Bend!

Bend is just an awesome place to train in the spring. Like Alaska, it too has mountains near by that are high enough to hold snow well into the spring and summer, but unlike Alaska when you leave the mountains after training in the morning, it is sunny, summery, dry, and beautiful. I was fortunate enough to get invited to the U.S. Ski Team camp being held there and eagerly jumped at the opportunity to go. Our days consisted of getting up early to hit the snow up at Mt. Bachelor and then enjoying the trails around Bend in the afternoon via foot and bike. 

I started in on a physical therapy program right before the camp for a nagging back injury I have had since my freshman year in college. Camp was then a big test to see how the stretches and exercises were working and if I would be able to overcome this set back. Things went great! While I was not 100% pain free, pain never forced me to cut a workout short or skip one all together! It feels incredible to not be held back all the time and I hope for nothing more than to continue on this path for a season of good health, something I haven't experienced in some time now. So with all that in my favor, camp was excellent! I got to join some friends who raced the same college circuit as me for the Pole, Pedal, Paddle, a race from the top of Mt. Bachelor into to town. It is relay style with alpine skiing, xc skiing, road biking, running, paddling, and sprinting all as different legs. I was the bike leg. It was great fun to race in a different sport and I certainly was plenty sore after pushing myself in a less familier sport. 

Team bike ride, definitely my favorite dryland workout. The mtn bike trails in Bend are awesome!

Racing in a fun 2 person relay we did for one of our hard workouts

Canadian National Team, Canadian National Biathlon, US Biathlon, US Ski Team,  APU, Alberta World Cup Academy, CXC, SSWSC,  and Craftsbury GRP were all there at the same time making for some epic group skiing and many partners for getting the hours in.

Leaders in the relay workout, Fiz in the back of this group was my partner

More intervals, we got about a foot of snow one day!

Start of the relay

Start-up Camp

Well, I'm here to say I survived my first APU Start-Up Camp. Infamously known to be a very hard week full of tired and sore bodies, I was not looking forward to the week. We ended up having some decent weather for the week and we were able to get out for some crust skiing. AK is known for its epic crust in the spring time. Because it doesn't take much to get above tree line here, the crust is extremely vast and consistent allowing for some serious adventures. We did a couple interval sessions, a couple strength sessions, a couple track workouts, and the rest was filled with just lots of skiing. The idea is to spark our bodies back into gear after a month off from any organized and serious training. 

The last day of camp, a 3 hour ski at Hatcher's Pass was the best workout of the week.

There was a couple inches of fresh snow on top of the crust making it a little slow on the way up, but unbelievably fun on the way down. 

It also allowed me to track the boys as I had no idea where to go

Enjoying some sunshine in AK

Coming down valley!

Taking a break after intervals, about halfway through start-up camp 

Some good looking teammates

Loving skiing when the sun comes out

We also had classic tracks groomed for us! Sweet!

Crust skiing involves getting creative on the fastest way up steep slopes

Reunited with my teammates

The week finished with our giant fundraiser, which was all athlete organized and a little stressful to say the least, Happy to be done with that!

Sadie and I getting all prettied up for the event.


Next week, I am headed to Bend, OR for a US Ski Team Camp. Bend is a really awesome place to do some spring skiing!