, our National Capital natural treasure. This time we were there to rollerski. The forecast was calling for rain but not until this afternoon. So we were very hopeful it would stay dry, which it did, for the most part. Luckily, it only really started pouring when we were on our way home.

When I got up this morning, I felt so tired from yesterday's long hike that I was sure today's session was not going to go well. To my surprise, however, as soon as I got on my skis, I felt my energy coming back. And as we continued skiing along and I got over the initial bit of pain in my ankles from the heavy rollerskis (they are metal and so weigh much more than skis do), I started feeling even better. Today may possibly have been the first skate rollerski session that my technique (especially one-skate) actually felt super right. I was getting nice long glide on each ski and planting my poles more softly just as Patti Kitler (my provincial coach) taught me. I wish you could've been there Patti, it was a real Eureka moment! Just goes to show that you don't have to feel great when you get up to have a great race or workout session!

 

Sorry about the picture quality. It was taken with Harris's Blackberry,whereas yesterday's photos were courtesy of my awesome iPhone :)



That's all I wanted to share today. I'll have to write an explanation about rollerskiing at some point. For now, I'd better go to bed as tomorrow's Monday again. Sigh. Good night from the capital once more.

Snow was here...for a second

We finally had our first snowfall this week! Sadly, after messing with traffic and flipping a bus, it all melted away in two days. But Harris, Lindsey and I got a good ski in on Wednesday night before it all disappeared. There were a good 5 cm on the ground at Mooney's Bay and a few people had already skied before us, so we were able to follow their tracks all around the park. We even ventured over to Vincent Massey Park for a spell. All in all, we got a good hour and 15 minutes of solid (well, not that solid actually, it being the first ski) skiing in.





But now the snow is all gone, so we're busting out the rollerskis and hiking poles again. Today, Kanata Nordic racers had a training session in the Gatineau Park. We all hiked from the Old Chelsea Picnic Ground, up Penguin hill and then my parents and I continued on Trail 1, while the racers did Skyline Trail, which is very rocky and ragged, so not so great for the vision impaired. It was an overcast and gloomy sort of day, but not much beats being in the forest, smelling the fall smells and breathing the fresh air while going up and down windy forest trails. It's one of my favourite types of training. There were lots of people out on the trails today, some walking with dogs, some nordic walking with big backpacks, lots running with ski hiking poles like ourselves. My parents and I did about 2.5 hours of ski hiking, consisting of ski striding with our poles up the hills (as I'm doing in the photo), jogging down the hills and jogging or ski walking on flats. 

After training, we stopped off at Fresh Air Experience to pick out some skis for me. I've decided that it's time for me to act like a real racer and acquire more than just two pairs of good racing skis. I brought my two pairs of skis (classic and skate) with me to the store, and Duncan tested them for me to figure out what kind of conditions they are best for, so that I can buy two more pairs that will be good for different conditions. It turns out my two pairs are best for powder or hard-packed conditions, which I apparently knew without realizing it, because when Duncan asked me what I found the skis were good for I told him that the skate skis were horrible in that crazy 15 km race in Vancouver with the wet soppy snow. Duncan said his testing confirmed that those skis would be better for powder or hard-packed snow. So my new pair of skate skis is going to be better for wet conditions. For my classic skis, I said that they are really good for everything, but then amended that maybe they were not so good for Klister skiing (Klister is a horribly sticky grip wax that is used for hard-packed icy conditions in classic skiing). I was pleased to find out that I was right - based on the testing Duncan did with Fresh Air's very cool ski testing machine, my classic skis had no Klister pocket, so they would be no good on Klister days. So I will be getting a new pair of Klister skis. Unfortunately, they didn't have these two types of skis for my height and weight, so I've been put on the list of racers waiting for new skis and they will keep an eye on their new arrivals for skis that will fit what I'm looking for. I was super impressed with the way I was treated at Fresh Air today. I've always been treated super nice by Chris and everyone else there, but I've never had such special racer treatment before. If ever, anyone is looking for cross country ski equipment or bicycles in the Ottawa area and beyond, I highly recommend Fresh Air Experience. They have the best prices, very knowledgeable staff, and you can shop online. And as you can see, they really get to know their customers. And that's my positive rant for the day.

