July 16, 2012 (Mt. Washington State Park, New Hampshire) – On June 25th the Southern Ontario Training Centre (SOTC) team headed to the Mt. Washington State Park, New Hampshire for our first training camp of the year. The goals of the camp where to get lots of volume in and take advantage of the long sustained climbs the mountains offered to improve our cardiovascular capacity.

Typical days consisted of 2-3 workouts starting with an early morning strength or bounding session followed by either a 5-7 hour hike or two cardio workouts spaced through the remainder of the day. We quickly settled into the routine of wake up, train, eat, train, nap, eat, stretch, sleep.

Ben, Cam, Scott above the tree line © courtesy of SOTC

The biggest adventure of the camp was the long hikes up to the tops of the mountains. Each day we could summit 3 to 5 different mountains and climb over 2000 vertical meters. While hiking we learnt a lot about mountain weather. Our first hike we where nearly blown off the mountain in the high winds and rain which was gusting close to 150km/h! Luckily for us the next few excursions we had great weather and were greeted by breathtaking views at the top each mountain.

Scott and Cam doing some early morning ski bounding © courtesy of SOTC

The food and accommodations at the Appalachian Mountain Club were amazing. Each day they served an all you can eat breakfast buffet and what they called “family style” dinner. All the hikers eat together in at big tables where they bring out a variety of dishes. It really encouraged everyone to get to know each other. The staff and hikers there where all very friendly and made for great company.

Ben and Cam circuit training in the park © courtesy of SOTC

By the end of the week we were all very tired and had put in over 27 hours running and hiking the mountains and strength training where ever we could find space. It was a great first camp of the season with lots of quality training accomplished.

With nearly three months of training behind us, the team is looking great for the upcoming season. We’re all working together well and making a lot of progress quickly. It’s going to be an exciting year for all of us.

Ben, Cam and Scott enjoying the local creek after a tough day © courtesy of SOTC

More camps have already been planned for the year. In august the team will be heading to Mont Tremblant. The team will then attend the Southern Ontario training camp at Hardwood Ski and Bike. In the fall the team will have a high volume roller ski camp in Huntsville, Ontario than travel to Canmore, Alberta and Foret Montmorency, Quebec for early on snow training.