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.

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

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!