Hi everyone!
Reporting back from Park City camp and a fall of training in a variety of places. I
tend to think that October is one of the best months of the year so there have been a lot of
highlights. As I reflect, I notice that it has been a different kind of fall than previous years but it
had everything that made me happy and healthy.
I have always felt that one of my strengths as an athlete is knowing how much and what kind of
training works for me. I also reflect on my relationship with recovery (mental and physical) and
understand that time away from Bozeman and regimented training allows me to bring my full
energetic self back to organized, team training when I return. I can train really hard but also rest
really hard as well. As my sister says “I respect that you can grind the hours and after really lay
on the couch for as long as you like”...backhanded compliment??
Some of these rest periods were in Europe. My brother Joey is studying in Milan, Italy this fall
semester. My family took a trip over there at the end of September with additional time in
Switzerland and France. I convinced my whole sibling clan plus my brother in law to join Willson
and I in a UTMB trail race. My older sister made sure that I write in here that she won the Bianco
cup. Funny enough my siblings and I finished within 2 minutes of each other but I did beat my
younger brother so... yeah we aren’t competitive at all.
I can’t lie, I was a bit nervous being gone for this week and a half without having good places to
rollerski and navigating runs through Milan. As much as I say I need a break from regimented
training, being out of a routine can be stressful. However, being with family and doing alternate
training was so helpful for my mind and came back to Bozeman feeling rejuvenated for the fall
intensity training block.
This camp combines all the best things: altitude, intensity, and volume and what better place to
do that then in PC! My highlights were a long classic ski up a steep, winding road and afternoon
basketball where Puck (Luke Allan) put us all to shame.
We ended the week with rollerski racing at the Soldier Hollow rollerski track. It was fun to go
head to head with the other pro skiers in the country. BSF really shined on the classic sprint day
as well as some solid results in the 10k skate which was exciting to see!
One of my goals this year was to push the volume weeks a bit more than in previous years. This
will help me build fitness not only for distance racing but feeling good all the way through the
final on sprint days. Sometimes the volume catches up with you though. A combination of poor sleep at altitude, lots of training, and racing sent me into a deep exhaustion on the morning of the last race. This was good practice for me to dial it back and give it some rest.
I am happy I have built up this trust in myself to do the best for my skiing and a coach that
supports it. Sometimes this means pushing through a hard workout and adding another interval, but also knowing when it is okay to end a workout a half hour early. I don’t always get it right but trying to be gracious to myself through it all.
Now we are back in Bozeman for a quick two weeks before our on snow camp in Canmore then
another quick five day reset before heading over for Period 1 of the World Cup. Kate and I head
over on November 17th for a pre camp in Ruka, Finland!
Keep your eyes open for our biggest fundraiser of the year- our SEASON SENDOFF! As
always, thank you for the support!
Erin
