After a bit of an easy week post LP camp, I got back into the serious training during the past 7 days here in Vermont.  The past 3-4 weeks have had a pretty big focus on intensity so with only two more weeks left here at home I’ll begin to transition into more distance and volume as we get ready to hit up Europe on November 8th.

What that means for me is moving back to only 2 interval sessions a week and also having maybe 3 sessions or so at or above 2.5 hours of distance during the week. So far things have been going great. Liz, who is also training at home until the start of the World Cup tour, came down to my house for a mini Vermont training camp. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad sign that Liz and I train roughly the same amount and at the same pace…. probably bad for me and good for her…. but either way it works out well because she makes an awesome training buddy.So liz came down on thursday and we worked on some classic speed. The next day we did a 2:45 skate distance in the morning. Liz basically has some of the best skate technique in the country, guy or girl, so she’s a good person to freestyle with.

The next day was an epic one though, and will go down in the books as the gnarliest training day of the year for me. The workout was tough but nothing ridiculous. Liz and I had a 6×4 minutes level 4 with some emphasis on double poling at the end of the interval. What made it a struggle was the weather. When we arrived up at Stratton it was 37 degrees with steady rain and wind. A storm had been blowing though all night and the road was soaking wet and littered with leaves. So the weather was shitty…and getting worse by the minute. We started the workout anyway and it actually was  going pretty well until during the third interval it went from rain to full on downpours. Like close your eyes because you can’t see anything downpours. Flash floods on the road type downpours. And since we had already started the level four intervals I already had my jacket off but the temperature was still hovering right around 40 degrees. The rain was intense and wouldn’t really let up. I might as well have have been skiing without any clothes on because my long underwear, tights, and gloves we just soaked and heavy as water was dripping down my face.

By the last interval my hands were numb all the way to the elbow and I was not that stoked. But I remembered back to my SMS high school days that there was a sweet hot tub that we used to poach just around the corner so we hammered through the rain up the road in what felt like a life or death situation. I jumped straight into the tub with all my clothes, including my socks, and settled in for an extremely painful 5 minutes of thawing out hands. In the end it turned out to be a pretty fun workout but for a few minutes I was not psyched. I wish I had some pictures, but I don’t even think they would show the crappyness of the day.

The next week of training will be very similar. Just need to round up a sweet costume for this weekends festivities!

Thanks to the help of the Ski Vermont I went back to school yesterday to talk to the kids about xc skiing. We visited a few Elementary schools in Vermont. This video below was from the school visit in Williston. It’s pretty funny because when the little kid is interviewed he says he doesn’t like cross country skiing.

what up ski world,

we’re back home now after a wicked placid camp. I don’t think my ski boots have ever smelled as crappy as they do at this moment after after skiing in the rain for so many days. I think the camp was a success though and everyone seems to be making progress as we are now only about a month away from the start of the world cup season. It snowed a few inches in LP yesterday which sent myself, smyth, sophie and jess back to southern vermont early in order to roll on some clear roads. So now I’m stoked to be home to chill out for a few weeks before heading over to europe after the first week of November.
Brett during Nordic combined nationals

Here is a video of some highlights from the LP camp. Little bit of speed, intervals, NC crashes, and TT footage.

The past 4 days here in Placid have been great. We’ve done back to back intervals in the past 2 days starting with some bounding level 4 intervals up Whiteface yesterday and 30 second intervals this morning. Here are some quick video clips from speeds and the 30 second intervals.

This past weekend I flew down to Boston for the night to take part in the USSA Boston Ski Ball. I had been to the ball a few years ago but this year it was at a whole new level. It seems like everyone is feeling the excitement of the Olympic year because there was more than twice as many people in attendance this year than last. Big name athletes like Linsday Vonn and Ross Powers probably helped draw the crowds and raise some desperately needed money for USSA.

The night started with a quick Q and A with a room full of high school and junior coaches from around New England. Most of them were alpine coaches and you could tell it was a pretty cool opportunity for them to ask questions to someone as experienced as Lindsay, but there quite a few good xc questions which was nice to see that folks were interested in the sports development.  The “Ball’ is basically a big cocktail party where companies and individuals can purchase tickets to show their support to the US Ski and Snowboard teams. There is also a silent and live auction where people can bid on items… but it’s basically a good chance for them to donate to the team. Another big way we fundraise for the team is by selling Gold passes at these events. I’m not sure if everyone knows what a gold pass is but it’s a kick ass ski pass that gives you access to EVERY ski area in the country for an entire year. They go for 10,000 which goes directly into the Ski teams budget so it makes up a good part of our donation dollars.  So if anyone want’s to be a big time skier with a big time pass contact USSA and pick one up.

After the Boston Ball I flew back to Albany and drove directly up here to Lake Placid for the start of our training camp. This is for sure one of our most intense training camps of the year. Mostly because there are TONS of people in town to train with…. the xc skiers pretty much take over the entire Olympic training center, so it’s kind of cool. So far we have kept things pretty chill but we’ll start with some level 4 bounding intervals up whiteface tomorrow. Check back for updates and video from the camp.

hanging with VT buddy and Olympic gold Medalist Ross Powers

Bird with some other athletes at the autograph table