Switching it up: EWFT and Skimo

This year I decided to switch things up. The Enjoy Winter NTS Factory team was a great opportunity to continue to scratch my cross country ski racing itch while giving me the freedom to explore and test my self in new capacities within other endurance adventures. Since the kick off to my season in Frozen Thunder, BC I’ve been balancing a racing schedule of about 50% Skimo and 50% cross country skiing. I’ve been enjoying the challenge of training for two sports. The nature of a multimodal training plan has enabled me to better understand how I react to different training stimuli, and overall gain a deeper awareness of my strengths and weaknesses as I move in and out of skimo and cross country skiing. 

Training camp in Canmore, Alberta

After an altitude block at home in Steamboat Springs, CO, and a few skimo races in Wolf Creek, CO before Christmas, I joined the BSF Pro Team in Anchorage Alaska for US nationals in early January. I raced three events, from which I headed directly to Solitude, Utah for skimo nationals, where I also competed in 3 different formats. This was a lot of racing, but it was really fun to feel how my body reacted to both a heavy load of intensity and a change in technique. Cross country skiing is incredibly technical, and I’ve found it takes me a significant amount of consistent cross country skiing, specifically at higher intensities, to engrain the coordination and movements needed to perform at my best. I feel more comfortable moving from a large dose of cross country ski training into a skimo event rather than vice versa.

Coaching some youth skimo in Steamboat Springs, CO and taking fourth place in the Individual Skimo event in Santa Fe, NM.

After a solid week of cross country ski training in preparation for future ski marathons such as the BMT, and Birkie in the upcoming weeks, I went back into skimo mode, heading down to New Mexico for a vertical and individual. I’m looking forward to seeing how my body reacts to my first block of ski marathons starting with the BMT this week. I’ve spent a lot of time at altitude and trained well, but the specificity has obviously been diluted. As I dive into the experimentation within disciplines, the more I am learning about my self as an athlete and the more fun I am having. Can’t wait to see out on the ski and the skin tracks! 

Racing at US Nationals for Skimo