I arrived in Canmore two weeks ago. This marked a new chapter in my life. For 19 and a half years I have lived at home. For the past 10 years I have been racing with the Nakkertok Nordic ski club. The past six of which I have been coached by Mike Vieira, Nakkertok’s head coach. I have had lots of success with the Nakkertok racing team, but this year I felt it was time for a change. I applied to some training centers and before I knew it I was making plans to go to Canmore to train with the Alberta World cup Academy.
On Sunday May 22nd I had packed my life into bags and was on my way to Calgary. When I arrived in Calgary that evening I was greeted by our long time family friends the Hicks family. They had generously offered to let my stay at their house while I try to find my own place and had even made the drive to the Calgary airport to pick me up.
The day before I left Chelsea I went for a long bike ride in 25 degree sunny weather. I even went for a swim in the Gatineau River; summer had definitely arrived in the National Capital region. When I arrived in Canmore however, I realized that summer was still a long way off in this part of the country. During my first week here I went for a bike ride in 5 degrees and rain and went for a run in 20cm of fresh snow. My sandals and swim shorts remained packed away in my duffle bag. I have been very happy with my decision to bring my winter training gear with me to Canmore. Despite the weather my first week of training went relatively well. My arrival in Canmore coincided with the start of testing week. I did not do all the fitness testing that was planned since the coaches wanted to give me some time to get used to the altitude. With the exception of some slight back issues during the double pole test (I am working hard doing physio and stretching to correct this) the fitness testing that I did do went well.
Waking up to a May snow storm in Canmore
During my second week in Canmore the weather improved drastically. I have been settling in to the routine of training with the world cup academy. Canmore is a great place to train. There are a seemingly endless number of trails to discover. I have only started to get to know them.
Above Canmore on the Highline trail. Just one of many great running trails in Canmore.
That’s all for now, I will try to post updates twice a month and will do my best to include photos and videos to keep in interesting.
Nice work Patty, try not to feed the bears in Canmore! Look forward to your 2x a month posting, you're going to kill it at the Academy. Don't forget to freeload meals at Per and Joels as much as you can.
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