IN THE ARENA WITH CAITLIN: A Week in the Life of Team Gregg at Canmore Camp

A week in the life of Team Gregg at Canmore Camp 2016.

Monday:

AM - OD Run 3.5 hours. Nice and easy trail/road run in and around Canmore, AB. Leaving from our condo and finishing at the Canmore Nordic Center Trails. 16 miles total with an average heart rate of 120 bpm. My energy felt really good, a great to kick off turning 36 years old!

PM - Yoga for 1.25 hours. Brian and I signed up for a special one month introductory subscription to a local yoga studio. Yoga is something we know is good for us but we simply don't make the time during the spring, summer and fall at home.

36 and still going strong :)

After Yoga we enjoyed Apple Pie in the hot tub at our condo and had fun pretending to not be getting older.

Thanks for the Pie Bri!

Tuesday:
AM: Skate Distance Ski 2.25 hours

Brian and I hired Camille Cheskey from the Canadian Training Center in Thunder Bay. He just moved to Canmore and we are extremely lucky to work with him. With so many pairs of skis here and with a lot of new ones to test it has been really important to dial in each pair. Camille arrives early, selects multiple pairs for the technique, workout and conditions and then prepares them so they are ready when we arrive! On the World Cup the US Team has a 2 athlete to 1 tech ratio and let me tell you it is wonderful.

Camille reviewing flex, camber and grind information to dial in the ski for the day.

Camille always smiling!

PM: Classic Distance 1.75 hours.
During the workout Brian and I ski laps testing each pair of skis. Camille brings putty knives, klister or hard wax and other tools to help perfect the kick pocket for each pair. If we come back and need more kick on a pair we drop them off with Camille and he adjusts them while we test another pair.

Wednesday:

AM: Moosehoof Intervals (on the World Cup 5K Course at the Canmore Nordic Center.)

3 x 20 mins (5km) L-3 quick and light on the uphills and running fast on the flats and downhills with 3 minute recoveries.

2.5 hours total.

Brian after warming up one lap of the 5K!

The workout went great and was a huge confidence booster for me and my preparations for the 30 km at the the World Championships. We both ran negative splits each interval and kept our lactates in zone 3 despite speeding up quite a bit by the final lap. We use a analyzer called the Lactate Plus which can read our blood lactate level with a small drop of blood in 13 seconds. Brian and I test ourselves and have been very consistent with our testing all year. We make bets and penalties for eachother if our lactate is too high or too low to keep each other focused and competitive.

Post Interval Celebration.

PM: Double Pole rollerski with 10 x 20 sec speeds. 1.5 hours

We love the opportunity to switch our training up a bit with some continued roller skiing from time to time. Although we do double pole only laps on the snow loop it's nice to get out for a continuous Double Pole workout on the rollerskis too! We double poled towards Banff will Bill Bowler and then had fun doing closing speed contests during the second half. This meant I got a few second head start and the boys would try and catch me before the 20 secs was up!

Thursday:
AM - Easy Trail Run 2.0 hours.

Awesome Trail Run with my friend Andrea!!! We cruised for 2 hours and then enjoyed a special birthday cake she made me and smoothies while we stretched.

Mountain Selfies.

Every run has a gorgeous view!

Friday:
AM - Classic Skiing speed day. 3 x ( 6 x 30 seconds on 90 off). 2 hours total.

Adjusting the kick during warmup!

Camille keeps a detailed notebook on each ski in our fleet and has all of the info about where each zone should be for certain conditions and how thick the wax should be!!!

PM - Run 1.5 hours.

Saturday:
AM - L-3 Skate Intervals with the Alberta World Cup Academy and the Capitol Training Group.
2 x 20 mins (10 min DP only + 10 min skate) 1 x 10 min Skate only with 3- 4 mins recoveries.
Total Workout 2.25 hours

This workout was a great opportunity to practice skiing with other athletes and follow tempo and technique changes on snow. I have been focusing a lot on technique this year and it was great to have Camille step in as videographer and photographer for the workout! Again we tested lactates during this workout and aim to keep them between 2.5 mmol and 4 mmol for L-3 sessions. My first effort was a little high at 5 mmol so I made sure to dial it back for the last 2. Brian was right on at 3.5 mmol.

Brian during the workout.

Working on keeping my hips forward.

Video of the double pole only 10 min portion.

Video of the 10 min skate portion.

PM: Strength + 1 hour Run. 2 hours total.

Brian and I worked really hard this summer and early fall to improve our strength and we can really feel the difference on snow this year. We are now focusing on our volume and intensity but that doesn't mean we ignore strength. We either start of finish each session in the gym with a distance workout too depending on the focus for the week.

Arm strength, core strength and balance all at the same time.

Range of motion and activation exercises.

Of course there is always more core work

And more core work.

and then more core work ;)

Sunday:

AM: OD Run 3.5 Hours with Emily and Annika.

It was fun to have some locals take me on another small adventure. Although we really didn't get too far away from town and they referred to the trail as the tourist highway...I was still grateful to have fun company as we tromped through the same woods as the bears and cougars.