It is May 15th. For many years the Okanagan in springtime has been of mythical status to me. I have heard many bragging stories of the incredible spring skiing and the awesome chill out/relax time that the valley has to promise. Cough, cough…Butler! Skiing in the morning and then sitting on the beach in +30 in the afternoon??? What!? Dayum… It isn’t until now that I’ve got to experience this.
I guess that in hindsight, I didn’t have it all that bad in Yellowknife during the spring. Wicked-sweet skiing, good friends, comfortable familiarity, and not a cloud in the sky during my entire stay. I am usually quite content with +5 or 10 and sunny. The skiing up there was the best I have experienced in my entire life. But nonetheless, I had a constant itch and hunger. All the cards were in my hand in YK, but there were also a ton of distractions. I yearned to disband distraction and to immerse myself into a laid back environment where everything would be simple and predictable. I decided that a good place to do this would be Vernon, BC. So on Tuesday, I loaded as much of my life I could fit into a ski bag, a 50.6 lb (supposed to be under 50…) duffle, and 2 bulky carry-ons. I journeyed down to stay with a mentor and friend, Andrew Sellars and his wife Ginny. Although this is only my second day here, I can’t help but realize how optimal my current training situation is. First of all, I have basically no friends in Vernon. A few skiers perhaps, but no close friends. Pair that with the fact that I will be living with two high performance triathletes in a sick house right on Lake Okanagan, and the fact that I am able to borrow Andrew’s dope Impreza to rip up to Sovereign for a ski, and you have a pretty decent training set-up.
Man, these bloody geese are honking their heads off right in front of me and there’s no 12-gauge in sight!!!
Yesterday I did a 1 hr run right when I woke up. During the day I made it out to Olympia to buy a rd bike (afterall, that’s the actual reason why I’m down here, I’m heading to Grand Forks this weekend for an epic long-weekend of rd biking). I did a quick 30 min ride on the bike after my mid-afternoon meal. In the evening I did a step-test on a tacx trainer in Andrew and Ginny’s “training room” along with some conservative hypoxic work with the Spirotiger. Andrew and Ginny make up FaCT-education so they know their stuff in terms of monitoring training progress, training ideas as well as staying up to date with ever-evolving theories on how to become fit. This morning I hit up a 1:40 ski up at Sovereign. Some sections were still super good, but I think I got there a little late, as it was already almost +20 by 11 am. Tomorrow I’m gonna try to be there for 8 am to glide out a 2.5-3 hr ski… Yellowknife is still a way better place to ski in the spring… Tonight I will be doing a FaCT lactate test on the new Devinci CX1 (on a trainer) in order to find the Lactate Balance Point (threshold is an older term for this but doesn’t quite mean the same thing) which will in turn help determine training zones for when I’m spending all day on the bike this weekend.
At the moment I’m sitting beside the lake lathered in Ombrelle soaking in some rays blogging my butt off listening to French rap. It’s pretty sick actually…it’s maybe 25 degrees out with a light breeze. Anything hotter than that and my Northern endormorph frame would denature and become hard-boiled in the high Okanagan sun.
Grand Forks is coming. Gear up.
I guess that in hindsight, I didn’t have it all that bad in Yellowknife during the spring. Wicked-sweet skiing, good friends, comfortable familiarity, and not a cloud in the sky during my entire stay. I am usually quite content with +5 or 10 and sunny. The skiing up there was the best I have experienced in my entire life. But nonetheless, I had a constant itch and hunger. All the cards were in my hand in YK, but there were also a ton of distractions. I yearned to disband distraction and to immerse myself into a laid back environment where everything would be simple and predictable. I decided that a good place to do this would be Vernon, BC. So on Tuesday, I loaded as much of my life I could fit into a ski bag, a 50.6 lb (supposed to be under 50…) duffle, and 2 bulky carry-ons. I journeyed down to stay with a mentor and friend, Andrew Sellars and his wife Ginny. Although this is only my second day here, I can’t help but realize how optimal my current training situation is. First of all, I have basically no friends in Vernon. A few skiers perhaps, but no close friends. Pair that with the fact that I will be living with two high performance triathletes in a sick house right on Lake Okanagan, and the fact that I am able to borrow Andrew’s dope Impreza to rip up to Sovereign for a ski, and you have a pretty decent training set-up.
Man, these bloody geese are honking their heads off right in front of me and there’s no 12-gauge in sight!!!
Yesterday I did a 1 hr run right when I woke up. During the day I made it out to Olympia to buy a rd bike (afterall, that’s the actual reason why I’m down here, I’m heading to Grand Forks this weekend for an epic long-weekend of rd biking). I did a quick 30 min ride on the bike after my mid-afternoon meal. In the evening I did a step-test on a tacx trainer in Andrew and Ginny’s “training room” along with some conservative hypoxic work with the Spirotiger. Andrew and Ginny make up FaCT-education so they know their stuff in terms of monitoring training progress, training ideas as well as staying up to date with ever-evolving theories on how to become fit. This morning I hit up a 1:40 ski up at Sovereign. Some sections were still super good, but I think I got there a little late, as it was already almost +20 by 11 am. Tomorrow I’m gonna try to be there for 8 am to glide out a 2.5-3 hr ski… Yellowknife is still a way better place to ski in the spring… Tonight I will be doing a FaCT lactate test on the new Devinci CX1 (on a trainer) in order to find the Lactate Balance Point (threshold is an older term for this but doesn’t quite mean the same thing) which will in turn help determine training zones for when I’m spending all day on the bike this weekend.
At the moment I’m sitting beside the lake lathered in Ombrelle soaking in some rays blogging my butt off listening to French rap. It’s pretty sick actually…it’s maybe 25 degrees out with a light breeze. Anything hotter than that and my Northern endormorph frame would denature and become hard-boiled in the high Okanagan sun.
Grand Forks is coming. Gear up.
Apparently the lake is too cold to take a dip at this time of year. What wusses...way warmer than any body of water up North.
Andrew Sellars knows his FaCTs. Do you?
There was a sweet section at Sovereign where mist was veiling the trail.
Basking. And burning.
Make your time on-snow count. Build your foundation. Be smart and make gains as often as possible. There are many ways to skin a cat.
1 comment:
T D'Hont!
Sounds like you are logging some pretty solid hours right now! Dude, don't kill yourself. It's only May! haha I like the beach pic. We were there just a few weeks ago and that weather was just about the same. Sick!
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