With a whirlwind Christmas in the Ottawa area behind me, the trials races for Under 23 World Championships are just around the corner. This next week will be mentally and physically exhausting for all the Canadian skiers who are hoping to make it to a world championships. Junior, Senior, and Under 23 world Championship trials races are being held here in Canmore from Friday to next Tuesday. I am racing 3 of the 4 races (all the ones that count towards U23 trials). I will sit out the skate sprint that is only being used to determine the Senior World Championships team.
These are the races that most skiers spend their summer training for and I am no exception. We all want to be in peak shape when we blast out of the starting gate and make our way around the trails. So far I am feeling pretty good (knock on wood...) and I am planning on staying that way. I took it pretty easy today and just tested some skis. I did a time trial yesterday that shook me back to reality after a nice, relaxing 4 day holiday at home. Now I am looking forward to racing and seeing how it all turns out.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Silver Star Update
Last Sunday I raced my first distance race of the season. It was a 10km skate (freestyle) event. I was happy with my performance from a training point of view as I felt like I was skiing technically better on the uphills. Overall my result wasn't fantastic, but I was still happy with my race and how much I have technically improved since last year.
Our next set of races were to begin tomorrow in Callaghan Valley, Whistler at the soon to be 2010 Olympic venue, but due to a lack of snow the races have been moved back here to Silver Star. Sooooo... I have stayed put with my teammates and put in a few more days of skiing here.
Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a sore throat which meant that I had to be moved out of the house with all my female teammates and spend the day at the coaches house. After spending the day like an indoor cat (sleeping, eating, and all the rest...), I am feeling a bit better. I slept for 3hrs this morning and now feel a little disoriented, but my throat is easing up. Luckily I wasn't planning on racing tomorrows race because of such an intense early season schedule so I won't be missing out on that. But, I was planning on racing the sprints on Friday and the classic distance race on Saturday night. I might have to miss out on those if I don't start to feel better fast which is a big disappointment, but I have learnt to deal with sickness as a training exercise. I just have to set up my day like a training ritual of vitamins, sleep, and liquids. I have to learn from each time I get sick so that I can figure out how to avoid it all together as I get older, or at least how to get healthy asap.
As of now, I am on my 6th cup of tea and considering another nap. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow...
Ciao!
Our next set of races were to begin tomorrow in Callaghan Valley, Whistler at the soon to be 2010 Olympic venue, but due to a lack of snow the races have been moved back here to Silver Star. Sooooo... I have stayed put with my teammates and put in a few more days of skiing here.
Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a sore throat which meant that I had to be moved out of the house with all my female teammates and spend the day at the coaches house. After spending the day like an indoor cat (sleeping, eating, and all the rest...), I am feeling a bit better. I slept for 3hrs this morning and now feel a little disoriented, but my throat is easing up. Luckily I wasn't planning on racing tomorrows race because of such an intense early season schedule so I won't be missing out on that. But, I was planning on racing the sprints on Friday and the classic distance race on Saturday night. I might have to miss out on those if I don't start to feel better fast which is a big disappointment, but I have learnt to deal with sickness as a training exercise. I just have to set up my day like a training ritual of vitamins, sleep, and liquids. I have to learn from each time I get sick so that I can figure out how to avoid it all together as I get older, or at least how to get healthy asap.
As of now, I am on my 6th cup of tea and considering another nap. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow...
Ciao!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Racing on a Cloud
Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few months. I've been focusing all of my effort into training and now I am ready to fill everyone in on the first race of my season.
Today's race was a skate sprint up on the mountain in Vernon, BC in extremely foggy conditions. The first race of the season is always one of the hardest. You never know how you are going to compare to your fellow competitors after a whole summer’s worth of training. There are a lot of uncertainties. In the past, I have found these races here at Sovereign Lake Nordic to be stressful just for that reason. I spent a lot of time this past November trying to get excited for these race, trying to just shake off all those uncertainties and nervousness so that all that was left was the fun associated with skiing and racing. Today, I woke up and was able to ski for fun. This has been the first race in quite a while that I can truly say that I have really enjoyed. I was able to tell myself that it is fun to race and that is why I do it.
We race a 10km skate race tomorrow before packing everything up and moving onto Whistler Olympic Park for next weekends NorAms.
All the doubts and stress of November training have passed and now December has brought on a race season that is bound to be filled with many fun races. I'll keep you updated!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Amateur Hour
In sport, you always hear about athletes that suffer an injury then start to recover, only to injure themselves again because they didn’t give themselves enough time to recover. I always thought that this was a pretty amateur move. Athletes get injuries. It happens. But, as athletes we know that it takes time to recover from these injuries and you have to be smart about it.
I have spent the last year and a half trying to recover from a hip overuse injury. It took probably a year of this time to actually figure out what was causing the problem, but with the years of support from my home town chiropractor and the new ideas and tons of support from my medical team out here in Canmore I finally got some relief late this summer. A year and a half of physio, massage, chiropractor, and doctors appointments all seemed worth while when I finally got to lace up my runners and hit the trails with my team mates on our last trip up to the Haig this summer. For a kid who ran track and cross country all through high school it sure felt good to be able to run again. All of a sudden my hip didn’t hurt anymore and I was pumped…
…Maybe a little too pumped. After sitting out on team runs, hikes and ski walks for over a year I was pretty stoked to be back in the mix and included on these adventures. So this week when I looked a the schedule and saw that the team was doing a 4 hour run from Canmore to Banff and up Sulfur Mountain I was excited. You would think that some kind of little red light would go off in the back of my mind or that some little voice would say “Kate after doing almost no running for over a year do you really think that this is a good idea?”. But, alas, my little shoulder angel was turned off this week.
I made it about 2hrs pain free then things went downhill. I finished the workout but felt like an idiot. What an amateur move. Of course I wasn’t ready for 4 hours of running. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I couldn’t sleep that night because my hip was so sore again. I was feeling pretty rough the next day too. I guess I was just so excited to be feeling better that I rushed the rest of my recovery process. One and a half years of work for 3 weeks pain free. This thought made me really stop and think. I have worked so hard at getting back to 100% and now I have a chance to keep it this way. I now have the skills and knowledge to make my hip feel better and I know that I can do that. I also know that I am NOT going to take another year and a half to figure out how to keep it feeling that way. I made a mistake, but I defiantly learned from it. I am not going to screw it up again.
