Volume time

Nothing like a big 18 hour week training camp with the National team (would have been more but the friday night spent hugging the toilet....well), followed by a solid 22 hour week with 2 great mountain bike rides, to make the most of my 2 weeks off!! Yup, a little pooped right now, but not as bad as I thought I'd be. I think the mass amounts of good food this week helped to keep my energy levels high to have 40 hours of good quality riding. I've done the long weeks before, but usually in the past I've felt really drained near the end of the week, so I'm pretty stoked that I was able to finish off my week with a wicked 4 and a half hour Sunday mountain bike ride, chasing Regan, Mel McQuaid and Bill Fry around (though we managed to drop and lose Bill somewhere a long the way). Love trying to keep up with Regan for 4 hours.....he's a lot stronger then he'll admit too.



I have to send a big thanks out to Dan Proulx for keeping me positive with my training and work schedule. I've always thought that having to go up north for weeks at a time to work, in which my schedule is so random that I could work for 36 hours straight or be off for 3 days andwhere I can't do any good solid training.....would be a detriment to my training. But Dan has put such a positive spin on my predicament that I can't help but feel his energy and actually be excited about my training. Volume when I'm home (what better place to get hours on the bike in the winter then Victoria), and intensity up north, short trainer workouts plus a few runs and cross country skis when it's not -40 out! It works out perfectly....just gotta stay away from the baked goods and mystery meat!!

Two more days in paradise, then back to the grind.

Belgium Waffles

Got an early birthday present from my momma and poppa....a wicked Cuisinart waffle maker...and of course I gotta make waffles. And what better way to start a winter day ride then with Belgium waffles with Nutella....very much screams winter ride (minus the snow). Next on the waffle list, Gingerbread Waffles!!

Met up with Catharine, Matt, Max and Cory Wallace, and proceeded to get hammered for 3 plus hours!!! Shoulda eaten 2 more waffles!! Unfortunately my Garmin was dead outta the gate, so I can't even begin to explain where we went, I was lost for over half of the ride, some pretty cool secret trails though. Thanks for a great ride guys!!

Now, I'm gonna pass out on the couch till my yoga class....hopefully I don't fall asleep in corpse pose.

Cronus

Nothing like a team Canada training camp to bring about 18 hours of riding time (it would have been 22 hours if I hadn't eaten some bad meat and spent friday night ......well, lets just say SICK). Thanks Dan for putting together this awesome camp, it was really cool getting to ride with so many fast Canadian women like Catharine Pendrel, Catherine Vipond, Sandra Walters and Jean Ann Berkinpas (formerly McKirdy). And definitely what better way to whip myself back in shape after 2 weeks up north. Also a huge thanks to Regan for getting my bikes ready after 2 weeks of sitting in their own filth and thanks to Bill of Trek Pro City for letting me borrow his sweet Trek Gary Fisher Edition Cronus.....what an awesome ride!!!! Sorry for getting it really really dirty.

Going to be making the most of my 2 weeks off, getting in as much volume as possible, eating as much healthy food as possible, and working on plans for the 2011 season....things are slowly coming together. With less then 2 months till the first race of the season...which just happens to be right here in Victoria in the middle of March.....it's crunch time for training and all other prep. It's amazing how fast the "off" season goes by, especially when you race cross till the end of November.

Down to the wire

Oh my goodness, a positive 40 degree shift in the weather is definitely good for the brain, going from -35 and overcast to +5 and sunny.....I like it!!!!! Back home on my days off...yippppeee... even though it was only 2 weeks, it seemed to drag on. I was really excited to get some cross country skiing up north, but I'm definitely a wiener at those temperatures and ended up spending a lot of time on the trainer in my trailer....definitely not as exciting. Oh ya, I've officially decided to become a vegetarian while up at camp after my last meal of mystery meat gave me a funny belly....learning how to cook tofu hard and fast.

Today was my first ride outside in over 2 weeks and it was awesome. Team Canada (western edition) training camp in Victoria this week so I'm going to get lots of good miles in. Today we started the day with some technical training, learning how to jump .... hahaha.... a group of cross country racers on cross country rigs learning how to do drops!!! Pretty funny to watch. Downhill coach Mr Pendrel came out to give us a quick lesson and teach us a few tricks, he even got a bunch of cross country racers to drop our saddles!!!! Super fun and definitely a little scary the first couple times (I think my heart rate was just as high as if I'd been climbing), but it's going to be a great skill to master....3 feet, that's nothing, give me 10!!! Right!!!! Soon I'll be able to keep up to Regan on the downhills especially now that he has suspension :)

Looks like I gotta be careful tromping around camp this winter....there's a large family of these guys here.

First Classic Ski of the season

Round and round and round we go....haha, I think I covered every trail that the Fort McMurray Nordic club has to offer. 2 hours 45 mins and I only did a couple sections of trail twice, not too bad if you ask me.

Fort Mac again

Yup, it's that time of year again for me.....just getting settled into camp life, unpacking and moving into my trailer. As well, it's also my time to get my snow fix for the year!!!! and as much xc skiing as I possibly can.

Original plan was to try a 3 hour skate ski....but I should know better, and I only managed just over a 2 hour ski and I'm fried!!!! Just enough energy to battle the Fort Mac crowds at Walmart to pick up some last minute supplies.

Still have some time before I have to go to work, maybe I'll go for a run :)

January riding...yes, no snow here

Ummmm, ya, my thoughts exactly.

Snakes and ladder corner....I finally cleaned it, not pretty, but still.....

A couple firsts!!!!

Awesome mountain bike ride today, a chilly 2 degrees and sunny makes for perfect crunchy trail conditions. Had a couple big firsts!!!! Cleaned 3 sections at the dump that I've struggled with in the past....yipppeeeee....Regan had my Trek 6700 was dialed......Super big thanks to Bill Fry from Trek Pro City for the ride!!!!



Two more days till I head back up to the wintery Fort McMurray for a couple months of working on the rig again.....I'll admit I'm excited to do some xc skiing :)

Happy New Years to all!!!