A Summer in Photos

Hello hello hello.

I know I should probably apologize for not blogging for a while, but I won't. I made the semi-conscious decision to take a blogging hiatus for the summer, purely because I wanted to immerse myself in enjoying summer itself! (And the busy-ness of a summer schedule doesn't leave a lot of leeway for writing blogs.) When stuck between choosing going to the lake, getting in some work hours, or writing a blog.... I'll usually always go to the lake or work. But don't worry! I am here to update, and get back on track. 

So to make it easy and enjoyable, I present to you: A Summer in Photos.
What did we do this summer?

We said goodbye to some teammates, and hello to others.

We'll miss Mak but she's off to a new adventure in Denver!

My fellow Midder, Deedra Irwin, joins the team! 

The full team at Olympic Day.
From L - R: Matt, Miles, Me, Colin, Deedra, Ben, Rogan, Mary, and Tommy Boy 

We spent some awesome time with visiting friends. 

My BFF KELSEY! I was beyond excited to have her come visit.

Annie Pokorny and Kelsey Phinney joined us for some quality training sessions. 

We moved. And bought a puppy!

Meet Earl. 

No I don't have a book problem.

We met and worked out with the VAMPS!

Ben demonstrating some ski walking technique.

The VAMPS is a program for the ladies of the valley
started and coached by Muffy Ritz. We had so much fun
getting to know them and watch them progress in bounding
technique and fitness. Thanks guys!

We trained hard. 

The girl's team on top of Washington Peak after a 50+ hr 2-week volume block!

Deedra and I after a double-pole time trial. 

Ski walking/bounding "moosehoofs" at Dollar Mountain! 

Let's not forget strength.

We put a lot of miles in on the roads this summer, and I'm super excited to
announce my new partnership with Rossignol this season!

We learned from visiting summer skiers.

SVSEF has a great summer training program for college/high school skiers,
and we were super lucky to have swedish skier Maria Grafnings come
train with us for a little bit this summer!

Aaaand of course, we spent a lot of time running around (getting literally lost) in the mountains.

Up next: training camp at Stratton and then Lake Placid! 

A Summer Training Pep Talk

HEY EVERYONE. The time has come. School is out, and summer training is here in all its blood, guts, and glory.

But let's get something straight. We ALL know (but some are afraid to admit) that summer training is some of the hardest work you'll ever do. There will be blisters. There will be sore muscles and sun burn and sweat. There will be rainy days and hot days and humid days and days when you really just don't want to get out of bed because if you have to run up one more hill you might implode and you're pretty sure your running shoes are still wet from last nights practice.  There will be intervals, over-distance workouts, sprint workouts, strength workouts, and workouts you probably didn't think were logically possible (cough, "Back To Your Roots" runs, looking at you Coach Tommy Boy). There might (in my case most likely will, because I'm Paige) be tears.

The fact is, summer training is hard. It's designed to be hard. That's why we do it!

These next few months are when the work gets done. We drop the distraction of classes and racing, and hit the roads and trails. This is the time when it's acceptable and actually perfectly warranted to hurt badly during a workout, because we don't have races to worry about, and recovery is probably around the corner. This is the time when we have entire days to spend out running around in the mountains, putting in huge hourly weeks that we didn't imagine we could do. This is what helps us make huge strides come winter and race time. This is when we get tough.

So embrace it! How lucky are we that we thrive on being outside, on working hard, and on pushing our limits? How AWESOME is it to wake up early and be done with a workout by ten AM, and to have the entire day stretching before you hit the roads in the afternoon? How sweet is it to nurse our sore muscles and war wounds and be proud of what we've accomplished? We take it for granted, but our ability to carry us across trails that the normal population doesn't see is pretty darn incredible. And it makes it even better to be surrounded by teammates that are just as excited as we are.

So if you find yourself tired and exhausted and sweaty and stuck asking, "Should I do one more interval? Should I really go for that run? Should I try increase the weight that I'm lifting? Should I really get out of bed this early?"

SAY YES. 

This is the time. 

Summer training should be seen as an opportunity to push yourself to new levels. 

So use it. 

Spring Cleaning (Chronicles from the Not-So-Glamorous Side of Ski Racing)

I'd make a hard bet that just about every skier (no matter what age or level) has at one point in their life been excited to get OFF their skis when spring comes. For one precious month, goodbye are the early mornings, the pre-race breakfasts, the van rides, the never-ending exhaustion, the klister blisters, and the anxiety and excitement surrounding racing. It's (finally!!) time for a little freedom.