I have spent the last year and a half trying to recover from a hip overuse injury. It took probably a year of this time to actually figure out what was causing the problem, but with the years of support from my home town chiropractor and the new ideas and tons of support from my medical team out here in Canmore I finally got some relief late this summer. A year and a half of physio, massage, chiropractor, and doctors appointments all seemed worth while when I finally got to lace up my runners and hit the trails with my team mates on our last trip up to the Haig this summer. For a kid who ran track and cross country all through high school it sure felt good to be able to run again. All of a sudden my hip didn’t hurt anymore and I was pumped…
…Maybe a little too pumped. After sitting out on team runs, hikes and ski walks for over a year I was pretty stoked to be back in the mix and included on these adventures. So this week when I looked a the schedule and saw that the team was doing a 4 hour run from Canmore to Banff and up Sulfur Mountain I was excited. You would think that some kind of little red light would go off in the back of my mind or that some little voice would say “Kate after doing almost no running for over a year do you really think that this is a good idea?”. But, alas, my little shoulder angel was turned off this week.
I made it about 2hrs pain free then things went downhill. I finished the workout but felt like an idiot. What an amateur move. Of course I wasn’t ready for 4 hours of running. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I couldn’t sleep that night because my hip was so sore again. I was feeling pretty rough the next day too. I guess I was just so excited to be feeling better that I rushed the rest of my recovery process. One and a half years of work for 3 weeks pain free. This thought made me really stop and think. I have worked so hard at getting back to 100% and now I have a chance to keep it this way. I now have the skills and knowledge to make my hip feel better and I know that I can do that. I also know that I am NOT going to take another year and a half to figure out how to keep it feeling that way. I made a mistake, but I defiantly learned from it. I am not going to screw it up again.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Summer is Over
2 weeks on family vacation in Maine, a training camp in Kananaskis Valley, a quick trip to the Haig and the summer is over!
It feels like the summer has just rushed on by and winter is just around the corner. We have already had a dusting of snow here in Canmore (along with 25cm of fresh powder for our weekend on the glacier). Each morning I head out my door into a frosty atmosphere. I can’t believe how fast summer disappeared!
It’s nice to have the cold weather though. I like when my cheeks are rosy and my ears are beat red. As a skier, you notice yourself and your teammates become a little more focused and serious once the temperature starts to drop. For most of us, the fall means some pretty intense training. I was roller skiing the loop up at the Nordic Centre here in Canmore a few days ago and there were at least four different teams doing intervals. It’s pretty cool to be out west surrounded by such a huge group of hard working skiers. There certainly isn’t a lack of enthusiasm out here!
The snow is on its way and we are going to be ready when it gets here. 11 more weeks until we line up to race in Callaghan Valley!
It feels like the summer has just rushed on by and winter is just around the corner. We have already had a dusting of snow here in Canmore (along with 25cm of fresh powder for our weekend on the glacier). Each morning I head out my door into a frosty atmosphere. I can’t believe how fast summer disappeared!
It’s nice to have the cold weather though. I like when my cheeks are rosy and my ears are beat red. As a skier, you notice yourself and your teammates become a little more focused and serious once the temperature starts to drop. For most of us, the fall means some pretty intense training. I was roller skiing the loop up at the Nordic Centre here in Canmore a few days ago and there were at least four different teams doing intervals. It’s pretty cool to be out west surrounded by such a huge group of hard working skiers. There certainly isn’t a lack of enthusiasm out here!
The snow is on its way and we are going to be ready when it gets here. 11 more weeks until we line up to race in Callaghan Valley!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Haig Glacier Camp
After a spending a week smelling the sweet wafting smells of burning poop and hand sanitizer, playing every card game known to man, and living above the tree line in a moon-like environment, I am home from skiing on the Haig glacier.
The glacier was awesome this year. We had perfect weather, great skiing conditions, and awesome food (thanks John and Joel!) the entire week.
I went into this camp a little leery. I have never made it through a glacier camp without getting sick and I was worried that this trip up would be just the same as usual. I had to hike in while the rest of the team ran because of my continual hip problems, but on my solo journey through bear country I had time to think about what I wanted to take out of this week. I knew that Mike (my coach) had a tough week set up for all of us and was expecting me to bring my game face. I knew that the high altitude would be hard on my body both on and off my skis. And I knew that I would have to step up all my recovery techniques to be able to pull through the week. That said, I also knew that I had an amazing opportunity to pull my training together on snow. I was going to go skiing in July! That’s cool.
The altitude does funny things to my body. It obviously makes my heart rate higher as my body works harder to obtain the needed oxygen. I find it more difficult to sleep and stay hydrated. I also have a problem eating enough food to make it through the night which means that I have to bring a snack to bed that I pull out around 2am.
The first few days of skiing were amazing. I skied my first ever 3hr ski on the glacier and made some huge improvements in my technique work. I immediately noticed that my heart rate was easily 10 to 15 beats lower than last year on the glacier. I have been working hard to bring my fitness level up and waiting for this to happen and it was so exciting to see that all my hard work this spring has paid off.
But, it wasn’t until the 4th day up there that I made my biggest accomplishment. In the core workout, the afternoon after my second 3hr ski day, I opted to do one more set of the core routine with the older girls on the team. It seems like a tiny little thing that anybody could have chosen, but to me it was big. It meant that I was feeling healthy enough to handle a little more, but it also meant that I was stepping up to the plate. I decided to push myself a little harder, to take one more step closer to my goals this year. Then after the core I did 12 pull-ups without stopping! That is the most that I have ever done in one go and that was after 4.5 hours of training that day! I was pumped. While I pushed out the watts on the stationary bike for my cool down I could feel my heart pumping and all of a sudden I realized how pumped I am for this coming race season.
I made it through the entire camp without getting sick and now I have one more though week before I get a nice rest. This week will probably see some tough days where I don’t feel my best, but as Mike says “You will have to travel through the valley of death”. It’s all a part of training.
I don’t think that I have ever felt this excited about racing. I am 100% in this year. I want to race, I want to compete at the best of my abilities, and I want to have fun out there. I am excited about my progress already this year and can’t wait to jump right back into training tomorrow and bust out some tough intervals. Bring it on!
The glacier was awesome this year. We had perfect weather, great skiing conditions, and awesome food (thanks John and Joel!) the entire week.
I went into this camp a little leery. I have never made it through a glacier camp without getting sick and I was worried that this trip up would be just the same as usual. I had to hike in while the rest of the team ran because of my continual hip problems, but on my solo journey through bear country I had time to think about what I wanted to take out of this week. I knew that Mike (my coach) had a tough week set up for all of us and was expecting me to bring my game face. I knew that the high altitude would be hard on my body both on and off my skis. And I knew that I would have to step up all my recovery techniques to be able to pull through the week. That said, I also knew that I had an amazing opportunity to pull my training together on snow. I was going to go skiing in July! That’s cool.
