This morning our fridge calendar caught my eye

(photo)

Apparently I’m not the only one who isn’t ready to be inside 5 months to the start of the race season…

So as summer flies by, I presently find myself struggling through a tough week of training. It’s a rest focussed week, in case you were wondering. I’ve had a few realizations this week, as I’ve sat, idly twiddling my thumbs, waiting for an excusable reason to go and do some physical activity (apparently “for my sanity” is not excusable). They’re not overly profound or anything, just things.

The first is that I really like being active. Which, in the context of being an athlete, translates to really enjoying training.

The second is that “training” is just structured and regimented exercise, done with a performance goal in mind.

Here I originally had a couple thought-heavy paragraphs of my views on fundamental training mindset and validation behaviours, but they were cut out because I ended up talking myself in ovals, becoming simultaneously more certain of my opinions and confused about what I was actually trying to say.

Anyways. The gist of what was not said is that I can’t wait to be a master-blaster/free-agent athlete so I can exercise my brains out. I’ve been watching a lot of cycling lately (TdF, Commonwealth) and think it would suit my tastes quite well – later, of course : ) NDC life in Thunder Bay is pretty good right now.

On to the life summary! Since last update I’ve been up to some stuff. Mostly just routine training here in Thunder Bay. I’ll narrate through photos, going back to while I was at home a few weeks ago: owl-ing on a tree stump, apparently…

 

 

Ryan was braver, and more yoga-savvy than me. Check out his crow pose here:
http://instagram.com/p/qPtXR0TfNb/

Also from back home, a snapshot of the Team Hardwood SkiErg wall, TRX collection, beloved bench press rack, and bars.

 

So after my visit home, it was back up to Thunder Bay where we (NDC) was doing an inreach camp with Ontario Ski Team and some National Talent Squad athletes. I just got back on the tail end of the camp, but I think having Maks, Camille, Angus, Sadie, and Alex along with us was a very positive thing.

On Alex’s last day with us, we attended OpenStreetsTBAY on Algoma, where they shut the road down to vehicles so pedestrians, rollerbladers, cyclists, and roller skiers could make use of the roadway. Here’s a picture on my way down (we broke our fast at the Hoito as a team that morning)

 

 

Lisa Patterson (CCC High Performance Director and everyday Thunder Bay ski-person) also got married at the end of July. Big congrats to her. In celebration, we cleaned our team van… so Vic could use it to chauffeur people back in to town after the wedding.

 

Ben, Dave, and I were on the first shift and were responsible for pulling out all the seats and garbage, and then to clean off the floor mats.

 

After we finished that, Ben and I went over to Both Hands (new super awesome pizza place) where Julian works, and ordered a pizza. We both agreed that Julian was meant to work at this place.

 

Inspired by my trip to the pizza place (which also makes bread), I decided to try my own hands at making bread. While we were in Bend, Peri baked bread a few times. It was pretty amazing, and didn’t look too difficult, so that was also on my mind. I’m not sure, but I think baking your own bread is a bit of a thing now, so I guess I’m chasing the bandwagon down with crispy baguettes and mostly edible bricks of bread.

We also did a trail race at Kamview last week (Tuesday). I had a very good race. I ran the first few kilometres in second place, behind our IST physician Nicki (our IST is super legit), and pulled away on some of the more technical single track and descents in the second half of the race.

The next day we did a double pole pace line sprint/intensity workout. Very similar to the one we did in Bend with the National Team and CNEPH crew. Here’s a video we took of the last interval (with Vic’s phone taped to the bumper of the van).

Last Sunday a group of us met up to play ultimate in the afternoon. Turns out it wasn’t the greatest idea because it was super gusty and we were all a little zapped from the morning OD workout. So, instead, we settled for riding to the grocery store, buying a couple tubs of ice cream, snatching spoons from the meal station, and eating them (the ice cream, not the spoons) on the curb outside.

That morning I’d gone for a nice roller ski along Lakeshore. One of my favourite spots on the route is a little ways out, where these signs are – they point to different cities all around the world.

Another fun workout was a ski walk then agility day out at Lappe. I liked the agility better (save for my “gaaaah!” moment) because there were less bugs and allergies happening in the parking lot than on the trails. Check it out:

 

Other than that it’s been kind of slow going. Andy, Bob, and I have been meeting up to watch F1 races on Sunday evenings (I’m paying my dues in advance, so now they have to watch MotoGP with me), but next week MotoGP goes to Indianapolis and it should be a v-exciting race. Last year I said I wanted to go down and watch this year, but alas it is not happening. Next year, I guess.

We also played a good game of Catan the other day. It wasn’t a gluten-free game.

 

Last picture, I promise! While cleaning my shelves yesterday I rediscovered my Frozen Thunder pass from last year. Apparently I’m a face-changer. True story, the park ranger tried to kick me off the loop because they thought I was using someone else’s pass. Can’t remember how I got out of it, but I did.

 

 

Next up is Wisconsin in a couple weeks, for a couple weeks, then back home for the last time until the Christmas holidays. Before that though is the 11.2k Paju Mountain race. Brook Latimer still holds the women’s under-20 record. This will be the only chance I have to go for it, so fingers crossed and legs spinning for a good time. Hopefully my IT band settles down so I can be in tip-top shape for the race!

Til later!

JennOUT