But WAIT.

Before we unleash the spring adventures and head out on our road bikes, mountain bikes, hikes, fishing trips, back country ski trips, paragliding (maybe?) trips, camping trips, or just straight up beach trips, etcetera... first we have to clean.

And no I don't mean clean our rooms, although most likely we'll have to do that too because the wear and tear of constant travel has probably wreaked some havoc on our poor houses. Nope, I mean the type of cleaning that we mostly always dread. It's time to clean our skis.

(Cue inward groaning.)

You might have to sort through the wax room first...
(This is a klister explosion.)

Why? By the time spring hits, our skis have possibly traveled all the way around the state, country, or world.  From freezing cold mid-winter conditions to icy, slushy, dirty spring conditions, they've really been through the ringer. The impact of being literally tossed around by airport workers (yep, watched a Fischer bag fly off the truck and onto the tarmac this year), being squeezed and squished into vans and trailers ("did I just hear something snap..? NAHHH"), being forced over rocks and sticks (maybe on accident, possibly on purpose, usually you have no choice), and being waxed and rewaxed over and over ("I'm gonna pretend I didn't burn that part..") can really quite literally hit your skis hard.

So when the snow melts away and the warm weather rolls in, it's pretty important to give those babies some love.  And although it might not be fun, and it definitely could take longer than expected, it will be worth it for your skis in the long run.  Protecting your bases from the summer heat, humidity, dust, and possibly varmints (gross) can actually help them stay faster in the winters.

So turn on your favorite Pandora station, sharpen your scrapers, and get ready to work.

It you have a lot of skis, it helps to lay them out according to the work that needs to be done. (I recommend making sure they're all actually YOURS before you proceed.) Race skis deserve the most care and attention, and if you're in a time crunch, do those first. Then comes the nicer rock skis, then what I like to call "dumpster skis" (skis you can cross pavement on without feeling one ounce of remorse).

WARNING: this process can be incredibly overwhelming, and maybe don't send your parents the pictures (hi mom!) but this also helps to narrow down what you actually need.

Yikes.

I also recommend removing all the bindings (if possible) because your skis will fit better in bags/lockers and it will be easier to pack them away for summer.

If you really really really really really hate cleaning kick wax, get this part over with first. Find some actually productive kick wax remover (the strongest stuff I've seen yet has been in the Czech Republic but we also thought maybe it was straight diesel) and REALLY scrub every inch of klister and kick wax off of those skis. Yes, that also means the sidewalls and grooves and tops of your skis, because everyone knows klister is like glitter; it ends up in the most random of places and it's a serious operation to get rid of it. (Don't try and text during this part, you'll seriously regret it and your iPhone will never be the same.)

Once the sticky stuff is over with, de-stick your hands (this is KEY), and start glide waxing. If you have skis that have been through some groomed dirt with patches of snow mixed in, you should maybe probably definitely hot wax them. Throw a layer of glide wax on, and scrape it off immediately. Watching the dirt and grime peel off with the excess wax is oddly satisfying. Also slightly repulsive.

After you've hot waxed, melt on a layer of storage wax that your skis can safely sleep in for the summer. (Seriously though, don't drop a lot of money on storage wax, all you need is a warmer wax to protect your bases. I like any of the Toko NF Line. No fluoros allowed.) Double check that your sidewalls are clean, remark your kick zones, triple check that YOUR name is on your skis, tie pairs up, and snuggle them next to one another. Aww, don't they look cute?

Shoutout to my cousin Matt Clarke for the
AMAZING wax apron!

Once your skis are all waxed up and tucked in, put them in a place where they won't fry in the heat for the summer. Does your garage hit a hundred degrees in July? Yeah don't keep them there. My personal favorite place has been under my bed, but the basement or ski locker room will probably do too.

You might think you're done, but coaches and wax techs everywhere will super duper appreciate it if you clean the wax room up after yourself. Yep. Sweep up the shavings, put a cap on the wax remover, and throw away all the paper towels full of klister.

3.5-ish hours later. You're DONE!

Get out and enjoy spring because before you know it your poles will be hitting pavement, and we all just looooooove roller skiing.