The altitude does funny things to my body. It obviously makes my heart rate higher as my body works harder to obtain the needed oxygen. I find it more difficult to sleep and stay hydrated. I also have a problem eating enough food to make it through the night which means that I have to bring a snack to bed that I pull out around 2am.
The first few days of skiing were amazing. I skied my first ever 3hr ski on the glacier and made some huge improvements in my technique work. I immediately noticed that my heart rate was easily 10 to 15 beats lower than last year on the glacier. I have been working hard to bring my fitness level up and waiting for this to happen and it was so exciting to see that all my hard work this spring has paid off.
But, it wasn’t until the 4th day up there that I made my biggest accomplishment. In the core workout, the afternoon after my second 3hr ski day, I opted to do one more set of the core routine with the older girls on the team. It seems like a tiny little thing that anybody could have chosen, but to me it was big. It meant that I was feeling healthy enough to handle a little more, but it also meant that I was stepping up to the plate. I decided to push myself a little harder, to take one more step closer to my goals this year. Then after the core I did 12 pull-ups without stopping! That is the most that I have ever done in one go and that was after 4.5 hours of training that day! I was pumped. While I pushed out the watts on the stationary bike for my cool down I could feel my heart pumping and all of a sudden I realized how pumped I am for this coming race season.
I made it through the entire camp without getting sick and now I have one more though week before I get a nice rest. This week will probably see some tough days where I don’t feel my best, but as Mike says “You will have to travel through the valley of death”. It’s all a part of training.
I don’t think that I have ever felt this excited about racing. I am 100% in this year. I want to race, I want to compete at the best of my abilities, and I want to have fun out there. I am excited about my progress already this year and can’t wait to jump right back into training tomorrow and bust out some tough intervals. Bring it on!
The camp. We hike all the way up to the top left-hand side of this picture to do our skiing! 
Practicing some lunges to the line. Hopefully by race season this will be a little better!
The AWCA team!
Monday, July 14, 2008
What's Up?
So I figured that I should write a little update here before I head up to the glacier in a few hours seeing as my last post sounded like I was dying. I am not dead.
I had a pretty sweet rest week in which I got to head down to Montana to enjoy the July 4th weekend with some new friends here in Canmore. That was amazing. Then I had a kind of average week of training here in Canmore.
Now, I am actually heading up to the glacier in an hour. The team goes up to the Haig glacier for 1 week of on snow training at altitude. It is a pretty awesome training opportunity and I am very excited. I will be sure to let you all know about it when I get back!
Ciao!
I had a pretty sweet rest week in which I got to head down to Montana to enjoy the July 4th weekend with some new friends here in Canmore. That was amazing. Then I had a kind of average week of training here in Canmore.
Now, I am actually heading up to the glacier in an hour. The team goes up to the Haig glacier for 1 week of on snow training at altitude. It is a pretty awesome training opportunity and I am very excited. I will be sure to let you all know about it when I get back!
Ciao!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
But I am Les Tired!
Today has been a hard day. We had a rollerskiing sprint workout this morning and then a short bike ride with agility and core this afternoon. I feel pretty rundown and overall pooped. I feel even more tired than the day that I biked halfway up to the nordic centre and then realized that I was wearing my PJs underneath my warm-ups, not my clothes for the weight workout!
So I am going to take’er easy tomorrow. I was supposed to do a three hour road bike, but I think I will cut than down—by a lot. Depending on how I feel in the next 12 hours I will probably do about an hour tomorrow really easy then spend the rest of the day pounding the food, water, and vitamins along with some solid stretching and other recovery techniques to help my body through this little rough patch. I just feel incredibly rundown from all the training, but I am lucky that I caught it before I got sick (knock on wood).
Here are the signs that start to show up when I get really tired and rundown and make me realize that I shouldn’t just try to push through it:
1. I stop communicating—with my coach, with everyone around me, and with myself. (I just looked at my ilog today and I haven’t filled it out for almost 5 days.)
2. I get really cranky at workouts, and then all of a sudden I get really quiet because it takes too much energy to even complain. (Let’s just say that today’s afternoon workout was not my finest hour. Sorry team mates!)
3. I am not hungry. No matter how much training I am doing I just don’t seem that interested in food, but as soon as I start eating my meal I realize that I am famished. (Supper tonight was a gorge fest.)
4. Normal, everyday activities like brushing my teeth or taking a shower seem to take me twice the amount of time. (It took me 30min to make a simple salad tonight!)
5. I don’t really feel like doing anything. (Right about now, I would rather sit down on my bed and stare at the wall than even watch TV.)
6. My resting HR gets really low, but my ruskos become really sporadic.
7. I start to forget little things (like what I was doing) and find it really frusterating. 8. Life seems a little less fun than usual.
Now, this list may seem depressing, but I know that with a solid few days of rest, or however long it takes to recover, I will be up and at it in no time. I am not worried, just tired. Hey, it happens. I am an athlete.
So, to all my fellow skiers, I encourage you to make a list like mine so that you know when to take a step back and listen to what your body is telling you. Don’t ever let it get too far because skiing is supposed to be fun. Don’t change that!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Do You Feel Fit?
This was the question posed to me as I crested the top of a hill at the nordic centre yesterday by my coach, Mike Cavaliere. I thought about my answer as Mike pricked my finger for a blood lactate test.
Do I feel fit? I am in good shape. I’m healthy. I have been doing a ton of training. But do I feel fit? My answer was: “I wouldn’t say that I am ready to hop right back into racing, but I do feel pretty good.”
I have been doing a lot of long biking workouts and double polling to try and make my heart stronger and have been working out at the gym a couple times a week with a pretty intense weight schedule. Those two things have been pushing my body right to its limits which is pretty cool. I’ve been cramming in the sleep, naps and stretching to try and recover in time for the next workout.
Then just yesterday, I had an interval workout and I felt great! I felt like I could have gone forever and even asked Mike if I could do another interval (the answer was no haha). It’s pretty cool that this new training program that I am on can work me so hard, but leave me feeling great at the end of these big weeks.
I am excited for what this means for the racing season!
Do I feel fit? I am in good shape. I’m healthy. I have been doing a ton of training. But do I feel fit? My answer was: “I wouldn’t say that I am ready to hop right back into racing, but I do feel pretty good.”
I have been doing a lot of long biking workouts and double polling to try and make my heart stronger and have been working out at the gym a couple times a week with a pretty intense weight schedule. Those two things have been pushing my body right to its limits which is pretty cool. I’ve been cramming in the sleep, naps and stretching to try and recover in time for the next workout.
Then just yesterday, I had an interval workout and I felt great! I felt like I could have gone forever and even asked Mike if I could do another interval (the answer was no haha). It’s pretty cool that this new training program that I am on can work me so hard, but leave me feeling great at the end of these big weeks.
