Girdwood wrap

We finished our Girdwood camp with a long OD that we've done in various forms the past few years.  It takes us from Girdwood to Anchorage, via rollerskiing, a short shuttle, running and more rollerskiing.  We finish about 30 min closer to home, which is certainly one benefit, but we also get a great trip along Turnagain Arm, and get to cap the camp with the climb up Potter Valley. 

Bob's duffel is appropriately labelled at the end of training camp...

The boys 15k into the first roll

Heather got up early to shuttle her car down the arm.  Her reward?  A white chocolate mocha feed when she looked a little tired in the car.

Getting ready for the run at Rainbow.

Johnny had a runny nose so we had him stop after the ski.  He still got to enjoy the sun and the Turnagain Arm Trail after it was all done.

Johnny and Max - a couple of tree huggers?

Vanya and Pat cross McHugh Creek 10km into the run.

A bit later on the slopes of Potter

Heather's ratchet gave way so she double poled the whole way up Potter

Girdwood Day 4 and 5

Day 4 was our easy day for the week, so after a later morning including a pancake breakfast, we headed out to Indian for a double pole distance session back to Girdwood.  The coaches flubbed the video camera exchange so I don't have any pictures of morning training.  Most everyone took the afternoon off with only a couple of the older athletes heading for an easy run and a soak in one of the glacier-fed creeks running through town.  We also managed to do 15-20 minute meetings with everyone to check-in on training and objectives for the remainder of the summer and the transition into fall.  Otherwise it was time for some downtime and recreation which we managed a few shots of.

The boys moved the ping pong table from the garage to the deck for some extra sun

The ladies added to their tally of 'chick-flicks' for the week.

Pre-dinner game of around-the-world.

What?  The most civilized dinner ever at training camp?

Day 5 in Girdwood started with some spenst work and ski-walking/moose-hoofing intervals on the base of Mt. Alyeska.  We've seen a great boost in quickness, and explosiveness this month, which is good since that's been something we've been working on! 

For the intervals we did two different intervals that both ended at the top of chair 7.  One started at the day lodge and the other started near the base of the tram.  The intervals took between 4 and 7 minutes covering 800-900 meters and gaining approximately 100 meters in vertical.  Our focus was on progressively building speed from interval to interval while staying at or below a 'threshold' intensity, and adapting our technique to the frequent variations in pitch of the climb.  It was a great session, and other than a few 'blips' everyone was spot-on doing between about 6 and 8 trips to the top of Chair 7. 

Nice scenery all around

Checking in with the girls up top

The route up from the base of the Tram and Alyeska Hotel

Checking lactates at the top to make sure we were doing a good job with pacing

After a few hours break we jogged down to Girdwood Elementary for our second strength session of the week.  ANR had arrived in town earlier that morning for their own 3-day camp and they were doing a session in the parking lot while we did strength on the playground.  Both our groups joined up for a great game of ultimate that night (only one bloody nose, thankfully!), with ANR besting us something like 10-8.  It was a fun game with coaches and athletes all mingling on the field. 

Glacial ice bath!

Max making pizza dough for the night's meal to be eaten in front of the Opening Ceremonies!

Girdwood Day 3

Wednesday was our big distance training day.  We started the morning with a 42km skate ski along the arm with a few folks tacking on a run back to the houses to bring the session up to the 3 hour range.  After a solid break in the middle of the day we regrouped and met at the girls' 'clubhouse' (as they call it) and then went for a hike up the mountain.  Alyeska is long enough and steep enough that you go into level 2 just walking so it was a good chance to work on our endurance and strength in uphill terrain.  Plus the tram is free on the way down so we can save our legs on the way down.  The weather was perfect and has continued to be that way.  Pics below (although only some seem to be loading):