We were supposed to have a development training camp for the Eastern half of the country next weekend, but as there is no snow in Mont Ste-Anne, QC, it probably won't happen. The coaches are making the call on Monday. Either option is fine by me, since going to this camp meant that I couldn't attend my friend's wedding. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. 

I'm going rollerskiing in the Gatineau Park tomorrow morning, and I really hope it doesn't rain as much as they're calling for! If anyone is readying this, please think of snow for me. I'd like to try out my new skis when I get them and to actually get off the pavement before races start!

And that's the end of this lengthy update. Good night from Ottawa! 

Gatineau Loppet: 10 km free

Today's race went really great. I posted a time of 36:24, which is definitely a personal best, and this time I'm on the results list, which can be found here. I made sure to not forget a single thing today, including first and foremost my transponder as well as my heartrate watch and sunglasses. Our radios only worked one way for some reason, but thankfully I could hear Robert and he couln't hear me, not the other way around. We also got a little boxed in at the beginning of the race and had to pass people really aggressively to get out of there. This all happened on Pink's Lake hill, incidentally the biggest hill in the race, so we really had to push it up that hill to free ourselves from the crowd. Thanks to Robert's superb passing techniques and great guiding, we finally got out of there and could race our own race at our own pace. We worked on pushing over the tops of the hills instead of just cruising over and losing all our speed. It's really hard to do, but it's a necessary component of a good race. My pushing-over still needs work, but it's getting better. We also worked on a consistently fast pace, as it was an easy course and 10 km is not such a long distance that you can really pace yourself too much. We went down Pink's Lake hill in the tracks because they were faster than the middle of the trail, but I still get scared of the speed I pick up in the tracks and tend to slow myself down. That still needs work as well.

After the race was done, a few people came to talk to me and wish me good luck at the Paralympics. I thought that was really nice, and I really appreciate everyone's support. Robin McKeever was in town for the Gatineau Loppet: he won the 49 km loppet both days. He also came over to say hi and to congratulate me on my progress in the World Cups. That was awesome as well. I also got to meet a little girl, the daughter of a teacher from Robert's school. She was very impressed once her dad told her that I was the girl from the Cheerios box that was going to the Paralympics. She said "I thought you were much older, like 40 or something!" I thought that was pretty funny.

My fiancé, Cliff, completed his first ever ski race today. He was not sure about it, thinking that he was not a good enough skier, but he said that the race was surprisingly easy and that he really enjoyed it. His time was just over 50 minutes for a 10 km, which is a great time for a first race! He says he might do a few more races next season. 

So it was a very successful weekend overall. Everyone had a good time and we had great races. I was first in my age category both days (I looked at the results to see where I would fit in for the first day), and in the top 10 for women overall. That's great for a blind skier racing in an able-bodied race, even if it is a more recreational type of race. And on this happy note, I bid you good night from Ottawa.

Gatineau Loppet: 16 km classic

Today I took part in the 32nd edition of the Gatineau Loppet in the Gatineau Park. My pre-race prep was a bit of a disaster as I seem to have suffered an episode of amnesia. Well, not really, but I managed to somehow forget to put on my timing transponder along with my heartrate watch. The heartrate watch I could easily do without, but the transponder anklet was the only way to get an official time for the race. But I forgot it and remembered about it with only 5 minutes left before the start. My dad wasn't able to bring it for me in time, though he ran as fast as he could. I did the race without it and I'm not on the results list, but I had a great race in my own humble opinion. My guide, Robert, thought that my diagonal stride was very good, but my double-poling was not as strong. I agree with him: there is definitely work to be done on my upper-body strength in order to improve my double-poling. I think that I can do the technique, I just lack the strength to make it work well for me. Here's a picture of me double-poling with only a kilometre or so left to go.

In other respects, despite pretty poor snow conditions on the trails (the Parkway portion was great), I thought the race went very well. We paced ourselves through the whole thing, I went strong up all the hills, and we were able to communicate the whole time, thanks to Jamie's leaving his club's radios for us to practise with after Germany.

We also ran into a little glitch with the radios this morning. Alexei must have had the same amnesia bug as I, as he forgot to bring us the pouches for the radios that go around your waist. But thanks to someone's brilliant idea and Chris from Fresh Air being the awesome helpful guy that he is, we were able to borrow a waterbottle holder from Fresh Air Experience for the race. It doubled just fine as a radio holder. Thanks Chris and Fresh Air!