I am excited for what this means for the racing season!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Testing Week! AHHHH!!!!
This week is the AWCA testing week. So far I have endured a VO2 Max test, the uphill double poll test, a physio assessment, and I still have one more time trial tomorrow—the skate uphill test.
The VO2 max test was quite the experience. VO2 max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual (Wikipedia). This was my first time doing this test, and because of my continued hip problems, I, unlike all my team mates, had to do it on a bike.
Before the test, the staff at TCR Sport Lab took our body fat readings, weight, height, blood pressure and a few other readings. Then I hopped onto the stationary bike that was hooked up to a computer and got to do a virtual ride through some random desert. It was pretty cool. The giant computer screen in front of me showed me riding uphills and down. When I would go uphill it would get harder to pedal and when I rode down it would get easier.
Then for the actual test, they strapped on the breathing tube apparatus and plugged my nose. The tube runs through a computer which measures ventilation, oxygen, and carbon dioxide concentrations in both the inhaled and exhaled air.
They started me off very easily and increased my workload by 20 watts every 3min, telling me to keep my RPMs at 85-90 or they would stop my test. Once I hit a certain point, the watts were increased by 20 every minute until I could not keep my RPMs in the appropriate range. At first the breathing tube didn’t bother me at all and I barely noticed the change in wattage every 3 minutes, but then I basically hit the wall and suffered through the last few minutes of my test.
As for my results, let’s just say that I won’t be chasing down Lance Armstrong anytime soon. My heart rate hit 207 which surprised the lab pros and my VO2 was on the low side for an athlete which isn’t great, but what it really means is that I am not in good biking shape. Duh, I already know that. Throw me on roller skis and let me try that again! But it did help to clarify my training zones and it also found that my body is basically only burning carbohydrates when I train or race. This means that I cannot go for very long without eating because my body just completely runs out of energy. This also means that I probably don’t do very well at distance events. True. To fix this problem, and the problem of my high heart rate, I have been instructed to do lots of long, slow, zone 1 (aerobic) training. This will strengthen my heart and let it beat slower, more powerful, beats and give my body time to dip into fat reserves and learn how to burn that kind of energy as well.
So all in all it was a great training tool and a neat experience. I look forward to doing it again because now I know what it is all about. I hope that next time I can do it running or roller skiing to get an accurate result, but for now I will be out there pounding out the hours to try and teach my body what it is supposed to do!
Bye for now!
The VO2 max test was quite the experience. VO2 max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual (Wikipedia). This was my first time doing this test, and because of my continued hip problems, I, unlike all my team mates, had to do it on a bike.
Before the test, the staff at TCR Sport Lab took our body fat readings, weight, height, blood pressure and a few other readings. Then I hopped onto the stationary bike that was hooked up to a computer and got to do a virtual ride through some random desert. It was pretty cool. The giant computer screen in front of me showed me riding uphills and down. When I would go uphill it would get harder to pedal and when I rode down it would get easier.
Then for the actual test, they strapped on the breathing tube apparatus and plugged my nose. The tube runs through a computer which measures ventilation, oxygen, and carbon dioxide concentrations in both the inhaled and exhaled air.
They started me off very easily and increased my workload by 20 watts every 3min, telling me to keep my RPMs at 85-90 or they would stop my test. Once I hit a certain point, the watts were increased by 20 every minute until I could not keep my RPMs in the appropriate range. At first the breathing tube didn’t bother me at all and I barely noticed the change in wattage every 3 minutes, but then I basically hit the wall and suffered through the last few minutes of my test.
As for my results, let’s just say that I won’t be chasing down Lance Armstrong anytime soon. My heart rate hit 207 which surprised the lab pros and my VO2 was on the low side for an athlete which isn’t great, but what it really means is that I am not in good biking shape. Duh, I already know that. Throw me on roller skis and let me try that again! But it did help to clarify my training zones and it also found that my body is basically only burning carbohydrates when I train or race. This means that I cannot go for very long without eating because my body just completely runs out of energy. This also means that I probably don’t do very well at distance events. True. To fix this problem, and the problem of my high heart rate, I have been instructed to do lots of long, slow, zone 1 (aerobic) training. This will strengthen my heart and let it beat slower, more powerful, beats and give my body time to dip into fat reserves and learn how to burn that kind of energy as well.
So all in all it was a great training tool and a neat experience. I look forward to doing it again because now I know what it is all about. I hope that next time I can do it running or roller skiing to get an accurate result, but for now I will be out there pounding out the hours to try and teach my body what it is supposed to do!
Bye for now!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Rising Up To The Challenge
Wow! A lot has happened since my last update. I am back from the winter wonderland, formally know as Silver Star, where the team was doing some amazing spring skiing, and I am all settled in to my new place in Canmore, AB.
We are 100% back into the swing of summer training now. We have been doing a ton of gym workouts with our new strength coach, Rob Soffer, that have left me feeling a little sore, but stronger. We have been doing some technique on roller skis which is defiantly making me realize that I have some work to do before I hit the snow again. I even went for a road ride.
The road ride was a bold move on my part because after owning my road bike for a year now I have only been on one ride that was 3+ hours and let’s just say that that was not a positive experience…and that was on relatively flat terrain. So on Sunday, when my team mates, Sara Hewitt and Rhonda Jewett, convinced me into another long ride I was a little hesitant. Basically I was scared that I a) wouldn’t be able to keep up or b) would get so tired and fatigued that it would become another one of those horrible biking experiences where it felt like I was fighting for my life out there (formally known as bonking). But, I decided that I needed to give this biking thing another shot.
So, decked out in all my Fresh Air gear, I lathered on the sunscreen and climbed back onto my bike on Sunday morning. Rhonda and Sara broke the wind the entire way to Banff for me as I tucked in behind them, trying to save energy and not get left behind. We made it to Banff in one piece (there was a moment there when I wasn’t sure that that would be the outcome when I had to go over a Texas gate on my road bike…) and then decided to do the Tunnel Mountain loop. I tucked in behind the girls again and had a quick snack as we picked our way through the gaggles of tourists on our upwards trek. The landscape was gorgeous and I enjoyed climbing the hill and checking out all the reasons why people congregate in the Banff area on their holidays. The decent was a little tricky, with lots of twisting road and quite a few slow moving vehicles filled with people propping up their cameras to take pictures of the mountains. We made it down, did a quick loop through town, then Sara and I continued on to do the Minnewanka loop which climbs back out of Banff up to Minnewanka Lake. Another quick stop for a snack, and we were grinding up another mountain. This is where I really enjoyed my day. All of a sudden I realized that I was still feeling good and was able to keep up with Sara and even lead a bit. That was pretty cool. I was still alive after 2hrs of riding! We saw some bighorn sheep that came stampeding down the mountainside and forced us to slam on the breaks which was scary, but kind of neat. Then we made the 17km trek back to Canmore from Banff with a sweet tail wind. I was so exhausted when we pulled into the driveway, but happy. I did it! I made it! 3hrs on my bike and I lived to tell the tail (I know that may not seem like a lot to some people, but for me it is a feat).
