Another Blast of Winter!

OK, enough with the white stuff...I'm ready for summer.

Canmore's been stuck with mid-winter conditions for about a week now, and it's driving me nuts. What's with Mother Nature these days? This morning, it was -8C, and another 3cm of snow covered the ground. What the shit?! Enough already.

That said, last weekend's record 70cm snowfall (24hrs) at Sunshine was nothing short of epic. I just happen to be booked in the Sunshine Village Hotel (thanks Kellie...and Alpine Homes!) on the 'morning after' and was fortunate enough to catch some of the best runs in my life...I hooked up with one of Kellie's workmates (Colin) who was an ex-National Telemark Team member, and entertained him in my attempt to follow him down the mountain. If you haven't tried tele before, it's a monster quad burning workout. Even with trained legs, I usually can't make it down a run without stopping at least a few times to flush the massive amounts of lactic acid build-up. Although I did my best to hang-on for dear life, Colin quickly disappeared on most runs to find his own untracked-bottomless powder...

After two full days of hard ski sessions, apres-ski bevies followed by various social functions, Monday morning's strength workout was nothing short of pathetic. Actually, the entire week has been brutal - and the weather didn't help! So tired...Despite feeling like an Arion Rufus, I braved the -10C mornings and set out to get the legs turning.

Yesterday, I started back on the massage routine and although I'm sore from the morning workout, I'm feeling much better - So good in fact that I actually planned an intensity for Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.

As for my plans tonight, I get to beat up Kellie, my girlfriend...What? Believe or not, she signed us up for boxing sessions at the local Rec Centre. I'm not too sure how it's going to work out but at the very least, I figure it can only be considered good therapy...Stay tuned!

Nipika Adventure

"If you come out this week, I'm sure we can find some trouble" - Lyle Wilson, owner of Nipika Mountain Resort

Nipika Mountain Resort...in transition between seasons

It doesn't take much to get me hooked on an adventure, so when Lyle threw out the line, I jumped! Nipika Mountain Resort remains one of my favorite trail running destinations. It's about 1.5hr drive from Canmore straight South (via hwy 93 South), and border Kootenay National Park. Lyle is an ex-National Team coach and following his coaching career, he moved to the Invermere area and literally stumbled in this beautiful giant meadow. He loved it so much he bought the land and build an amazing eco-mountain resort that features six timber frame/log cabins which accesses over 50km of ski trails that double as mountain bike and running trails in the summer. Interlinked with all these ski trails is one of the best networks of single-track in the World - really! Nipika hosts two stages of the TransRockies (bike) event as well as the Nipika Loppet (40km Classic race) and will soon have it's own Nipika Trail Run (10k, 21k, 42k) on May 31st!! Now that my little promo rant is done...on with the story!

I'm always looking for an excuse to go to Nipika and since the resort is hosting a couple of stages for the TransRockies Bike event (of which I'm the operations manager), I figured it was a good reason to head down and 'discuss details' of the upcoming event...

Upon our arrival, It didn't take long to realize that my ski equipment may not get used... The 20C heat wasn't giving the snow much of a fighting chance as the meadow was quickly turning into one big mud bog! After giving Kellie (my girlfriend) and I a quick tour of the new Bill Yearling Cabin renovation project (Lyle and his son refurbished this old 1900's logger/miner cabin, raising it off the ground, and turned it into an interpretive centre), I convinced Lyle to strap on the nordic gear one last time - and off we went.

Despite having to jump/run/hop over a few bare sections, the packed snow was actually holding up nicely in the shade. We cruised around the trails trying to find the best 'shaded' loops and eventually made it to the Cross River (which flows into the Kootenay River). As we crossed the narrow bridge, a huge golden eagle took off from the bank grazing our heads in frustration...We quickly realized that we had interrupted its meal, a freshly killed deer- The dogs were on the carcass in an instant, sniffing away at the potpourri of gamy goodness. We skied down to investigate further and Lyle quickly identified some pretty big cougar tracks all over the area...We lingered long enough for me to snap a few shots as the tracks were less than a few hours old!

Deer carcass on the banks of the Cross River

"Feeling a bit nervous...time to move" Lyle says.


Lyle figured this "less than 2hr-old cougar track" was from a 150lb cat! Meow...

An hour later we were back at the cabins, dogs in tow, happy and muddy just like their guides!

We definitely stretched the last ski of the season, but it was a great way to wrap up the winter and get set for trail running. Another month and the Nipika trails will be dry and ready to go for trail running season!

Fast & Light-

Another snow storm this morning...great...

As much as I love skiing, i'm ready for summer! That said, my volume training still consists of about 50% skiing as I'm still in a transition phase and getting my legs back in running action. So far so good, the IT's are loose, the achilles is getting stronger and legs are starting to feel 'light' again. If the body keeps progressing, I'll crank up the running kms next week-In the meantime, I'm taking advantage of the great snow to attempt a few speed records on local mountain routes.

On Thursday, G-mac and I decided to blast around the French-Haig-Robertson Glacier Loop with our light nordic touring gear. This is a popular 'day' route with relatively 'easy' mountain terrain, with no major technical features - perfect for this fast & light recon mission. I've done this loop before with friends in 6+ hrs, but this time we pushed the pace...just for fun!A few pics from our speed ski up the French, around the Haig and back down the Robertson Glaciers...

Light gear = Fast times!


G-Mac pushes up the last hump up the Roberston Col

Roberston Col - Sun, wind, snow...


