Wowwweeee….. a whole summer has flown by and all of a sudden it’s September. I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but as soon as September 1st hits Thunder Bay it seems to think summer is over and I wake up feeling like the heat needs to be turned on in my house. Luckily our friend, Mr. Sun, is still warm when he’s around but I've already experienced that first rollerski in the rain and cold. I compromised with ¾ length tights since I’m not ready to commit to full-length tights and a jacket for training… not yet.
It’s been a wonderful summer. Not just the weather, but the training, travel and opportunity to catch up with friends and family along the way. We completed a number of training camps, all with different focuses and training benefits. I feel that this summer had a bit of a different flavor to it. It’s hard to pin-point exactly what that means, but I think it’s because I got the chance to see my family (in and out of town) a lot more. I also worked on average 4 days a week this summer, which kept me busy and I still found time to gather some sort of tan on my Grandparent’s dock at Trout Lake on afternoons and rest days. Maybe, just maybe, my more favorable time management skills are coming back from the days I was in school full time – yes Mom, your dreams can come true! Either way, heading into my 3rd season with NDC I think Thunder Bay is feeling like home as it did once upon a time 10 years ago. That’s not to say I can’t wait to visit home in October, even if it’s only going to be for 2 days.
Since it really has been 4 months since I’ve said hello (- er, yah I still procrastinate sometimes haha) I thought I’d throw in a TON of pictures to help explain my fab summer. We hung out in Thunder Bay, what felt like more than usual, but I think that can be contributed to the timing of our Canmore, AB and Southern Ontario training camps that made this home base actually feel like home this summer. We literally squeezed the summer calendar to August 31st with travel and then ran this last training block through to Sunday, Sept 4th. And now our schedules begin to change a bit… school… YES SCHOOL!... continuing to work, and then I’m off on a plane again. More on that later. Now to the good stuff…
The real reason I’ve been putting off updating my blog is because … DUN-DU-DUHHHHH…. A VIDEO. I purchased a small, handheld, pocket-size, no fuss 3-button Flip HD video camera in an attempt to give everyone a better insight to our training camps. And I’ve been really impressed with the picture quality and simplicity of it. Works for me! And although there isn’t any actual skiing in the video, which I still find weird, it’s a good look at one of our biggest training weeks of the year and where we spend it. On a rock. Literally. So here is the big debut… (I’m still getting the hang of this editing thing but a HUGE thanks to my Brother Bear and his patience in teaching me what imovie has to offer).
More Pictures for yer' there liking:
I went in a mountain bike race at my home club Hardwood Ski and Bike in the spring when I was home. I hadn't raced on a bike in well over a year but it went pretty well! Other than this picture of me taking a detour back to the course when I made a wrong turn. Oops!
My brother also raced, killed it, of course. Here we are in his element... he's the big time rider in the fam. Oh, did I mention he's going to be a chiropractor? That's my big bro!
My Mom and I out the day before I decided to do the race. This was the first ride of the year... the race was the second.
In July my parents came to Thunder Bay for a visit and my Mom and I went to Centennial Park for some exercise. The tractors at Centennial are from the company my Grandpa used to run in town a long time ago. I didn't actually know this until this trip with my Mom.
Mixed in here: Our recent trip to the Haig Glacier where we had CSC physiologist Rob Rupf come up with us to do all of our monitoring throughout the week. He ran a bunch of tests throughout the week in the mornings, extended blood analysis, lactates while skiing, and the list goes on! It was great to have him as part of our team.
SunRISE... yes rise... the joys of early morning washroom breaks on the Haig Glacier.
Back to boot camp: Staying bright and alive.
LSSD camp held by Ontario and Big Thunder Nordic. Our team did an outreach week at this camp and trained along side 60 or so enthused athletes from across Ontario. Here the girls are getting a skate rollerski technique session.
The full team at boot camp!
That's all for now! I've got more coming in the next few days so check back!
Erin