Kate: 1 Bike: 0. Bring it bike. I’m ready.
We are 100% back into the swing of summer training now. We have been doing a ton of gym workouts with our new strength coach, Rob Soffer, that have left me feeling a little sore, but stronger. We have been doing some technique on roller skis which is defiantly making me realize that I have some work to do before I hit the snow again. I even went for a road ride.
The road ride was a bold move on my part because after owning my road bike for a year now I have only been on one ride that was 3+ hours and let’s just say that that was not a positive experience…and that was on relatively flat terrain. So on Sunday, when my team mates, Sara Hewitt and Rhonda Jewett, convinced me into another long ride I was a little hesitant. Basically I was scared that I a) wouldn’t be able to keep up or b) would get so tired and fatigued that it would become another one of those horrible biking experiences where it felt like I was fighting for my life out there (formally known as bonking). But, I decided that I needed to give this biking thing another shot.
So, decked out in all my Fresh Air gear, I lathered on the sunscreen and climbed back onto my bike on Sunday morning. Rhonda and Sara broke the wind the entire way to Banff for me as I tucked in behind them, trying to save energy and not get left behind. We made it to Banff in one piece (there was a moment there when I wasn’t sure that that would be the outcome when I had to go over a Texas gate on my road bike…) and then decided to do the Tunnel Mountain loop. I tucked in behind the girls again and had a quick snack as we picked our way through the gaggles of tourists on our upwards trek. The landscape was gorgeous and I enjoyed climbing the hill and checking out all the reasons why people congregate in the Banff area on their holidays. The decent was a little tricky, with lots of twisting road and quite a few slow moving vehicles filled with people propping up their cameras to take pictures of the mountains. We made it down, did a quick loop through town, then Sara and I continued on to do the Minnewanka loop which climbs back out of Banff up to Minnewanka Lake. Another quick stop for a snack, and we were grinding up another mountain. This is where I really enjoyed my day. All of a sudden I realized that I was still feeling good and was able to keep up with Sara and even lead a bit. That was pretty cool. I was still alive after 2hrs of riding! We saw some bighorn sheep that came stampeding down the mountainside and forced us to slam on the breaks which was scary, but kind of neat. Then we made the 17km trek back to Canmore from Banff with a sweet tail wind. I was so exhausted when we pulled into the driveway, but happy. I did it! I made it! 3hrs on my bike and I lived to tell the tail (I know that may not seem like a lot to some people, but for me it is a feat).
Kate: 1 Bike: 0. Bring it bike. I’m ready.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
AWCA In the News!
This is the first team picture of the new AWCA crew (of course I am the only one not looking at the camera...)!
Also, check out these recent newspaper articles on the team!
Canmore Leader Article: http://www.canmoreleader.com/Sports/398996.html
Rocky Mountain Outlook Article: http://www.albertalocalnews.com/rockymountainoutlook/sports/18765464.html
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Alberta World Cup Academy
I have made the move from NTDC Thunder Bay to Canmore, AB where I am now part of the Alberta World Cup Academy team. It is a new program this year that has attracted many high performance athletes from Alberta, BC, and Ontario.
I am currently sitting at our kitchen table in Silver Star, BC where we are having our first training camp of the year! Silver Star is just outside of Vernon. We are at a fairly high altitude here so there is still tons of snow for us to ski on. It is so incredible to be skiing in May. I have never skied at this time of year before. It is warm and sunny so I don’t have to ever worry about getting cold. Actually the conditions are kind of like the what the European conditions are like all winter.
Today I skied at Sovereign Lake Nordic and the conditions were unbelievable. We can use our good skis and everything! My heart rate was pretty high from the altitude and all of the traveling in the last couple of days, so I decided to just ski for an hour and a half but loved every minute of it. I did a lot of technique work and now my butt is really sore!
The new team is awesome. I don’t think that I have ever been on a team with so many high caliber women to train with. It is really amazing to get to see how they train and learn from them. I am really excited to be here and can’t wait to see how this season turns out!
I am currently sitting at our kitchen table in Silver Star, BC where we are having our first training camp of the year! Silver Star is just outside of Vernon. We are at a fairly high altitude here so there is still tons of snow for us to ski on. It is so incredible to be skiing in May. I have never skied at this time of year before. It is warm and sunny so I don’t have to ever worry about getting cold. Actually the conditions are kind of like the what the European conditions are like all winter.
Today I skied at Sovereign Lake Nordic and the conditions were unbelievable. We can use our good skis and everything! My heart rate was pretty high from the altitude and all of the traveling in the last couple of days, so I decided to just ski for an hour and a half but loved every minute of it. I did a lot of technique work and now my butt is really sore!
The new team is awesome. I don’t think that I have ever been on a team with so many high caliber women to train with. It is really amazing to get to see how they train and learn from them. I am really excited to be here and can’t wait to see how this season turns out!
Monday, April 7, 2008
The End
So my season is over. The 30km race at nationals was not a pleasant way to end it. I was exhausted, on antibiotics for a sinus infection, and my wax/skis were not right for the conditions. I had way too much grip for my first 7.5km lap. The snow was stuck inches thick on the bottom of my skis until Eric de Nys put down a piece of wood for me to ski over that basically took all the built up snow and wax off my skis. That was really nice, but I was already exhausted by then so I just wandered the rest of my race and finished off a tough season with a tough race.
Now I am in the midst of trying to make decisions for next year. Where to go? What to do? The Cross Country Canada annual general meeting is this weekend so hopefully some big decisions will be made there that help me decide what I am going to do next year.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my sponsors and supporters. Thank you to my equipment sponsors Madshus, One Way, and Alpina. A special thanks to my financial sponsors Kanata Cross Country Ski Club, Pakenham Civitan Club, and the Pakenham Royal Bank. Thanks for helping me chase my Olympic dreams.
~Kate
Now I am in the midst of trying to make decisions for next year. Where to go? What to do? The Cross Country Canada annual general meeting is this weekend so hopefully some big decisions will be made there that help me decide what I am going to do next year.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my sponsors and supporters. Thank you to my equipment sponsors Madshus, One Way, and Alpina. A special thanks to my financial sponsors Kanata Cross Country Ski Club, Pakenham Civitan Club, and the Pakenham Royal Bank. Thanks for helping me chase my Olympic dreams.
