July 2nd, 2008
This past week I was in Park City Utah at the Western REG camp. It was a really successful week, with some kids logging over 20 hours, a skate sprint, a time trial, and lots of good technique work. Almost every evening we had a meeting where the coaches talked to us about technique and training fundamentals. One night Andy, Liz, Pete, and Pat all came to talk to us as well.
Our Schedule:
Sunday AM= travel PM= run and games
Monday AM= Skate Roll PM= Bounding and plyos
Tuesday AM= Classic DP PM= Strength or run (including an alpine slide down the mountain)
Wednesday AM= SkateRoll Sprints PM= Distance run or strength
Thursday AM= Classic Rollerski
Friday AM= Agony Hill Climb PM= run and core strength
Saturday AM= OD run
Sunday AM= Classic Rollerski PM= travel
The Skate Sprints went well. We raced at Solider Hollow on the same sprint course that is used during the winter. After the prelim we were put in groups of 6. We then did 3 rounds within our group. I was pretty tired for this workout, as I think most of the other kids were also, but everyone seemed to push themselves and take advantage of the group intervals. Having 5 other people in your heat helped to push you and was also good practice for skiing in groups.
Bronwen Raff on Agony
The next exciting event was the time trial up Agony Hill. I’m used to uphill time trials being mostly running, but this one was the opposite (at least for me). I spent most of the 19 min race ski walking, while repeating in my head “I feel great” (even though that wasn’t true), and looking for the “meadow” that meant the finish was near. The time trial was truly agonizing, but most people seemed to do a good job. The superstar of our group was Alex Taylor, from Far West, who nearly beat the junior record. Unfortunately many of our belongings that we had left at the bottom had been stolen while we were racing. This included many waterbottles, a watch, and a camera. While this was a disappointment it didn’t dampen our spirits for long, as we were soon walking threw the gates of Raging Waters. We spent the next two hours surviving the wave pool, screaming our way down the slides, getting sunburnt, and completely exhauting ourselves.
run and core on Friday
Our last full day at camp we all went for an OD run. We had a choice between a 2 1/2 hour run or a 3 1/2 hour run. I opted for the longer one. We started out hiking untill we got to the top of a ridge were we then prceeded to run for the next two hours back to our condos. In addition to taking us to many good lookouts, the run weaved us around the backdrop of Park City.
the OD run
Road Rash Tally:
1) Gretchen Sellegren = goes the wrong way on a one-way trail, leading her into a dangerous downhill, causing her to skid off the path into the bushes.
2) Erik Bjornsen = during the skate sprints, poles into his boots, slides on his bare chest
3) Taylor Sundali = trips during the prelim, not much road rash, but hurts his shoulder. He is done double poling for the week
4) Ian Mallams = skate sprint, back rollerski wheel comes off, he manages not to crash
5) Julia Bowmen = falls CL rollerski on a downhill, slides on her butt. Wears a dress for the rest of the camp
6) Bella Smith = falls right behind Julia. Scraped up everywhere and hurt her knee. Now using crutches
7) Danny Guiney = tries to “slide” a corner. Doesn’t work and instead scrapes up his shoulder and face.
(there were more crashes, I just can’t name them all)
Danny Guiney’s Road Rash
Thank you to all the coaches and Russell (our cook). It was a great camp.
