Time to ski!

Nov. 21, 2010

Training: Nov. 19 - AM L2 skate ski with speeds. Total time: 2hr
                              PM L1 easy skate ski. Total time: 50 mins
              Nov. 20 - Travel day. Shake down run. Total time: 20 mins
              Nov. 21 - AM - Threshold L3 skate. Total time: 1.75hr
                              PM - Easy classic ski. Total time : 1hr

     I had a great last day in Steamboat before heading off to West Yellowstone. Mark and I had a solid workout with speeds in the morning under the beautiful Colorado sunshine and came back in the evening to ski with the Steamboat junior team. These kids have some great coaching because I was impressed with the technique of these young racers. I was even more impressed when Mark and I showed up later that evening to see the latest Harry Potter installment and found a few of the juniors there still in there tights from practice. For those interested, the movie is great and worth going to see.
    We finally made it to West Yellowstone yesterday and holy crap was there a lot of snow.  After a long 11 hour drive from Steamboat, we arrived to a good 20 inches or more with heavy snowfall still coming down. Mark and I went for a short jog to shake out the legs and although we were in a van for 11 hours, we had plenty of space to stretch out and our legs and the drive was more or less pleasant. The team had arrived a couple hours prior and all of our skis were already out on the deck and sorted. We have a freakin' awesome team.
     I thought with all the snow we would be skiing in a sugary mess of softness, but the grooming crew did a great job and the skiing was phenomenal! It was a little soft here and there, but the trails held up well for the workout and I couldnt help but feel excited. This was my first day on my race skis this season and they are significantly better than my training skis.

     There is still few days until racing starts and I am feeling pretty good. I must say though that the finish of the sprint course is going to leave quite a few skiers feeling like they are summiting Mt. Everest. The finish climb is long and steep.... and mean steep! Its going to be a fun day with two sprints an hour apart, but the looming chilly weather calling for a high of 1 degree could dampen the mood a bit. The best part is that I have some wicked fast Atomics for cold weather. Here here for good skis.