~Kate
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Nationals So Far...
Hey Hey!
So we have raced 3 races here at nationals in Callaghan Valley at the 2010 Olympic venue. I raced the team sprint, a 5km classic, and a 10km skate. The two last races sucked. There really isn't any other word for it. We raced on hairries (waxless skis) for the classic race because the conditions here are so crazy. It keeps snowing, raining, getting cloudy, clearing up, and that is just in one hour. I have never skied on hairries before so it was a bit tricky for me. I need some practice. The skate race didn't go so great either. I felt okay, but it was snowing really hard and my balance was way off. Something else to work on.
But the team sprint was money! I raced it with my Kanata Racers team mate, Danielle McVicar who raced up in the open category so that we could have a team. We did great and had a good time. We won our semi final heat and headed into the finals. We gave it our all in the finals later that day and ended up 6th overall. We pushed really hard and had some great lap times. It was pretty cool getting to race the Americans Kikkan Randall (who won a sprint world cup this year) and Laura Valas (who won U23 Championships last year). It was also fun getting to catch up with Danielle and spend the day with my old team mates. I have really missed them this year. Overall it was a great day and I know that Heinz would have been proud of how well we skied.
2 more races to go: a sprint and my first 30km ever! Should be sweet!
So we have raced 3 races here at nationals in Callaghan Valley at the 2010 Olympic venue. I raced the team sprint, a 5km classic, and a 10km skate. The two last races sucked. There really isn't any other word for it. We raced on hairries (waxless skis) for the classic race because the conditions here are so crazy. It keeps snowing, raining, getting cloudy, clearing up, and that is just in one hour. I have never skied on hairries before so it was a bit tricky for me. I need some practice. The skate race didn't go so great either. I felt okay, but it was snowing really hard and my balance was way off. Something else to work on.
But the team sprint was money! I raced it with my Kanata Racers team mate, Danielle McVicar who raced up in the open category so that we could have a team. We did great and had a good time. We won our semi final heat and headed into the finals. We gave it our all in the finals later that day and ended up 6th overall. We pushed really hard and had some great lap times. It was pretty cool getting to race the Americans Kikkan Randall (who won a sprint world cup this year) and Laura Valas (who won U23 Championships last year). It was also fun getting to catch up with Danielle and spend the day with my old team mates. I have really missed them this year. Overall it was a great day and I know that Heinz would have been proud of how well we skied.
2 more races to go: a sprint and my first 30km ever! Should be sweet!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Italia and Some History
So I raced my second race here at U23s yesterday. I placed a pretty solid 35th. It very warm 10km classic race. When the womens race ended it was a balmy 24 degrees in the sun. Boiling. I do not think that I have ever been so hot in a ski race before. A big thanks to our amazing wax techs who pulled off some of the best skis I have raced on all year. There were a few girls slipping out there in the sun, but the Canadians were not among them.
Today I decided to take a break from skiing. I already know the race course for tomorrows 15km skate race and my body could use a break from the high altitude at the race site. So a few of my team mate and I decided to go for a run and check out a few of the WW1 bunkers that are barily visible on our drive up to the race site. What a crazy experience.''
The bunkers are huge cement hills covered in dirt and grass. They just look like little hills in the fields but as you get close there are gun holes and little doors that are partially filled in with bricks and dirt. We ran around them and checked out the scene, thinking back to when these buildings were swarming with soldiers.
Of course we decided to go inside and check it out a little more. The five of us stayed very close in the dark confines of the bunker. We thought that it would be just a large open room but with one step inside we realized that it was a maze of tunnels that lead upwards and deep into the ground. With one flashlight, we all stayed within an arms length of one another and ventured in. It was increadibly creepy. It was a lot warmer in the bunker than outside and really quiet. There were ladders that lead down to other floors and stairs that lead up. We found one dead cat that was all dried up and 2D, but no sign of any other animals. The dead cat that I almost stepped on in the dark was enough for me. We negotiated our way back out of the underground maze and headed for fresh air and sunlight.
It was really cool to get to check out such a foreign part of history but I am really glad that I do not have to live down there.
Hopefully tomorrow will be just as exciting!
Today I decided to take a break from skiing. I already know the race course for tomorrows 15km skate race and my body could use a break from the high altitude at the race site. So a few of my team mate and I decided to go for a run and check out a few of the WW1 bunkers that are barily visible on our drive up to the race site. What a crazy experience.''
The bunkers are huge cement hills covered in dirt and grass. They just look like little hills in the fields but as you get close there are gun holes and little doors that are partially filled in with bricks and dirt. We ran around them and checked out the scene, thinking back to when these buildings were swarming with soldiers.
Of course we decided to go inside and check it out a little more. The five of us stayed very close in the dark confines of the bunker. We thought that it would be just a large open room but with one step inside we realized that it was a maze of tunnels that lead upwards and deep into the ground. With one flashlight, we all stayed within an arms length of one another and ventured in. It was increadibly creepy. It was a lot warmer in the bunker than outside and really quiet. There were ladders that lead down to other floors and stairs that lead up. We found one dead cat that was all dried up and 2D, but no sign of any other animals. The dead cat that I almost stepped on in the dark was enough for me. We negotiated our way back out of the underground maze and headed for fresh air and sunlight.
It was really cool to get to check out such a foreign part of history but I am really glad that I do not have to live down there.
Hopefully tomorrow will be just as exciting!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
U23 Sprints
So I just raced my first under 23 world championship race here in Schlinig, Italy this morning. It was a 1.3km skate sprint. I placed 32. I was just 0.68 seconds out of qualifying for the heats. SO CLOSE!!! I am very happy with my race. I raced it to the best of my abilities.
It was so exciting to go out and race today after the amazing performance of the Canadian team junior athletes yesterday. 7/8 of our junior racers qualified yesterday. They set the bar high and all the U23 athletes just went out there today trying to keep up the great performances. 3 U23 athletes qualified (2 in the top 10!). Congrats to Peri, Amanda, and Brent!
The temperature here has climbed to somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees celcius for the last two days ao we are skiing in some unusual conditions. It is pretty weird to cross the finish line and change out of my race suit into a t-shirt and shorts. Apparently it is supposed to snow in 2 days... yeah right.
The town of Mals (where we are staying) is awesome. This is my first world championships where we have actually stayed right in a town. There is a real sense of community. We see all the little kids rollerblading on the cobblestones (it's really funny) to school and comming home for lunch. Our hotel is right above a little bakery. It is pretty sweet. Everyone has been really nice to our entire team and the meals have been fabulous.
