The view from the edge of Eagle Glacier, summer 2010.
What have I been up to...? My last true update was posted before 2010 summer training even began, after my little break at the end of racing season. I told you of my spring escapades, but never got around to filling you in on this summer's excitement. Since full-time training got going in late April, I've been logging double sessions daily, racking up 20+ hour weeks of skiing on the Eagle Glacier, spending my Saturday mornings doing long over-distance rollerski workouts (up Hatcher Pass and all over Anchorage), hitting the weight room for strength and core, and hammering out intervals and intensity workouts. Yep, this summer I've been training, because as the saying goes, "skiers are made in the summer!"
The first weeks of June, July, and August my APU teammates and I headed up to the Thomas Training Center on the Eagle Glacier for our summer on-snow training camps. This year marked my 9th summer of ski camps on Eagle, ten years since my first camp the summer after my freshman year of high school. Although I've lost count of the exact number of weeks I've spent up there, I'm pretty sure I'm well past 20 camps, somewhere in the range of 20+ weeks of on-snow skiing since my first time on the glacier at 14 years old!
It's pretty amazing to think that I've been skiing on the Eagle Glacier for a decade of my life. Looking back, I feel so fortunate to have had this incredible summer training opportunity. Every cross-country skier dreams of skiing year-round, and I know I have benefited tremendously from each and every camp on the Eagle Glacier. It's also amazing to think of how far I've come since my first camp. I am able to train so much more and at a much faster pace now than in years passed, and with each camp I make technique improvements (soft snow classic skiing being one of the most notable changes I've made over the course of my time on Eagle).
While camps on the glacier promise to be hard and exhausting, I find myself looking forward to the simplicity of training up there. Upon getting to the facility, frequently via a short 10 minute trip by helicopter, the pace of life completely shifts...
The Thomas Training Center is perched on a edge of the Eagle Glacier with the town of Girdwood, Alaska and Turnagain Arm distantly below. On a clear day, civilization is within sight from the living room window, but even with the hustle and bustle of humanity in view, our life on Eagle is different than it is when we're down below. For a week our lives are centered around ski training. There are no errands, no driving to and from training, and no grocery shopping. There is no internet. On the glacier we train, eat, and sleep. For a week out of each month during the summer, life is really simple, and we train with absolutely no distractions.
Skiing is our number one priority during each camp, and the training on the glacier is pretty incredible. The course is groomed prior to each session, and the main goal of every week is to get in a ton of quality time on snow.
The APU women's team post- hard interval workout on the glacier.
For me, camps are one of the highlights of the summer. Not only because this experience helps me personally become a better skier come race season, but because it's a great opportunity to learn to work together as a team. Both on and off the trails, we get to know each other better. We make meals together, wash dishes, watch movies, share bunk rooms, do intervals and speed work, and ski distance together. In my mind, camps makes us better ski racers, because we push each other on the trail AND learn to coexist and be good teammates in a communal environment.
After a good week on the glacier and a lot of team "together time," we jumped back into normal life and often into a "recovery" type week where we were able to mix up training with other, non ski-specific training activities. Some of my teammates headed out of state for vacations, while I chose to stay closer to home, throwing in local adventures whenever I could. Over the course of my "recovery" weeks I had some fun outside of ski training, including a dipnetting trip to the Kenai River where we fished for red salmon, some blueberry picking, a bike trip in Denali National Park, and a little packrafting (as seen below)...
This summer I've also enjoyed hitting up the local Saturday farmer's market whenever I'm in town and making bread. I come to look forward to my baking day all week. Usually falling on my "off" day, I enjoy experimenting with different recipes, as I gradually read my way through my shelf of cookbooks. So far this summer the bread of choice has been 100% whole wheat cinnamon raisin walnut swirl bread.
With August halfway gone, it's amazing to think that summer will pretty quickly be giving way to fall. Kids are heading back to school, and it won't be long before the first snow hits the mountains. Part of me longs for a little more summer. There are a few more mini-adventures I still hope to fit in before the seasons change. That said, it's been an enjoyable few months packed full of rollerskiing, skiing, biking, hiking, baking, packrafting, fishing, and life, and when the snow does finally fly, I'll be ready to jump whole-heartedly into winter and ski racing!
Enjoy summer while it lasts, and thanks for tuning in!