It would have been nice to have an official time, but I'm not too upset about this. As Harris said when we ran into him after he had finished his 49 km loppet (great job, Harris!), thank God this happened here and not at the Paralympics. After all, this was just a training race, and one to help us get all the kinks out. And now I will always remember to put my transponder anklet on as soon as I get it, even before the bib number!

Tomorrow is the 10 km free, and I am certain things will go better for us. Cliff gets to do his first ski race tomorrow too, so that'll be exciting for him and everyone else. Go Cliff! Alright, it's bed time for us now. Good night!

Back in Canada

Judging by my lack of writing, you have probably already figured out that I'm back in Ottawa. It's funny how much busier one is when they're at home. I've been back for a week, and I have a couple more weeks at home before I head back out. I'm leaving for Canmore, this time for Para-Nordic Nationals, on February 26, and from there, if all goes according to plan, we head to Vancouver/Whistler on March 8. For now, I'm just taking a little break from hard-core racing, seeing some of my friends, hanging out with my fiancé, watching the Olympics, and of course, getting the last bit of training in before the Games.


Cliff, Jenna and I checking out the ice sculptures at Winterlude (Jesse F. was there too: he took the picture :))

Last weekend, we got lots of skiing in in the Gatineau Park. We did another biathlon simulation on Sunday, focusing on faster shooting. I shot 22 out of 25 with range times of around 1 minute to 1:10. Those are much faster range times than I had in my World Cup races, where I usually took over 2 minutes to shoot. If I can emmulate this at the Paralympics, it would help me a lot. I also worked on some high-speed downhill corners last weekend because we figure that is where I can gain some speed in my races in the short time we have left. Step-turning around difficult corners has always been really difficult for me, but snowplowing around them makes me lose most of my speed. This means I have to start climbing the next hill almost from a dead stop, while my competitors' speed carries them up part of the hill. In Whistler, the most important thing for me will be to get really familiar with all of the downhills, so that I can go down them confidently and let my momentum carry me up as far as possible.

Next weekend is the Gatineau Loppet in the Gatineau Park, and I'm taking part in its shorter distances this year: the 16 km classic and 10 km free. It'll be good to do another couple of races before Nationals the weekend after and the Paralympic Games in March. The Gatineau Loppet is especially valuable experience because it is a mass start and it will allow me to practise racing in a crowd, passing people and being passed.

Well, it's time to do some shooting practice. It's my day off but it's always good to practice shooting whenever possible. After all, there are only a few weeks left! Good morning from Ottawa.

A little training update

Our European tour is fast approaching, and as a result, my coaches, my guide and I have stepped up our training. Since recovering from my Holiday-time cold, I've been doing lots of volume (longer skis) and  more intensity (harder skis). This increase has been taking a bit of a toll on my body though: I was really tired all of last weekend and Monday.

I had an amazing training session yesterday though thanks largely to having a back and leg massage a few hours before my workout. My quad muscles had been getting tired and stiff really easily during workouts lately, so my massage therapist performed Active Release Techniques (ART) on them yesterday. He explained that, from constant use and rubbing together, the muscles making up the quad group can get stuck together and not work properly. Using ART can help separate the muscles thus making them slide across each other and perfom their functions as they should. And what a difference that massage session made! I was able to go up the Pink Lake hill in the Gatineau Park, about a 7-minute uphill interval, five times without my quad muscles giving out on me as they had been. I encourage all athletes reading this to use the services of an ART-certified massage therapist. If you don't know one in the Ottawa area, ask me for a recommendation.

This weekend we have a couple of time trials planned with our Kanata Nordic coach, Harris, in the Gatineau Park to test ourselves before we head out for the World Cups. We were considering going to a race a few hours away, but thought better of it, what with the risk of getting sick and over-tired from travelling right before our big trip. I've got two more workouts planned for today as well, and I should be heading out for one of them as I write. So, I shall bid you good afternoon from Ottawa and head out to Mooney's Bay! 

