Leaving again - 7/26/10
Lately people have been asking where I've been and what I've been up to.
Well I know very well what I've been up to. The previous article covers
that question. As for where I've been it would seem that I have more than
one home this summer. On another note I would also like to mention that
I've been VERY TIRED!
Sometimes home is room 242 at the Olympic training center in LP, or it
could be men's athlete house on North Pearly Brook road in Fort Kent..
When I'm not training I'm always trying to catch up friends which makes
Presque Isle feel like home now and then and of coarse I'm always glad to
be back in the “mother land” When I have the time. Obviously I'm
refereeing to Stockholm on that last location. I can't say I enjoy driving
back and forth between these places, but they all have there advantages
making them worth the trip.
I'm plenty excited for my next living arrangements! My plane leaves on
Wednesday for Munich. Once the rest of the team meets up we're heading for
Antholz, Italy and that's only the first part of the camp. We're going to
be training in Austria and skiing in a ski tunnel in Germany before the
five week camp is over! So... I should probably start packing sooner
rather than later.
In preparation for this camp I have been NOT training for the past few
days. That and some iron supplements, but that's another story. The rest
week in LP that was also a shooting camp was very productive, but it was
not the best week for resting. The heat and only a couple grueling
workouts were enough to prevent full recovery leading into this last past
week. That's why I was so tired. Recovery shouldn't take long provided I
don't move to much.
The central Euro camp should provide ample photo opportunities for to put
up. I'll keep you posted on how the trip goes.
7/11/10
The Norm
It seems every year right around this time I'm writing about how difficult training is. It's always about pushing the upper limits and doing more than I had the year before. Part of the reason why I haven't had an update in so long is because I don't have anything new to report. Training has been overwhelming while free time feels scarce. What are the odds, huh?
There are a few highlights worth mentioning. My teammate Leif Norgren came home with me from Lake Placid to train up in Fort Kent for the previous training block. We had asked our coach if we could spend an extra week in the county before heading back to LP for a shooting camp. Our coach (Per
Nilsson) said that this was fine provided we do the Mars Hill time trial.
So Leif and I somehow chose the coldest and most rainy day there was (it was either that or the hottest and most humid day) to do the time trial.
It was a good effort and a really good workout, but in the end I was only one second fast than the time I set last year. I guess you can't argue with results, but at least a few less seconds would have been more pleasing. After a full bore effort we did the hill all over again.
Apparently only one race isn't enough anymore.
As for the other half of the sport; I can say things are going well.
Shooting is starting to have that slick and confident feeling to it again.
I'm still unable to put up anything lethal in the precession test, but the shooting during training and other drills on metal targets are becoming more and more consistent. That's the good kind of consistency mind you.
This past week has been a shooting camp for the US A and B team. I would have liked to have my new stock by now to work with, but either way it has
been a very productive camp.
Let's see what else is there...? The team did our first biathlon time trial the other day! That was a suffer fest and a half to say the least.
First of all I should mention that it has been hot and humid in LP this week! Very hot and very humid! The whole team tried to do a light intensity work out the other day. We all had different schedules and did the workout in different locations. Never the less I was surprised no one had a heat stroke! Tim Burk and I did / tried to do the work out and had to cut it short. I won't go into any more detail, but it was not a quality training session to sum it up and as it turns out everyone else on the
team had the same report that day.
So to get back on topic the time trial was a few days after said "death march" workout. It was a little cooler out. Maybe not as cool as I wanted, but enough so I that thought I could finish. Now to sum up the roller loop in LP you might say it's lacking that professional touch you'd expect from an Olympic caliber town. Most of the loop stretches across a parking lot.
After leaving the range you just go all the way down to for a min or two.
After that it's pretty simple. You just climb you way back up to the range for a grand total of about a 1.5km. This makes you appreciate the loop in Fort Kent.
Once again I've drifted slightly off topic. This time trial was five shooting stages with two laps in between. The first lap felt great... Then it was survival mode from there on. My pole grips were so sweaty and slippery that it was starting to affect my technique. Despite the possibly
hardest range approach ever shooting was great. I cleaned my first stage
with a one breath cadence and only missed one in each stage after that. So I was pleased with an 85% race. Also, I wasn't the only one hanging on for dear life on the loop. I heard on more than one occasion the words "hardest time trial ever" thrown around here and there afterwards. So to
sum that one up I would give it a good review.
So those highlights were amongst a gratuitous amount of training because well, that's what goes on for me this time of year. If nothing else at least you know what the weather has been like in Lake Placid this past week and what the roller loop feels like now. For the most part life is going pretty well right now. Except the drive from northern Maine to LP. I never look forward to making that trek as often as I do. On that note I'll be home on the 15th.
5/30/10
Last Week of Camp
Nothing makes three weeks go by slower than shear fatigue. Over the past racing and spring season I've forgotten what this kind of fatigue feels like. The afternoon naps never feel long enough, and my legs have long since lost the light and fresh feeling they had before. Now there made of lead it seems. Morning heart rates have long since given up on trying to fully recover and are down to mid too high thirties. But all that is okay because we only have one more week to go.
Last week had a lot of volume. We had one hard session on the treadmill and one time trial at the end of the week. The time trial was just an uphill skating suffer fest. I was tired, but this race was still pretty much my specialty. It went well all things considered. My max heart rate was only 191, while my average heart rate was 185. So according to that information I guess I just hung out in the suffer zone for twenty minutes.
There were also plenty of meetings thrown into the week to keep us all busy. I will say the hike we did on Wednesday was a nice change.
Next week isn't going to be any easier. The schedule has 25 hours on it.
Our weekly Sunday rest day should help. Besides it's only one week. All I have to do is make the most out of each training session and I'll leave satisfied. The weather doesn't look perfect, but that's never stopped us.
My coaches and I recently made a minor change to my rifle that I look forward to trying out. I am still waiting to get my new stock though. That would be nice. Other than that not too much other than training is going to be happening this week and that's about all I handle right now.
The way I see it. The rest week after words will feel that much better now.
Armin and I on our hike.
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This is roughly half way up the White Face alpine hill. You can't even see the base from where I am!
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This is my kind of running terrain.
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Canmore
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