Man Camp

Post Intervals with the boys: Me, Andy Brown, Joe Dubay and Matt Liebsch

The last two weeks have been Man camp.  Caitlin has been training in Norway with the US Ski Team leaving Lahti and I calling the shots.  My first week at home I had a planned recovery week which worked out well as halfway through it I also caught a cold.   It is a bit odd to get sick after taking two days off, but I tend to load my recovery days up with a fair amount of non-training activities including travel.  

Team Red: Me and Lahti

One of the home projects that I had the chance to work on has been installing new cabinet doors and hardware to give our kitchen a new and updated look.  Our friend Paul built us some beautiful cabinet doors since our lower cabinets were missing theirs when we bought the house.  I should really say Paul installed them, but he did a great job teaching me the process and I did a fair amount of chiseling as we did our best to make everything square in a 90 year old house.

Our kitchen never looked so good

After taking another two days off from training my health returned and I headed up north to Cresthill Resort in Hayward, WI to join the a group of Canadian skiers from Thunder Bay.  The Thunder Bay crew based their camp out of Cabin A and B where I lived and training with the CXC team for 5 years.  The roller skiing from Cresthill is fantastic and it was great to see Scott and Kay while revisiting many of my favorite training routes.

Back at Cresthill Resort

We put in a solid week of training including my longest ever roller ski of 100 km which took 5 hours and 20 minutes

The rust spots on the car ready for bondo, primer and paint

Another project of man camp came in patching the rust holes in our Subarau.  Scott showed me how to use a rivet gun, bondo and prime,  We had a bit of a mix up at the auto parts store and I received the wrong color pain but I will be sure to post a photo of the finished job.  Scott and I also installed a new plastic spray pan after the original one got crunched last winter.

Lots of Marwe Rollerskis in the van

I really enjoyed training in a big group of strong guys although I didn't do a great job of taking photos.  I enjoyed the challenge of doing several workouts which were new to me and the team ran a professional operation.  Thank you again to Scott and Kay for hosting me yet again.  It is now time to make sure that I have the house picked up and the laundry done before I pick Caitlin up at the airport.  I am also looking forward to the Boys and Girls Club reopening this week with our regular after school hours.

Truckee Training Camp

In the summer of 2013 Caitlin and I came out to Truckee, CA for a training camp, Uncle Kelly and Fran's wedding and a Compton family reunion.  We had a great time, trained well and went on to a great ski season including making the 2014 Olympic Team.  Last year, only Caitlin came out to Truckee for a training camp and well, she had a great year last year with the bronze at World Championships.  This year we both made the Truckee camp a priority.

Team Madshus on our first training day in Truckee: Me, Caitlin and Welly Ramsey

Truckee, California is a beautiful area; however what makes this camp special is the support from Kelly and Fran.  Not only do Fran and Kelly host us at their house but they come out to help with many of our workouts.  Coach Kelly took a ton of video for us and the two of them really help us pursue the excellence that we are looking for. 

A lot of energy in this group: Caitlin, Kelly and Fran 

Truckee is home to a number of great training groups too.  We had fun connecting with the Sugar Bowl Academy, Auburn Ski Club and Unleashed crews for some workouts.

Running the Tahoe Rim Trail, hard to believe we just ran 19 miles

Harvesting watermelon with only a spoon and a set of car keys

The Olympic Rings at Squaw Mountain Resort

These last 2 weeks concluded a 4 week block of over 90 hours at altitude.  Although I have trained similar volumes in the past, this round has included a heavy focus on recovery and the absorption of the training.  I didn't feel like I started the training season in May with a lot of fitness but I can feel everything coming together now.   I enjoyed two running races here in Truckee, CA and am pleased to have cut nearly a minute and a half from my time on the Squaw Mountain Run.  

Coming in to the home stretch during the Drifter Time Trial. 

A few days after the Squaw Mountain run we joined the local training groups for the Drifter Time Trial.  A 2 km uphill running time trial that has accurate times going back over 20 years.  Patrick Johnson has the course record at 10:06 and I started with the goal of breaking 10 minutes.  I will need to come back though as I finished in 10:10.  In addition to Patrick's record I am kept humble by Noah Hoffman's junior record of 10:07.

The rollers skiing in Truckee is decent, but the running is fantastic!

Finishing off a great block of training with one of my favorite runs ever.  Donner Summit to Squaw Mountain Resort on the PCT.