Another great day in K-Country - Robertson Col in the background.

Despite lots of trail breaking in a foot of snow and boot-packing up the Robertson Col, we completed the loop in 3h25min. There's nothing like getting a good mountain workout in, and be back at the ranch in time for lunch!

I love being able to move fast with light gear. Whether skiing or running, leave the extra gear at home, go light and cruise around loops you've never thought possible. I'm looking forward to trying this loop again when conditions are a bit faster..

It Hurts When I Cough...

Is it a bad thing if everything hurts when I cough? I didn't sign up for this...

OK, maybe I did.

So back to the grind really means getting back into the world of 'hurt'. With 3 strength workouts a week plus the regular volume days to get me back in the groove, I'm a hurtin' unit these days. It really does hurt to cough as my core is mush from Van's workout Monday. Last night, she ran me through a vicious full-body circuit that got every other muscle particle that didn't get hit on Monday. The chances of me recovering in time for Thursday morning's workout are slim to none...

Reminds me of the good'ol days of '99 when testosterone ruled the BWTC gym at the Canmore Nordic Centre. At the time, I was on the National Cross-Country Development Team and every strength workout was a virtual Battle of the Titans. Shane, Joel and I would try to one-up each other in every single exercise. If Shaner squatted X amount of weight, I would add another plate before my turn and Joel would top it up again before his turn. It didn't matter how much pain we were in because we loved it! Our coach at the time (now my training partner) couldn't get enough either - He egged us on to get the most out of us, and sent us on our way when we topped out. We would all strut out of the weight room, chest high, talking shit about the other and head home to recover...But as soon as we turned the corner, the pace would dramatically slow down to a crawl as the post-workout pain set in. I remember being so drained and on the verge of bonking at times that I barely made it home! That winter was my best ever...

Blast from the past: 2000 US National Sprint Event - Yours truly (left) finished 2nd overall in the Sprint Event.

This post is linked from www.muddysocks.com

Back to the Grind...

This post linked from www.muddysocks.com

With another ski season behind me, it's time to get the legs back in shape! For those of you that don't know me, I usually steer clear of any type of running in the winter as the nordic ski scene takes over my life! I'll spare you the lip service but if you're interested, check out www.x-c.com for a quick glimpse into this part of my life.

After 'chasing the dream' in elite xc ski racing for so many years, I have a pretty good sense of what I need to do, to get myself back into good running shape. But in the end, my biggest challenge will always remain injury prevention...

With that in mind, I recruited my good friend Vanessa (uber-fit personal trainer @ PerformX gym in Canmore) to whip me into shape with tons of work that focuses on core, stability and specific strength. I think that most trail runners typically forget (or skip) this component of training to focus on their typical 'speed/intensity' workouts. My reasoning is simple...the more stability, balance and control your muscles have while running, the more efficient you will be. Efficiency = Speed.

Van and me...Not only does she kick my ass in the gym, she rips it hard on the surf too!

Since our first session last week, Van has put me through a variety of core, jump, coordination and strength drills to get a glimpse into my body's current level of fitness and biomechanical deficiencies. If these workouts are a sign of the pain to come...I'm going to suffer like a pig. We've already identified some pretty key points to work on that will help raise my efficiency level on the trails - I can't wait to get down to business!

It's TR Time!

Ski season is over...and although I'm still taking advantage of good snow coverage after one of Canmore's best winter, I'm looking forward to seeing the snow disappear so I can tackle the trails once again!

The 'Team X-C.com' era ended with a great week of racing at the Canadian National Championships, held at Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley, BC (site of the 2010 Olympic Games). The team claimed five podiums over the course of the week as well as the Open Men's aggregate title! I couldn't have asked for anything more...

Our last day at Callaghan Valley, BC - over 40cm of snow fell, making waxing a bit of a challenge! Full stories and photos at www.x-c.com.

It hasn't been easy to 'let go' of the racing program - But like all good things, I feel like it's time to move on... Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments, accolades and encouragements - and above all, to the Team X-C.com members - who I've shared some great years of racing...Good luck in your future goals!

Change is good. Change keeps things interesting, and for me, the next six months will see many new changes to the world of x-c.com and to my own lifestyle...I looking forward to it!

So what now...

It's time to RUN!!! Yep, I'm psyched to get back in shape and get myself ready for the TransRockies Run, which will take place later this summer from August 25-30th! After a great experience at last year's event, I have high expectations...That said, I'll need all the help I can get as I raced the least ever this past winter. But, the upside to my 'poor' fitness (ok, maybe not so, so bad) is that I've never been as motivated to train as now - a definite plus at this time of the year! As far as I'm concerned, getting back to 'race shape' won't be the challenge, staying healthy and injury free will be the biggest hurdle to overcome.


Check out the TR-Run video, it's a bit cheesy but has some pretty good scenes from the event!

Either way, it's time to get outside and start putting in some major volume hours because I plan on racing my brains out this summer. As for the rest of my daily hours...My workload as the TransRockies (Bike Event) operations manager is in full swing and keeping me more than busy. Another exciting project that I'm involved with is the new Salomon Flight Crew Trail Running Team...check out SalomonRunning.com for some cool updates here. And of course, I'll continue to plug away at the 'new' x-c.com program details and get set for winter 2008-09. Another busy summer...

So stay tuned for lots of training updates throughout the summer - It's going to be a fun ride!