I race again on Tuesday. We have a 10km classic race. Tommorow our juniors race their distance classic races. Good luck!
It was so exciting to go out and race today after the amazing performance of the Canadian team junior athletes yesterday. 7/8 of our junior racers qualified yesterday. They set the bar high and all the U23 athletes just went out there today trying to keep up the great performances. 3 U23 athletes qualified (2 in the top 10!). Congrats to Peri, Amanda, and Brent!
The temperature here has climbed to somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees celcius for the last two days ao we are skiing in some unusual conditions. It is pretty weird to cross the finish line and change out of my race suit into a t-shirt and shorts. Apparently it is supposed to snow in 2 days... yeah right.
The town of Mals (where we are staying) is awesome. This is my first world championships where we have actually stayed right in a town. There is a real sense of community. We see all the little kids rollerblading on the cobblestones (it's really funny) to school and comming home for lunch. Our hotel is right above a little bakery. It is pretty sweet. Everyone has been really nice to our entire team and the meals have been fabulous.
I race again on Tuesday. We have a 10km classic race. Tommorow our juniors race their distance classic races. Good luck!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Livigno, Italy (2300m!!!)
Pate and I out for a ski here in Livigno.Hey Everybody,
Well, I am sitting here enjoying a little downtime. The entire Canadian team went down to Bormio to do a little shopping and sight seeing, but I am sitting here listening to Jack Johnson and doing homework. Lame. I know, but I have to do it some time!
Our trip has been great so far. We are staying just outside of Livigno until Thursday to do some training and acclimatization. The altitude here is unbelivable. Our hotel is well above the tree line! It's nuts. The sun is so strong that I can't leave the building without first applying a layer of SPF 30. The first few days I was having trouble breathing even when I was lying down. I had to sleep with my mouth open.
The jet lag hasn't been to bad this time. Today is the first day that the 6hr time difference is really causing me trouble. I am very tired and hungry at all the wrong times. In a few days the old system should straighten out.
The food has been awesome and the hotel staff have been very helpful and patient as we try to sign language things to them. One of the servers only knows my name out of everybody because he uses me to translate. Apparently knowing english and some french qualifies me for this position. It is pretty funny.
I will try to keep my blog updated throughout the races, but internet access is limited and very slow. It has taken me 40min to load these pictures!
Today's "piste sci". Amazing. 
NTDC teammates Butler, Lenny, and Jesse all decked out in their Canada gear.Sunday, February 10, 2008
The February Update
Wow! A lot has happened since my last update. Last time I posted an update I was right in the middle of the World Cup races in Canmore. My world cup experience for this year is now over, but I am ramping up for my next big races: Under 23 (U23) World Championships. As many of you know, these races were supposed to be held in Poland immediately after the World Cups in Canmore, but due to a lack of snow (kind of important in this sport) the championships have been postponed to Feb. 25th to March 2nd and moved to Mals, Italy.
After the change in scheduling, I was going to compete in the Eastern Canadian Championships at Nakkertok Nordic, but during my stay in Canmore I slipped on some ice and twisted my knee very slightly. I wasn’t too worried about it, but when I got home it was still sore a week later and I had trouble straightening my knee and it even hurt when I slept. So after a quick chiropractor/physio appointment I found out that I had bruised or slightly torn the cartilage on the outside of my left knee. I decided to take time off to let my little injury heal. I took 6 out of 8 days off after Canmore just resting, stretching and icing my knee. That might seem a little much to some people, but I didn’t want this to plague me for the rest of my season.
I am happy to say that my knee is back to 100% and I am back into training. I even got to race on Friday night at the Kamview classic right here in Thunder Bay. It was a very well run race and I had so much fun being back on my skis. After three months of being on the road it is nice to be back in Thunder Bay where I can get in some good training before I head to Europe next week.
After the change in scheduling, I was going to compete in the Eastern Canadian Championships at Nakkertok Nordic, but during my stay in Canmore I slipped on some ice and twisted my knee very slightly. I wasn’t too worried about it, but when I got home it was still sore a week later and I had trouble straightening my knee and it even hurt when I slept. So after a quick chiropractor/physio appointment I found out that I had bruised or slightly torn the cartilage on the outside of my left knee. I decided to take time off to let my little injury heal. I took 6 out of 8 days off after Canmore just resting, stretching and icing my knee. That might seem a little much to some people, but I didn’t want this to plague me for the rest of my season.
I am happy to say that my knee is back to 100% and I am back into training. I even got to race on Friday night at the Kamview classic right here in Thunder Bay. It was a very well run race and I had so much fun being back on my skis. After three months of being on the road it is nice to be back in Thunder Bay where I can get in some good training before I head to Europe next week.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
My World Cup Debut
Yesterday I had a pretty cool experience. I got to race my first World Cup race here in Canmore. It was a classic sprint. I finished 49th and was very happy with my race.
3 of my NTDC team mates are also racing in these World Cups this week and we have been trying to figure out a penalty for coming last (i.e. shaving one eyebrow or something along those lines). I am happy that I don't have to worry about that after yesterday's race.
It was pretty intimidating lining up with the best in the world and having my entire race filmed. For the last 20min of my warm-up I was followed by a camera man who stayed within a metre of me the entire time. It was weird. One cool thing was that I got to keep my race bib.
Now I am getting ready to race in the 10km individual start skate race tomorrow and the skate sprints on Saturday. I skied the 10km course today and it is very hard so I might be shaving an eyebrow after all. There is a ton of climbing right off the start that I am a little worried about.
The skate sprint course isn't quite as technical as the classic sprint course was so I am happy about that. It definitely has a nicer flow to it. There aren't as many 180 degree turns in it.
Also, this morning we were informed that World U23 Championships in Poland are being postponed until the end of February. I was supposed to fly straight from Canmore this Sunday over to Poland to compete at the start of next month, but there is a serious lack of snow in Szczyrk. Now I have to quickly make some changes to my training and travelling schedule to make sure that I will be in top shape for U23s. I will spend today figuring out what I have to do. Maybe I'll be able to go to Eastern Canadians after all!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Skiing With The Home Crowd!
On Sunday I got to meet some of my Kanata Racers team mates. I was invited to go for a ski with three of the junior racing team girls, Sabina Grossman, Marta Kierkus, Shelby Howard in Gatineau. 
We worked on some drills and went for a ski. There was lots of talking and laughing and I can’t wait until the next time. Thanks to Steve Howard for setting it up and all my team mates for such a fun day! I would also like to thank the entire Kanata Cross Country Ski Club for the financial support to help with my travel costs to the Under 23 World Championships in Poland. Time to take on the world!
