Scratchin'

No I don't have a rash, but there is just enough snow out at Kincaid to get around on skis. A few rocks and moose to dodge though. 

Once I got back from Utah the timing worked out great for skiing. One day off, then up to Hatchers for some great early skiing on blue hardwax and solid tracks! Fortunately there is enough in town to get by on for some good quality training without the long drive that ends up pretty well eliminating any outside productivity from the day. 

Yesterday was the first intensity sessions I have done with the team for close to a month, some short hard L5, and it was good to bang heads with the sprinter guys and beat up on them a little on their last set, which was my first. Looking forward to some racing before too long.

Winding down

Yesterday was my last hard workout down here, 90 minutes of tempo shifting towards race pace the last 30 minutes around Soho. Ouch. Super effective though. There are only so many ways you can get your body ready to hold up to 30k+ races. There is a level of discomfort that only comes from going long and hard. But that discomfort was balanced out by some great Mexican food from Tarahuma and a soak in the hot springs afterwards. 

I've got one day left before I go home and should be skiing this weekend up at Hatcher Pass (big ups to Mark Strabel for the grooming up there!) The camp here has been a big success. Nothing fancy just two weeks of focused, hard training. Looking forward to getting back to the AK a few days rest. 

Utah

Three of the last 4 years I have come down to Park City in October for some altitude and dry sunny weather, hopefully returning to skiing in Alaska in mid-October. After staying home last fall I figured I needed to come back down. After training in one place for the past 15 years a change of scene can be golden. I started coming down in the fall of 2004 when the US Ski Team had open camps here before they moved back to Lake Placid. That year I decided this place was amazing in the fall. Good weather, long paved climbs, great single track running, and a rollerski track to boot. 

So this year I am back and rolling solo for two weeks on my last pre fatherhood trip. It is a little different not having a coach or consistent training partner with me but a little solitude suits me well. Train, sleep, train, watch the playoffs, repeat. Not a bad life. Here are a few pics from my Friday afternoon mountain bike to the top of the Canyons.