A snowy blowy day

It was really windy and snowy in the Gatineau Park today. There was lots of snow coming down and blowing around. All the icicled tree branches from the Boxing Day ice storm kept hitting each other and making a weird glass-like sound overhead. I kept thinking they were going to fall and hit me in the head. They did fall onto the trail, and it felt like we were skiing over little shards of glass. One actually hit my hand, but it didn't hurt or anything. This almost blizzard with falling ice didn't scare away the skiers though. There were swarms of them on the trails, many with little kids in tow.

Robert and I skied mostly up and down Trail 5 today. There are some nice downhills with corners on there. We practised a few of them several times, trying to stay as close together as we could and step-turn rather than snowplow. It wasn't all that hard to do today considering the amount of fresh snow on the trail. We could be perfectly in control since there was no ice to slip on. The only obstacles we had to negociate were other skiers. It still made for good practice though. I'm slowly regaining my health and strength. It really sucks to be sick right in the middle of on-snow season when every practice counts. But things like this happen to everyone, and there is not much that can be done about it now.

Tomorrow there is no one to take me up to the Gatineaus, so I will have to ski at Mooney's Bay. I really hope they have been grooming! It's also my two weeks to have the biathlon rifle so I will have to go over to my parents' place (my dad is one of my coaches) to practise shooting tomorrow.

Good night from Ottawa.

2010 is finally here!

Today, just as a day, deserves a post. It is the first day of the year 2010, the year all Canadian winter athletes have been waiting for and dreaming of. It's hard to believe that it's actually here and the wait is almost over!

I haven't actually mentioned this yet, but I'm one of the athletes long-listed for the 2010 Paralympic Games, and this is going to be my year to shine. No matter how I do in the Games, I will cherish every moment of this unique experience that comes along only once in a lifetime for a select few. And of course you are all welcome to come along for this unbelievable ride!

I have actually been sick with some annoying clingy cold for the last few days. But I'm much better today, and I hope to have left all sickness in 2009. Now the final stages of training begin.

I went for a nice long ski in the Gatineau Park today, and here's what it looked like

a veritable winter wonderland.

Lots and lots of snow has been falling slowly over Ottawa, and it's expected to continue doing so for the next little while. This means lots and lots of good skiing for a healthy me.

I leave for Europe on January 19. Until then, Robert and I have our work cut out for us. Lots of technical trails in the Gatinea Park to improve our guide-athlete sync, and lots of good intervals to get ourselves ready for whatever Europe will throw at us.

When the time comes, we will be ready.

For now though, Happy New Year and good night from the snowy nation's capital.

December training update

We've now got lots of snow here in Ottawa, and the skiing up in the Gatineau Park has been awesome. I just went for a nice classic ski tonight. It was a little chilly out there, but the park's got lots of trees to protect us from the wind, which is the worst part of the Ottawa winter. Classic-ing felt weird after all that time spent on skate rollerskis this summer and fall. I couldn't really engage my grip zone on the uphills because either (a) I didn't have enough grip wax or the right kind of grip wax or (b) I've got to get my classic technique back! Either way, it was good to do some classic hills in anticipation of some classic racing this weekend.

I'm off to Thunder Bay on Friday. It's kind of ironic that we're going there considering that they hardly have any snow and we've got lots of great snow. Oh well, as my coach Patti says, it'll be good experience in preparation for our trip to Europe this year. With Europe, you never know what kind of snow you're gonna get! Could be white and fluffy, could be icy, could be brown and puddly. So you've got to be prepared for the worst.

On a training note, I'm still having some trouble getting out for a ski. Mooney's Bay hadn't been groomed yet on Monday, so I ended up just having to do some shooting at home. Yesterday, my dad and I did get out for a ski at Mooney's Bay, but it was kind of similar to doing moguls. Very bumpy! But I must admit, it's better than nothing. Thankfully, we were able to get out to the Gatineaus with my guide, Robert, today, but tomorrow it's back to Mooney's Bay. Though we'll have to wait and see: so far the forecast is for -15 with a wind chill of -22 tomorrow afternoon. And who knows what it'll be like in the evening!

That being said, I'm almost done working for the winter. I go on International Sporting Event Leave starting Dec. 24, and then I'll be able to ski during the day, granted only at Mooney's Bay, but hey, I'll be out in daylight!

Alright, this entry is getting a little long, and I'd better go to bed. So good night from Ottawa!