These ‘yo-yo’ camps have become an important part of the team’s summer regimen, where they spend a few days at altitude on the glacier, followed by a short three-day rest back in town, and then swing back up to the glacier again for another three days…hence the nick-name. However before starting up again with training camps, decompressing from the previous season’s efforts was Harvey’s first priority.
One of the ways he goes about keeping himself sane is by using the spring break from racing to his advantage. His spring goals are two-fold: first, and most important, is a much needed vacation to warmer climes.
“I spent some time in Costa Rica with my girlfriend this spring,” he told us. He said they spent time surfing, checking out the local culture, and just relaxing on the beach. Solid rest was needed after this past Olympic season, and Harvey’s incredible results in Vancouver. “The media was even more demanding this spring,” he said. Harvey understands the importance though, and made sure to make time to visit schools in Quebec, do some TV appearances, and even have coffee with on-line ski magazine types.
He also spent a good chunk of his spring doing something a lot of ski racers find difficult – sitting in a classroom. Harvey went straight from CEGEP, Quebec’s brand of high school-meets-sports-college, into Law School. He has been taking classes every fall and spring, about two at a time.
“It’s really important to have something else to think about,” he says. “When your skiing isn’t going so well, it’s good to have other goals.”
Now that he’s back with the team, however, it’s back to the grindstone. The NST got the first camp slot at the Haig this year, but the weather had other ideas. Anyone who’s been lucky enough to ski up there in the summer knows that the snow conditions can sometimes be marginal. In June however, there was actually too much of it. Instead, the team decided to do a short camp in Jasper, Alberta while they waited for the trail up to the glacier to clear. They were joined by Thunder Bay, Ontario’s Michael Somppi from the National Team Development Center, who is training with the National Team guys while he awaits surgery for compartment syndrome in Calgary next week.
“Mike’s been really good, he’s done all the workouts with us,” said Harvey.
“I was a little nervous about training with these guys,” admitted Somppi. “but it was a huge thrill training with guys like Devon [Kershaw], Ivan [Babikov] and Alex.”
Alex and Mike have had a lot of things to talk about on long workouts. Both are former mountain bike racers, Harvey having competed at both the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Championships. This year, he’s is making a return, of sorts, to his two wheeled past. He says he’ll compete at the Canadian Mountain Bike Championships, to be held in Canmore July15-18.
“I’m really excited about it, I’ve still got a lot of contacts and friends in bike racing,” he said. When I asked him what triggered his desire to get back on the singletrack, he said it was a decision between him and his coaches.
“I wanted to focus more on lower-body strength this year,” he said. “Since I stopped racing, my upper-body has gotten stronger from all of the rollerskiing. I’ve gotten better at classic, but I always used to like skating.” The goal, he explained, is that by doing more cycling over the summer he hopes to build up more leg strength and regain some of the skating power he feels he has lost. The idea to race at the Mountain Bike Nationals came out of this concept.
“It just fit really well,” Harvey said, with a huge smile. “I’m already here in town, and it will take the place of an intensity workout.” It’s obvious that he’s relishing the idea of testing his legs against his former rivals. Even with his cycling pedigree (father Pierre was a multi-sport Olympian competing in cross-country skiing and in cycling), and his racing past, Harvey is cautious about his expectations.
“If I place top five, I’ll be happy, but honestly I could be 15th or worse…it’s just so hard to know, I’ve been away from it for a while.” He went on to say that he’s approaching this as more of a workout than a real race, but anyone who’s seen Harvey on the race course knows to expect him to show up with all pistons firing. The 2010 MTB World Championships are also right in his back yard, at Mont Ste-Anne, at the end of August. Should the stars align, Harvey said he’d like to race there, but won’t bend his ski training around it.
No, he’s looking farther ahead and to colder weather. After a few more ‘yo-yo’ camps in Canmore and a little time at home, he and the rest of the Canadian World Cup team will head to New Zealand for their annual Snow Farm camp. Then they’ll be back in late August for a training camp in Quebec, some hard work in the fall and suddenly it’s race season again. Harvey said he’s already looking forward to it.
“I’m not expecting much [results wise] until the Tour de Ski, but I’m looking forward to that. And the Nordic World Championships are still the obvious goal for the season.”
While fans eagerly anticipate Harvey’s prowess on skis this season there’s plenty of action in between as he’ll soon be back on the bike and racing knobby tires against Canada’s best.