Placid Wrap

Fri, Oct  17, 2008 - By Andy Newell, Lindsay Williams, Garrott Kuzzy

Placid Wrap 

Newell, Williams and Kuzzy Wrap It Up.

 

Andy Newell Writes: 

The Olympic Training center in Lake Placid smells like crap. Seriously, it does. But that’s a good thing, because it means the Nordies are in town for the annual intensity training camp. Muddy running shoes, roller skis, and soggy boots line the hallways as evidence of the hammer fest that went down that day. Sometimes I wonder what the other Olympic athletes staying here must think of us and how we make the hallway smell, but the truth is, I don’t care. I’m proud to be a cross-country skier, and especially this time of year proud to say that we train harder than anyone else in the world, and I have a gnarly pair of boots to prove it.

This is the time of year when the excitement is growing and we’re piecing together all our summer training and, with the use of high intensity work outs, transforming our bodies into finely tuned racing machines. This is the time of year when every day we give it all and leave nothing on the road. It’s the time of year when we stand up and say ‘this winter we will win World Cups’.

The fist week of our intensity camp has been wicked. We’ve thrown down some level 4 double pole intervals, followed by an OD, and the annual Climb to the Castle roller ski race. This was my first year competing in the hill climb and it was pretty rad. I can’t remember the last time I have had my heart rate pinned out for that long. It was definitely one of the hardest time trials I have ever done.

We are going to hit things off this week with a sprint simulation work out on Thursday, followed by a Lake Placid favorite; level four bounding intervals up whiteface on Saturday. This is also the time of year when we working out in the gym harder than ever. With two hard strength sessions planned this week we’re bound to be sore from lifting up heavy things and putting them back down again.

It’s so important for us to be able to have a camp like this, where we can bring in all the best skiers in the country and hammer on each other for a few weeks. The US is so big geographically that we don’t get come together as much as we should, which makes it so much more important to strengthen the ski cub scene in our country. This is a great opportunity for athletes and coaches to learn from each other’s training, bounce ideas of each other, and then return home to their clubs and spread the knowledge. Ski training is always changing so it’s something we need to stay on top of. Keep checking back to Team Toady for updates and pictures from the week.

 

This from Lindsay Williams:

Our 2 week stay at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center is coming to a close today.  We just finished our final workout of the camp, a nice 3 hour scenic roll with plenty of sunshine and beautiful fall colors.  It was a great way to wrap up the training camp.  These last two weeks have been jam-packed with great quality workouts to better prepare urselves for the upcoming season.  We had some great double pole intervals with about 30 girls from all over the country last week. 

This week we raced straight up a mountain, hammered out a sprint race on rollerskis, and dominated bounding intervals up a mountain.  We are constantly working on improving our technique so we can be as efficient as possible by going over video almost every night with our coaches.  My teammates are also wonderful, and its always a great opportunity to train with them.   We are all competitive enough to push each other to our limits, and at the same time we are all supportive so that we help each other reach our goals. 

This being said, it has been an intense two weeks here and I am looking forward to heading back home to take a few days easy to recover a bit!

Wrapping it up in Lake Placid

Our 2 week stay at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center is coming to a close today.  We just finished our final workout of the camp, a nice 3 hour scenic roll with plenty of sunshine and beautiful fall colors.  It was a great way to wrap up the training camp.  These last two weeks have been jam-packed with great quality workouts to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming season.  We had some great double pole intervals with about 30 girls from all over the country last week. 

This week we raced straight up a mountain, hammered out a sprint race on rollerskis, and dominated bounding intervals up a mountain.  We are constantly working on improving our technique so we can be as efficient as possible by going over video almost every night with our coaches.  My teammates are also wonderful, and its always a great opportunity to train with them.   We are all competitive enough to push each other to our limits, and at the same time we are all supportive so that we help each other reach our goals. 

This being said, it has been an intense two weeks here and I am looking forward to heading back home to take a few days easy to recover a bit!

Garrott Kuzzy gives us a look at the CXC Placid experience:

The fall Lake Placid training camp is turning into an annual event, bringing skiers from around the country together for the last pre-snow camp of the season.  Events like the “Climb to the Castle” and double-pole interval sets give elite skiers a chance to test their fitness against their peers and give aspiring racers the opportunity to test themselves against the best in the country.

If competition is the destination, we cannot forget about the journey; in this case, that journey is training.  The Lake Placid training camp is not only a chance to compete, but also an opportunity to work together.  There have been some great training sessions getting everyone out, learning from one another and having fun together.

This particular adventure is from a CXC Team run in the Adirondacks, before the arrival of the US Ski Team.  The route took us from the Adirondack Loj, past the Marcy Dam to Avalanche Lake, over Mt Colden and back to the Loj.

 

Photo 1: Matt Liebsch aka “Chuck Norris” arriving at Avalanche Lake

There are several ways to get around the lake.  Most hikers take the path, but Brian, Andre, and Heather opted for the alternative.  Heather was convinced that the sticks being used to paddle the boat we not fast enough, so she dove out of the boat and started to swim in the frigid water.  Swimming was not faster than the boat.

Photo 2: Brian, Andre, & Heather boating

The alternative hiking trail skirted the lake, offering a variety of ladders and bridges linking sections of the trail together to by-pass some of the massive rock formations.  The boat was not faster than the trail.

Photo 3: Trail bridge

At the far end of Avalanche Lake, the trail heads to the top of Mt. Colden, nicknamed during the run “Mt. Klöden” after the German cyclist known for his skills in the steep alpine stages of the Tour de France.

Photo 4: Cook pauses

 

Photo 5: Watt breaks tree line

 

Photo 6: Atop Mt Colden

The hike to the top of Mt Colden is a classic example of the journey being greater than the destination.  The clouds were so thick on top of the mountain that we couldn’t even find the summit.  Oh well, it was an awesome hike! 

Photo 7: Sloppy conditions and slippery rocks

The rain started pouring on our trip back down.  Our shoes and socks were soaked and caked with mud.  Liebsch slipped on a rock and twisted his ankle pretty badly.  Best of luck, Matt, for a speedy recovery.  Get back to training soon!

 

Placid Wrapped.

(Vordenberg and Kuzzy Images)