We worked on some drills and went for a ski. There was lots of talking and laughing and I can’t wait until the next time. Thanks to Steve Howard for setting it up and all my team mates for such a fun day! I would also like to thank the entire Kanata Cross Country Ski Club for the financial support to help with my travel costs to the Under 23 World Championships in Poland. Time to take on the world!Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Heinz Niederhauser
On January 5th the man who introduced me to cross country skiing, and coached me for over 8 years, died. Heinz Niederhauser was remembered last Saturday at a beautiful memorial service in Arnprior ON. My team mate, Danielle McVicar, and I had the opportunity to speak on behalf of many of Heinz’s athletes. Here is what we said:
--Kate--
Everyone will remember Heinz in their own personal way but I know that I speak for quite a few athletes when I say that I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for him. In the last few days I have heard those words from so many people. He was one of the key people in cross country skiing in this country and he will be missed by the entire ski community. He influenced so many people in the sport and he was by far the most influential person in my ski career.
I met Heinz through Sven and Jana at our daycare. He was recruiting even then. I can remember my very first time skiing with him in his backyard at Lowney Lake when I was 6 years old. I remember him looking down at me asking me if I would like to skate or classic. I immediately answered skate thinking that he meant ice skating. I remember Sven skiing circles around me saying “Do you even know what skating is?” It turns out that was the first lesson he taught me.
There were many other lessons along the way but one of the funny ones that stands out in my mind is when he taught Sven, Danielle, and I to never underestimate our opponents. We spent a week at an early snow camp at foret Montmorency a few years ago and on our down time we would play ping pong. The three athletes practiced all week to take on Heinz in the finals and he still managed to annihilate each of us.
--Danielle--
It is rare to encounter a coach who invests himself so entirely into the success of his athletes. Heinz took the time to know me; my personality, my strengths as a skier, and most importantly, my goals. Sometimes I think that he knew me better than I know myself. He dedicated so much of his time and effort to me and his other athletes, and for this I will always be grateful.
Heinz constantly exceeded his expectations as a coach, teaching me the importance of exceeding my expectations as an athlete. All he wanted is to make his athletes the best skiers possible, and he did anything to achieve it. Whether it be phoning me everyday to check up on my training or driving an hour and half to Gatineau Park for only one athlete. Because Heinz wanted to make sure my hills on penguin were always the best that I could do.
He led by example, reflecting his drive and focus onto his athletes. Even if we had a successful race he always thought of the next race, telling to focus for the next race not to compromise it by the celebration.
In his 6 years of coaching me, he coached me in far more than skiing; he taught me what it meant to be a focused, determined individual, and for this reason I attribute most of my success as both an athlete and a person to Heinz.
--Kate--
I think I always thought that Heinz would out ski me. Or at least I thought that he would be there to watch me finish my career as a skier. It never really occurred to me that he would be the first to stop. It feels a bit daunting to know now that I have to put on my skis and cross those start lines and finish lines knowing that he won’t be somewhere in between, cheering me on. He was our biggest fan. He cared so much about each and every one of his athletes. And we know that he will still be out there at each race encouraging us as always.
So thank you Heinz for the passion, guidance, and all of the opportunities you have given every one of your athletes. We owe it all to yo
--Kate--
Everyone will remember Heinz in their own personal way but I know that I speak for quite a few athletes when I say that I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for him. In the last few days I have heard those words from so many people. He was one of the key people in cross country skiing in this country and he will be missed by the entire ski community. He influenced so many people in the sport and he was by far the most influential person in my ski career.
I met Heinz through Sven and Jana at our daycare. He was recruiting even then. I can remember my very first time skiing with him in his backyard at Lowney Lake when I was 6 years old. I remember him looking down at me asking me if I would like to skate or classic. I immediately answered skate thinking that he meant ice skating. I remember Sven skiing circles around me saying “Do you even know what skating is?” It turns out that was the first lesson he taught me.
There were many other lessons along the way but one of the funny ones that stands out in my mind is when he taught Sven, Danielle, and I to never underestimate our opponents. We spent a week at an early snow camp at foret Montmorency a few years ago and on our down time we would play ping pong. The three athletes practiced all week to take on Heinz in the finals and he still managed to annihilate each of us.
--Danielle--
It is rare to encounter a coach who invests himself so entirely into the success of his athletes. Heinz took the time to know me; my personality, my strengths as a skier, and most importantly, my goals. Sometimes I think that he knew me better than I know myself. He dedicated so much of his time and effort to me and his other athletes, and for this I will always be grateful.
Heinz constantly exceeded his expectations as a coach, teaching me the importance of exceeding my expectations as an athlete. All he wanted is to make his athletes the best skiers possible, and he did anything to achieve it. Whether it be phoning me everyday to check up on my training or driving an hour and half to Gatineau Park for only one athlete. Because Heinz wanted to make sure my hills on penguin were always the best that I could do.
He led by example, reflecting his drive and focus onto his athletes. Even if we had a successful race he always thought of the next race, telling to focus for the next race not to compromise it by the celebration.
In his 6 years of coaching me, he coached me in far more than skiing; he taught me what it meant to be a focused, determined individual, and for this reason I attribute most of my success as both an athlete and a person to Heinz.
--Kate--
I think I always thought that Heinz would out ski me. Or at least I thought that he would be there to watch me finish my career as a skier. It never really occurred to me that he would be the first to stop. It feels a bit daunting to know now that I have to put on my skis and cross those start lines and finish lines knowing that he won’t be somewhere in between, cheering me on. He was our biggest fan. He cared so much about each and every one of his athletes. And we know that he will still be out there at each race encouraging us as always.
So thank you Heinz for the passion, guidance, and all of the opportunities you have given every one of your athletes. We owe it all to yo
Thursday, January 10, 2008
World Under 23 Championships Trials
This past weekend was the World Under 23 Championships trials races in Duntroon, ON. There were some good moments and some sad moments.
I am proud to say that after the 3 races I qualified to represent Canada in Szczyrk, Poland (Try saying that name!). The website for the event is http://www.beskidy2008.pl/?catid=1&ver=2. There is not much up on it right now, but soon it will be very busy. The Canadian contingent flies over to Poland on January 26th to begin adjusting to the time change and location. We fly home on February 11th. I don't know which race(s) I will be racing yet. That is up to the coaching staff.
This weekend was also very hard because the man who introduced me to cross country skiing died while out on the trails in Duntroon. Heinz Niederhauser was 72. Without Heinz I would have never made it to where I am today. I owe him so much. Cross Country Canada has lost a great coach and skier. I hope that I can make him proud in Poland.
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