I’m currently sitting in the back of a crammed 12-passanger van as my team drives back to Bozeman after a two-week training camp in Park City. Feeling extremely tired, but very satisfied with the work I put in over the past 14 days. Every October, the U.S Ski Team, along with almost all of the professional teams around the country, meet up in Utah for this training camp. It’s a pretty neat atmosphere as this is one of the only times in the year where this many athletes are training together in one spot.
One of the highlights of my camp was our group speeds workouts. Throughout the camp we had two speed sessions on the Solder Hollow rollerski track: one skate, one classic. Over the past few months, I have been working on my power, speed, and sprint technique, so these workouts were just what I needed to continue fine-tuning my sprinting. During these workouts we did around 20 speeds, with each speed ranging from 10-20 seconds. Our first set of speeds were on a steep uphill. On this type of terrain, we practiced hop-skating during our skate workout and fast running during our classic session. We then did another set of speeds on gradual climbing terrain and then another on a flat section of the course.
Another notable training session was a 3-hour distance rollerski in a neighborhood outside of Park City. The trees in the area were all changing colors and it made for one of the most beautiful rollerskis I have ever done. This was also such a fun session to catch up with old teammates and friends from other Pro teams around the country.
During the camp we also had the opportunity to do some mountain biking during our easy sessions. The trails around Park City are amazing so this was definitely one of my highlights.
(Bike ride above Park City with Sydney Palmer-Ledger, Lauren Jortberg, Julia Kern, and Sarah Goble)
We capped off our 14-day camp with a weekend of rollerski races at Solder hollow. The first race of the weekend was a 10k skate individual start. After a big training load, my body was feeling pretty fatigued, but I had to remember that the rest of the athletes were in the same boat as me. Although I wasn’t completely satisfied with my result (a 9th place finish), I felt like a was able to push myself hard and simulate a real race effort. The second day of racing was a classic sprint. I feel like it is extremely beneficial to do sprint rollerski TTs and races as they allow you to dial in your warmup routines, practice your racing tactics, and get comfortable skiing closely with others during heats. I moved through the heats and onto the semifinals where I ended up 8th for the day. Overall, it was a great weekend of racing. I pushed myself super hard and I am left feeling fired up for the winter!
(Start line of our quarter final with lots of Midwest skiers!)
(Post-race pic with Alayna Sonnesyn and Julie Ensrud)
This coming week in Bozeman I am planning on dialing back my training and allowing my body to absorb all the work I just put in. As far as racing goes, our team is heading up to Silver Star at the end of November for the first Super Tour races of the season! Its crazy how quickly the winter is approaching but I am getting very excited for it!
(Team dinner)
Thanks for following along! More updates to come soon!
Hannah
